*w 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BL2735 .A1 1844 
 
 Theological miscellaneous and poetical 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 088 627 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029088627 
 
THEOLOGICAL MISCELLANEOUS, AND POETICAL 
 
 WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
 "secretary to the committee of foreign affairs in the 
 American revolution. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 A LETTER Tbo GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 AND 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 after an absence of fifteen tears. 
 by the same author. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED, 
 
 THE WILL OF THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 GRANVILLE, MIDDLETOWN, N, J. 
 GEORGE H. EVANS. 
 
CONTEiNTS. 
 
 THEOLOGICAL WRITINGS. 
 
 fagfc 
 
 Preface - - - iii 
 
 Age of Reason, Part First ... 7 
 
 Age of Reason, Part Second ----- 63 
 
 Letter in answer to a friend, on the publication of the Age of Reason 161 
 
 Letter to Mr. Erskine - . - - - 165 
 
 Discourse to the Society of Theophilanthropists - - 195 
 
 Letter to Canaille Jordan - 1 - ,. . 201 
 
 ""-Essay on Dreams - - 219 
 
 — [Examination of passages in the New Testament - - 227 
 
 Contradictory Doctrines between Matthew and Mark 271 
 
 Thoughts on a future state - - - 273 
 
 Reply to the Bishop of Llandaff * 275 
 
 Sabbath, or Sunday ------ 290 
 
 Future state ..*--- 296 
 
 Miracles ------- 296 
 
 -Origin of Free Masonry ..... 301 
 
 Letter to Samuel Adams .... 323 
 
 Letter to Andrew A. Dean ..... 329 
 
 Remarks on R. Hall's Sermons ... - 332 
 
 Of the Word Religion, &c. ... 334 
 
 -OfCain and Abel 337 
 
 The Tower of Babel - - . - - - 339 
 
 Of the religion of Deism » 340 
 
 To the Members of the Missionary Society ... 347 
 
 Of the Sabbath Day of Connecticut » - - - 348 
 
 Of the Old and New Testament ... 350 
 
 Hints towards forming a Society .... 351 
 
 To Mr. Moore, of New York - 1 - - - 355 
 
 To John Mason ........ 358 
 
 On Deism, and the Writings of Thomas Paine - - 361 
 
 Of the Books of the New Testament - - - 365 
 
 Communication ...... 370 
 
 To the Editor of the Prospect .... 371 
 
 Religious Intelligence ..... 372 
 
 Remarks by Mr. Paine ..... 375 
 
 The Strange Story of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram - 377 
 
 Commentary on the Eastern Wise Men - - 380 
 
 Taje of the Monk and Jew ----- 383 
 
CONTENTS . 
 
 f " MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Case of the Officers of the Excise, - 
 
 Petition to the, Board of Excise, 
 
 Letter to Dr. Goldsmith, - 
 
 Introduction to the Pennsylvania Magazine, -' 
 
 Cupid and Hymen, - 
 
 Anecdote of Lord Malmsbury, - - . 
 
 Letter to a friend, : 
 
 Mathematical Question proposed, - 
 
 Description of a new Electrical Machine, 
 
 New Anecdotes of Alexander the Great, 
 
 Letter to Thomas Clip Rickman, - 
 
 Reflections on the Life and Death of Lord Clivei 
 
 Letter to a Friend in Philadelphia, , - - 
 
 Letter to Sir George Staunton, on Iron Bridges, 
 
 Preface to General Lee's Memoirs, - - - - 
 
 To Forgetfulness, - 
 
 Letter to a Gentleman ar New York, '<■ - - 
 
 Essay on'the Yellow Fever, - - - 
 
 Letter to a Friend, - .... 
 
 Address and Declaration", -• - - 
 
 On the Construction of Iron Bridges, 
 
 Useful arid Entertaining Hints, - 
 
 On the Utility of Magazines, - 1 . . 
 
 Letter to Elihu Palmer, - 
 
 Communication to the " Citizeni" -11- 
 
 POETICAL. 
 
 Song — Hail Great Republic) * * 
 
 Boston Patriotic Song, - - - - - 
 
 Song — To Columbia, &c. - - - 
 
 Death of General" Wolfe, - , -, 
 
 Song — Liberty Tree, - - -' 
 
 Impromptu on Bachelor's Hall, - 
 
 Farmer Short's Dog Porter, 
 
 Impromptu on a Long-nosed Friend, ... 
 
 The Snow Drop and Critic, a Dialogue, - - - 
 
 Address to Lord Howe, -' ' - - 
 
 What is Love ? - . - 
 
 From the Castle in the Air, to the Little Corner of the World, 
 
 Contentment ; or, if you .please, Confession, - 
 
 Lines Extempore, July, 1808, - 
 
 Letter to George Washington, - 
 
 "Letters to the Citizens of the United States, - 
 Will of Thomas Paine, - 
 
 Epitaph for the Tomb of Paine, by a Friend, 
 
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THE 
 
 THEOLOGICAL WORKS 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
 SECRETARY TO THE .COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IK THJ3 
 AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 THE MOST COMPLETE EDITION EVER PUBLISHED. 
 
 jSeta gortt: 
 
 CEOKfiE H. EVANS— 6 THAMES STREET. 
 
 1835. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Had not religion been made an article of merchandise, and a 
 class of men set apart to retail it for the benefit of themselves, 
 the enormous evils that have resulted, would not have occurred. 
 As it is, an opposition to the dogmas of a preacher of any de- 
 nomination has a direct tendency, by lowering his tenets in the 
 estimation of the public, to depreciate the profits of his trade. 
 In self defence, therefore, he turns upon the assailant, and ap- 
 plies to him names to which he attaches opprobrious meanings) 
 such as heretic* infidel, &tii Heretic, however, in the literal 
 sense of the term, means simply a person who entertains an 
 opinion on doctrinal points Of religion contrary to the generally 
 received opinion, at any particular period. Thus the catholics, 
 by way of reproach* denominate the protestants heretics, and the 
 protestants, in their turh* apply the same epithet to universalists 
 and unitarians. The late Rev. John Mason, to show his strong 
 disapprobation of the latter sect, went so far as to declare to his 
 congregation^ that he would not disgrace the devil so much as to 
 compare them, to him. 
 
 As to the term infidel, all sects are infidels to each other, in 
 consequence of the discrepance in their respective tenets, which 
 laymen have taken no more part in forming than in their own 
 creation. They are made for them by persons who are paid for 
 their services-, arid whose interest it is to render them obscure, 
 that they may require explanation. As well, therefore, might 
 mankind quarrel about' their stature, as about a difference of 
 opinions in the acquirement of which they have been entirely 
 passive, and of the truth of which, neither laymen nor their 
 teachers can have the least possible knowledge. 
 
 The whole mystery, as before observed, of the heart burnings 
 and ill will among Christian sects, arises from having made of 
 religion a trade 5 which has caused a rivalry and contention 
 
>V PREFACE. 
 
 among the professors of the art of soul-saving that would dis- 
 grace any other business whatever. It is of course the interest 
 of every sectarian preacher to draw after him as many hearers 
 as possible, in order to increase his emoluments ; and the means 
 naturally suggested to effect this, is to abuse and vilify all other 
 schemes of salvation but his own. 
 
 Thus have religious parties been formed, and deadly animosi- 
 ties engendered and cherished throughout Christendom ever since 
 the introduction of the Jewish and Christian dogmas ; arid the 
 gibbet and the stake have been appealed to as the ultimate rea-> 
 son of fanatics; Well, therefore, might the venerable John 
 Adams exclaim, as reported by Jefferson, " This would be the 
 best of worlds, if there were no religion in it." 
 
 The only cure for the evils of religion, the curse of supersti 
 tion, which has been entailed upon mankind by an interested 
 priesthood, is for every one to think for himself, and not pay 
 others to think for him ; to reassume that common sense with 
 which nature has endowed him, and of which he has been de 
 prived by his spiritual teaehers. 
 
 " We have," says Jefferson, (see Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 
 322,) " most unwisely committed to the hferophatits of our par- 
 ticular superstition, the direction of public opinion, that lord of 
 the universe. We have given them stated and privileged days 
 to collect and catechise us, opportunities of delivering their ora- 
 cles to the people in mass, arid of moulding their minds as wax 
 in the hollow of their hands. But in despite of their fulminations 
 against endeavours to enlighten the general mind, to improve 
 the reason of the people, and encourage them in the use of it, 
 the liberality of this state will support this institution,* and give 
 fair play to the cultivation of reason." 
 
 The manner in which ministers of the gospel are got up, is 
 worthy a passing notice. Young men who receive a collegiate 
 education, are governed in the choice of business, by the advice 
 of parents, the opinion they entertain of the abilities they pos- 
 sess, or the apparent prospect of the greatest gain in either of 
 the learned professions, without regard to their religious propen- 
 sities. Those who determine on divinity, in the last year of 
 their term at college, hold conference meetings, and exercise 
 themselves in the art of praying, and in disquisitions on religion. 
 Divines thus formed, can readily accommodate their religion 
 to circumstances. If they find the pulpit overstocked iri the 
 persuasion in which they, were educated, they often change their 
 opinion, and adopt another creed. There are several instances 
 in this city, of young men, who were educated presbyteriahs, 
 becoming episcopal clergymen, in consequence, as they declared 
 to intimate friends, of that church paying better than the one 
 they abandoned. Men of liberal education, who have gained 
 
 * The University of Charlottesville, in Virginia, of which Mr. Jefferson 
 was the founder. 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 some knowledge of the frauds of religion, can easier change 
 their creeds than sincere devotees who are duped by them. 
 
 And what does their preaching amount to? What is the mighty 
 boon obtained, as is said', by the excruciating sufferings even of 
 a God ; the glad tidings trumpeted forth by divines, and hailed 
 with great joy by their grateful hearers? What is it; but that a 
 very small portion of the human species will be made happy in 
 another life, and that the remainder will be roasted, in a brim- 
 stone fire, to all eternity ? Are these glad tidings ? Are they 
 riot rather to be deprecated as the tidings of damnation ? Shall 
 human reason be tortured for arguments in proof of a doctrine 
 so abhorrent to justice and humanity ; so abhorrent to any ration- 
 al idea that can be conceived of a Creator, and of every principle 
 of right and wrong established among men ? The chances in 
 this lottery of life and death, according to the statements of the- 
 ologians, are at least, a thousand to one against every living soul ; 
 and yet the scheme is cherished as an infinite benefit to mankind. 
 And what are the alleged causes that involved the human race 
 in this shocking predicament I Why, that a woman in some age 
 of the world, nobody knows when or where* eat an apple, or 
 some other fruit, contrary to the commands of her Maker. 
 
 " The very head and front of her offending 
 Hath this extent, no more." 
 
 Upon this pitiful story, the whole foundation of priestcraft is 
 laid. It is followed up with the sacrifice of a god to atone for 
 the monstrous offence of poor Eve ; ' and then comes the great 
 benefit of the boasted atonement ; which, by the way* is to pro- 
 cure salvation only for those who had been previously elected 
 for that purpose ; and who are coerced into the true faith through 
 the instrumentality of the -Holy Ghost; without the least claims 
 on account of their own merits ; whilst the rest; who could be 
 no more implicated in the faux pas "of the first pair than the 
 former, are debarred that favour by an absolute decree. " With- 
 out controversy, great is the mystery of godliness." 
 
 It is matter of surprise that any person, who believes in the 
 existence of a Supreme Being, should have the hardihood to at- 
 tribute to him such deliberate cruelty, such pitiful subterfuge, 
 such palpable mockery of justice ? 
 
 All clergymen deem themselves to be numbered among the 
 elect, and are so considered by their followers ; and that the bulk 
 of their congregations are doomed to perdition. In this point of 
 view, it is heart-rending for a man of sense and feeling to wit- 
 ness with what sang froid, and cruel, I had almost' said savage 
 exultation, they expatiate upon the tortures of the damned ; 
 Whilst, their hearers, as tame and passive as lambs,' listen with 
 reverential awe and respect, and appear to acquiesce in the just- 
 ness of their condemnation. In fact, the members of presbyte- 
 rian congregations, in general, would not like their minister if he 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 did not preach hell fire as the just reward of their backslidings, 
 and want of faith and zeal in "the cause of Christ ; and in default 
 thereof, would change' him for another more orthodox. As is 
 required, they profess a willingness to be damned, provided 
 nevertheless, that the glory of God shall be thereby enhanced. 
 
 The following are fair samples of the eternal ding-dong upon 
 this subject, with which calvinistic divines regale their hearers. 
 
 The late Dr. Jonathan Edwards, (whose writings are highly 
 applauded by the English reviewers, who seem to consider it 
 their interest to commend those whose aim is to stupify and 
 besot the minds of the people,) in a sermon on the duration and 
 torments of hell, says, 
 
 " Be entreated to consider attentively how great and awful a 
 thing Eternity is. Although you cannot comprehend it the more 
 by considering, yet you may be made more sensible that it is not 
 a thing to be disregarded. Do but consider what it is to suffer 
 extreme pain for ever and ever ; to suffer it day and night, from 
 one day to another, from one year to another, from one age to 
 another, from one thousand ages to another ; and so adding age 
 to age r and thousands to thousands, in pain, in wailing and tor- 
 menting, groaning and shrieking, and gnashing your teeth ; with 
 your souls full of dreadful grief and amazement, with your bodies, 
 and every member of them, full of racking torture ; without any 
 possibility of getting ease ; without any possibility of moving 
 God to pity by your cries ; without any possibility of hiding 
 yourselves from him ; without any-possibility of diverting your 
 thoughts from your pain ; without any possibility of obtaining 
 any manner of mitigation, or help, or Ghange for the better. 
 How dismal will it be, when you are under these racking tor- 
 ments, to know assuredly that you never* never shall be deliver- 
 ed from them." — " The saints in glory will be far more sensible 
 how dreadful the wrath of God is, and will better understand 
 how terrible the sufferings of the damned are, yet this will be no 
 occasion of grief to them, but rejoicing. They will not be sorry 
 for the damned ; it will cause no uneasiness or dissatisfaction to 
 them, but, on the contrary, when they see this sight it will occa 
 sion rejoicing and excite them to joyful praises." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Emmons* of Massachusetts, distinguished for 
 his piety and biblical knowledge, gives the following lively de- 
 scription of the joys of the elect, contrasted with the sufferings 
 of the reprobated : 
 
 " The happiness of the elect in heaven will in part consist in 
 witnessing the torments of the damned in hell, and among these 
 it may be their own children, parents, husbands, wives, and 
 friends on earth. 
 
 " One part of the business of the blessed is to celebrate the 
 doctrine of reprobation. While the decree of reprobation is ex- 
 ternally executing on the vessels of wrath, the smoke of their 
 torment will be eternally ascending in the view of the vessels of 
 
PKEFACE. VH 
 
 mercy, who instead of taking the part of those miserable objects. 
 will say amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord. 
 
 " When the saints shall see how great the misery is from 
 which God hath saved them, and how great a difference he hath 
 made between their state, and the state of others who were by 
 nature, and perhaps by practice, no more sinful and ill-deserving 
 than they, it will give them more a sense of the wonderfulness 
 of God's grace to them. Every time they look upon the damn- 
 ed, it will excite in them a lively and admiring sense of the grace 
 of God in making them so to differ. The sight of hell torments 
 will exalt the happiness of the saints for ever." 
 
 Dr. Parish, of the same state, in a sermon delivered in the 
 time of our late war with England, in denunciation of his coun- 
 trymen who rendered it their support, exclaimed, " How will 
 the supporters of this anti-christian warfare endure their sen- 
 tence, endure their own reflections ; endure the fire that for ever 
 burns ; the worm that never dies ; the hosannas of heaven, while 
 the smoke of their torments will ascend for ever and ever !" 
 
 Notwithstanding the confidence and apparent self-security in 
 which presbyterian ministers animadvert upon the vindictive spirit 
 of the Almighty} and the horrors of that hell, which, according to 
 them, he has prepared fdr the reception of the greatest portion 
 of his creatures, if reliance can be had upon the view taken of 
 the means necessary for salvation by the late Bishop Hobart, 
 their condemnation is inevitable. 
 
 The grand panacea for the Cure of all evil, and the restoration 
 of man to the favour of the Deity, seems, with the bishop, to 
 consist in the due administration of the rite of baptism. In his 
 Companion to the Altar, he says : 
 
 " In this church, the body which derives life, strength and 
 salvation from Christ its head, baptism was instituted as the sa- 
 cred rite of admission. In this regenerating ordinance, fallen 
 man is born again from a state of condemnation to a state of 
 grace. He obtains a title to the presence of the. Holy Spirit, to 
 the forgiveness of sins, to all those precious and immortal bless- 
 ings which the blood of Christ purchased." Com. for the Altar, 
 ed. 1824, p. 186. 
 
 " Wherever the gospel is promulgated, the only mode through 
 which we can- obtain a title to those blessings and privileges 
 which Christ has purchased for his mystical body, the church, is 
 the sacrament of baptism. Repentance, faith, and obedience, will 
 not of themselves be effectual to our salvation. We may sin- 
 cerely repent of our sing— heartily believe the Gospel ; we may 
 walk in the paths of holy obedience : but until we enter into 
 covenant with God by baptism, and ratify our vows of allegiance 
 and duty at the holy sacrament of the Supper — -commemorate 
 the mysterious sacrifice of Christ, we cannot assert any claim to 
 salvation," Jb. pp. 189—90. 
 
VU1 PKEFACE. 
 
 " In order to be effectual, to be acknowledged by God, and 
 accompanied by his power, they (the sacraments) must be ad- 
 ministered by those who have received a commission for the 
 purpose from him." — " None can possess authority to adminis- 
 ter the sacraments but those who have received a commission 
 from the bishops of the church." — W Great is the guilt and im- 
 minent the danger of those who negligently or wilfully continue 
 in a state of separation from the authorised ministrations of the 
 church, and participate of ordinances administered by an irregu- 
 lar and invalid authority" — " wilfully rending the peace and unity 
 of the church, by separating from the administration of its au- 
 thorised priesthood ; obstinately contemning the means which 
 God has prescribed' for their salvation. They are guilty of re- 
 bellion against the almighty Lawgiver and Judge ; they expose 
 themselves to the awful displeasure -of that almighty Jehovah, 
 who will not suffer his institutions to be contemned, or his au- 
 thority violated, with impunity." lb. pp. 19.8 — 200 : 203 — 4. 
 This is all fair as a matter of trade. The rivalry for adher 
 ents constantly carried on among the various denominations of 
 Christians, justifies every divine in endeavouring to draw as 
 many gulls to his shop as possible ; and the end must sanctify 
 the means. * 
 
 From this nonsense, advanced even by wise men, with a view 
 of promoting their interests, it is pleasant to turn to the writings 
 of philosophers who have not the same inducements. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson speaks of religion as every man of common 
 sense, not under the influence of early impressions before the 
 mind is capable of distinguishing right from wrong, thinks ; and 
 as every honourable man, who wishes to benefit his species, 
 ought to express himself. 
 
 The following sentiments are extracted from his correspond- 
 ence with his old revolutionary colleague, John Adams, whose 
 minds seem in perfect unison on the subject treated of ; both 
 must be actuated by the purest motives of humanity, as no sinis- 
 ter views could possibly be entertained at the late period in which 
 the letters were written. 
 
 " I remember to have heard Dr. Priestleysay, that if all Eng>- 
 land would candidly examine themselves, and confess, they would 
 find that unitarianism was really the religion of •all. It is too 
 late in the day for men of sincerity to pretend they believe in the 
 Platonic mysticisms that three are one, and one is three ; and 
 yet that the one is not three, and the three are not one :> to divido 
 mankind by a single letter into homoousians and homoiousians. 
 But this constitutes the craft, the power, and the profit of the 
 priests. Sweep away their gossamer fabrics of factitious reli- 
 gion, and they would catch no more flies. We should all then, 
 like the Quakers, live without an order of priests, moralize for 
 ourselves, follow the oracle of conscience, and say nothing about 
 what no man can understand nor therefore believe ; for I sup- 
 
PREFACE. (X 
 
 pose belief to be the assent of the mind to an intelligible propo- 
 sition." Vol. iv. p. 205. 
 
 "The Christian priesthood, finding the doctrine of Christ 
 levelled to every understanding, and too plain to need explana- 
 tion, saw in the mysticisms of Plato, materials with which they 
 might build up an artificial system, which might, from its indis- 
 tinctness, admit everlasting controversy, give employment for 
 their order, and introduce it to profit, power, and pre-eminence. 
 The doctrines which flowed from the lips of Jesus himself are 
 within the comprehension of a phild ; but thousands of volumes 
 have not yet explained the Flatonisms engrafted on them ; and 
 for this obvious reason, that nonsense can never be explained. 
 Their purposes, however, are answered. Plato is canonized ; 
 and it is now deemed as impious to question his merits as those 
 of an apostle of Jesus." lb', p. 242. 
 
 " The doctrines of Jesus are simple, and tend all to the hap- 
 piness of man. But compare with these the demoralizing dog- 
 mas of Calvin. 
 
 " 1. That there are three Gods.^-2. That good works, oi the 
 • love of our neighbour, are nothing. — 3. That ' faith is every 
 thing, and the more incomprehensible the proposition, the more 
 merit in its faith.— 4. That reason in religion is of unlawful use. 
 — 5. That God, from the beginning, elected certain individuals 
 to be saved, and certain others to be damned ; and that no 
 crimes of the former can damn them ; no virtues of the latter, 
 save. 
 
 " NW, which of these is the true and charitable Christian ; 
 he who believes and acts on the simple, doctrines of Jesus, or the 
 impious dogmatists, as Athanasius and Calvin 1" lb. p. 349. 
 
 " The wishes expressed in your last favour, that I may con- 
 tinue in life and health until I become a Calvinist, would make 
 me immortal. I can never join Calvin in addressing his God. 
 He was indeed an atheist, which I can never be ; or rather his 
 religion was dspmonism. If ever man worshipped a false God, 
 he did. The being described in his five points, is not the God 
 whom you and I acknowledge and adore, the creator and benevo- 
 lent governor of the world ; but a daemon of malignant spirit. It 
 would be more pardonable to believe in no God at all, than to 
 blaspheme him by the atrocious attributes of Calvin. Indeed, I 
 think that every Christian sect gives a great handle to atheism by 
 their general dogma, that, without a revelation,, there would not 
 be sufficient proof of the being ofl a God. Now, one-sixth of 
 mankind only are supposed to be Christians : the other five- 
 sixths then, who do not believe in the Jewish and Christian rev- 
 elation, are without a knowledge of the existence of a God!" 
 lb. p. 363. 
 
 •.« The result of your fifty or sixty years of religious reading in 
 the four words, ' Be just and good/ is that in which all our in- 
 quiries must end ; as the riddles of all the priesthoods end in four 
 
» PUEPi.CE. 
 
 more, 'Z76i pants, ibi deus.' " lb. p. 300. Where there is bread, 
 there is God. That is, whatever religion is most conducive 
 to the interests of the clergy, that they will preach. This is 
 what the professors of every otner kind of business do. If any 
 community of people should prefer five wlieels to a coach, and 
 would give high prices for such, a coach-maker would act very 
 unwisely to refuse to accommodate them. The clergy are, 
 therefore, not so much to blame as the people who take their 
 quack medicines and pay very dear for them. If praying be of 
 any service, every one knows what he stands most in need of, 
 and should therefore prefer his own petitions, instead of paying 
 others for doing it. And as for moral instruction, there are cer- 
 tainly books enough extant upon that subject, the cost of which 
 is nothing in comparison to what is paid for oral sermons. 
 
 Let the people shake off the shackles with which they are 
 bound by the existing priestcraft, and profess a manly religion, 
 founded upon moral" virtue alone, diverted of all creeds, as the 
 sure and only foundation of happiness here and hereafter, and 
 they would soon find teachers enough who would accommodate 
 themselves to their wishes. In this case, useful, scientific in- 
 struction would form a prominent part of the preacher's duty. 
 How much more pleasant and satisfactory would such a course 
 be, than in listening to the eternal repetition of stupid, unintelli- 
 gible dogmas, which can never be of the least possible advan- 
 tage. 
 
 The religious opinions of Jefferson, Franklin, John Adams, and 
 a host of wise and good men in Europe and America, differ in no 
 respect from those of Thomas Paine. Yet he has been singled 
 out particularly as a mark for the priesthood to aim their most 
 deadly shafts. This, no doubt, arose from fear that his writings 
 would prove more destructive to the craft than those of other 
 liberal writers, on account of the bold, plain common sense which 
 distinguishes his compositions. 
 
 Mr. Paine's natural goodness of heart seems to have rendered 
 him sceptical in the prevailing religious dogmas, at an early pe- 
 riod. He says, " from the time I was capable of conceiving an 
 idea and acting upon it by reflection, I either doubted the truth 
 of the Christian system, or thought it to be a strange affair ; I 
 scarcely know which it was, but I well remember^ when about 
 seven or eight years of age, hearing a sermon read upon the 
 Redemption, by the death of the Son of- God. After the sermon 
 was ended, I revolted at the recollection of what I had heard ; it 
 was tb me a serious reflection, arising from the idea I had, that 
 God was too good to do such an action, and also too almighty to 
 be under the necessity of doing it. I believed in the same man- 
 ner to this moment." 
 
 Of Jesus Christ he speaks in the following terms: "The 
 .rnorality that he preached and practised was of the- most benevo- 
 lent kind ; according to his declarations, in the 25th chapter of 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 Matthew, he makes salvation, or the future happiness of man, to 
 depend entirely upon good works. Here is nothing about pre- 
 destination, that lust which some men have for damning one an- 
 other. Here is nothing about baptism, whether • sprinkling or 
 plunging, nor about any of those ceremonies for which the Chris- 
 tian church has been fighting, persecuting andburning each other, 
 ever since the Christian church began." 
 
 In another part, he says, " My own opinion is, that those whose 
 lives have been spent in doing good, and endeavouring to make 
 their fellow mortals happy, for this is the only way in which we 
 can serve- God, will be happy hereafter : and that the very wicked 
 will meet with some punishment. This is my Opinion. It is 
 consistent with .my idea of God's Justice, and with the reason 
 that God has given me." 
 
 Why should 'Mr. Paine be reprobated for these opinions, and 
 the clergy, who proclaim the eternal damnation of their species, 
 be approved of and applauded ? The reason is plain. The 
 clergy " mould the minds of the people like wax in the hollow of 
 their hands." They well know, if Paine's principles prevail, 
 their consequence and high salaries would be at an end. Hence 
 the outcry against him and those who adopt his opinions. King's, 
 in the first instance, created a band of priests to tyrannize over 
 the mental faculties of man, that they might the more readily 
 enslave him ; and the American republic imbibed the malady 
 through a predisposition to infection inherited from their ances- 
 tors. The business of life is incorporated with priestcraft, and 
 whoever takes ah honorable part in vindication of truth, is sure to 
 meet with abuse. The dpctrine of let us alone, is the constant 
 cry of priests, and the fear of censure from the pulpit creates 
 and fosters the detestable crime of hypocrisy. 
 
 The flatteries and respect shown to the clerical character, of 
 all denominations, has induced some of the profession to adopt a 
 language towards their opponents truly astonishing. In fact, 
 many preachers of the Gospel of Christ, seem to consider them- 
 selves licenced calumniators, and that they have a right; by vir- 
 tue of their office, to abuse the whole human race, as enemies to 
 God and all righteousness. 
 
 -A few years since, a young preacher of the Methodist connec 
 tion arrived in this country from England. He laid great claims 
 to religious endowments, and, in consequence of his pertness 
 and assurance, was highly caressed by the members of his' church. 
 Emboldened by the attentions he received, in order to show 
 his zeal for the cause, he had the effrontery, at a tract society 
 meeting, to express himself in the following terms : " I thank 
 God, -that the bones of Tom Paine have been rooted up, and no 
 longer disgrace the soil of our country." No man at the meeting, 
 or in the public prints since, dared to reprove him. As a man of 
 God, he was deemed to bp nrivileged to stigmatize the .memory 
 
JCIl PREFACE. 
 
 of one who had so powerfully opposed the clerical scheme of 
 eternal misery. 
 
 The same spirit, which dictated the above declaration, is con- 
 spicuous in an article that lately appeared in the New-York 
 Herald, supposed to be written by an English clergyman of 
 the Episcopal church. It is entitled, " The Lone Tomb ; a 
 scene in Westchester county." The object of it was to eulo- 
 gize the virtues of a young woman who died in New-Rochelle, 
 at the age of nineteen. Thomas Paine, at the mention of whose 
 name, the clergy were wont to quake, was also dead, and had 
 been interred in the same village. What a glorious opportunity — 
 it was irresistible ; and the pious parson improved it to bespatter 
 the tomb of the great advocate of human rights ; the vindicator 
 of the justice and goodness of God ; the^pponfent of the plead- 
 ers for Calvinistic .fire and brimstone. And, strange as it may 
 appear, he fouad an American printer who was enjoying, in com- 
 mon with his countrymen, the fruits of Paine's revolutionary ser- 
 vices, indiscreet, or shall I say, base enough to lend his types in 
 furtherance of the unholy purpose. 
 
 The article concludes as follows : " Here is found the delight- 
 ful village where the pious, but persecuted Huguenots, fleeing 
 . from oppressions of bigotry and intolerance, found a quiet and a 
 happy home ; and where too is still pointed out the consecrated 
 little enclosure, in which, when the toils and sufferings of this life 
 were over, they rested from their labors.. And here, alas ! that 
 the place should be known but to be shunned, — herq is yet seen 
 the ruins of the sad and forsaken spot rendered infamous by the 
 sepulchre of the infidel Paine ! .'" 
 
 This consistent Christian writer, in persecuting the memory of 
 Paine, commits the same outrage that he reprobates in others. — 
 But, in the one case, it regarded pious Huguenots, Calvinists, 
 who believed in hell-fire ; in the other an infidel, who was en- 
 deavouring to wrest mankind from the clutches of the clergy, and 
 to render them happy, here and hereafter, by the mere force of 
 moral virtue. The difference, in the view of a minister of the 
 gospel, must be enormous indeed. — But where were nine-tenths 
 of these believing Hugu.enots, according to their own doctrine, 
 after their toils and sufferings were over, to rest? In hell, among 
 glowing embers ! This is a true statement of the case, and I 
 leave the reader to his own reflections. 
 
 I will mention one more instance of clerical charity and for- 
 bearance; A preacher in the Dutch church, corner of Cedar 
 and Nassau streets, lately gave vent to the following rodomon- 
 tade : — - 
 
 " A deist, he said, was no man — he umrtans himself — he is 
 an enemy to science — denies all history, and is a rebel to Al- 
 mighty God!" The last clause of the sentence the speaker pro- 
 nounced with great energy, raising at the same time both hands 
 to heaven. A gentleman, in company with the reporter, who 
 
PREFACE. XIII 
 
 mistook declamation for argument, on leaving the church, observ- 
 ed, that Mr. — — was a most powerful preacher ; and probably 
 this was the opinion of the bulk of the audience. It is, however, 
 still a mooted case, which is the greatest rebel to God, the deist 
 who represents him as benevolent, just and merciful ; or the Cal- 
 vinistic divine who clothes him with attributes that would dis- 
 grace a savage 1 
 
 " The quality of mercy is not strain'd ; 
 It droppeth, as the gentle rain from heaven 
 Upon the place beneath : it is twice blessed ; 
 It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes : 
 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest." 
 
 By the extracts I have made from the writings and speeches of 
 clergymen, some might be inclined to think them in general a 
 very wicked class of men ; but this is by no means the case. — 
 They are like men in other pursuits of life, some good and some 
 bad. The system is more in fault, than the professors. They 
 are hired to teach a certain set of dogmas, which they cannot de- 
 part from without bringing ruin upon themselves. Were a pres- 
 byterian parson, for instance,- to say to his congregation, that 
 God was too benevolent and merciful to punish any of them to 
 all eternity; that punishments would be graduated to crimes, and 
 that if their lives were moral, they need be in no fear of incurring 
 his displeasure on account of their opinions ; the consequence 
 would be that every old lady imbued with orthodox principles, 
 and who had an enemy, on earth, that she wished to be roasted 
 forever, would immediately quit his church. Their daughters 
 would take thesame course, and the men would be compelled to 
 follow suit. The parson, consequently, would be" left without 
 hearers, and without bread.. .Let us not, then, blame the clergy, 
 but ourselves. Old bigoted schemes of religion must be broken 
 down, and plain common sense substituted for them ; and this 
 must be done by laymen — it is not in the power of the clergy to 
 effect it. 
 
 I will here introduce a few appropriate questions, propounded 
 by the celebrated Yoltaire. 
 
 ' Next to our holy religion, which would be the least excep- 
 tionable 1 Would it not be the most simple — that which taught 
 a great deal of morality and few doctrines — that which tended to 
 make men virtuous without making them fools — that which did 
 not impose the belief of things impossible, contradictory, injuri- 
 ous to the deity, and pernicious to mankind ; and which did not 
 take on itself to threaten, with eternal punishments, all who had 
 common sense 1 Would it not be that which did not support its 
 articles by executioners, and deluge the world with blood, for un- 
 intelligible sophisms ? Would it not be that which taught only 
 the adoration of one God, of justice, forbearance and humanity?" 
 After all that Christian divines have said of the intensity and 
 eternity of hell-fire, to which, according to them, the greater pot- 
 
XIV PHEfACE. 
 
 tion of mankind are doomed, admitting even, for the sake of ar- 
 gument, the authority of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, there 
 is not a word in those books which designates the terrific place 
 represented by them. The Hebrew words Scheol and Hades 
 which have been translated hell, mean nothing more, as every Jew 
 can inform us, than the grave. The Gehinnorn of the Old Tes- 
 tament and the Gehenna of the New, also translated hell, mean 
 the valley of Hinnom ; wherein the Israelites sacrificed their chil- 
 dren to the god Moloch ; and where a fire was continually burn- 
 ing to consume the dead bodies of criminals to whom the rite of 
 sepulchre was not granted, as well as the filth of Jerusalem. 
 
 Moloch was a name given to a representation or emblem of the 
 sun, which was itself only a symbol of the divinity, inherited by 
 the Jews from the Egyptians. The fire in the Valley of Hin- 
 nom, for the purposes before mentioned, was first established by 
 king Josiah about one thousand years after the supposed death of 
 Moses, and was not suffered to be extinguished. The insects 
 which subsisted upon the garbage scattered about this valley were, 
 of course, never extinct ; hence the exclamation, " Where the 
 worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched !" 
 
 Tartarus, once mentioned in the New Testament, is pre-emi- 
 nently the hell of the ancient Greeks and Romans, but owes its 
 origin to Egypt. The burying ground of Memphis, the ancient 
 capital of Egypt, was on an island called Elyzout, decorated with 
 beautiful groves and meadows ; to arrive at which it was necessary 
 to pass a small lake, on whose margin three Judges were station- 
 ed to examine into the characters of the defunct ; if they proved 
 good, a passport was given-by them to the ferry-man, called Cha- 
 ron, to transmit the bodies, otherwise they were cast into a deep 
 pit, denominated Tartarus ; from whence is probably derived the 
 expression bottomless pit, made use of in the Apocalypse. 
 
 The Egyptians had an idea that the soul after death enjoyed or 
 suffered with the body ; and, in this respect, the contrast between 
 Elyzout and Tartarus must, in their eyes, have appeared infinite. 
 
 From this custom of the Egyptians have arisen the fables of the 
 Greeks and Romans of the pleasures enjoyed by those who had 
 the good fortune to arrive at Elyzout, or Elysian fields, as they 
 called it, and the various torments inflicted upon those doomed to 
 Tartarus. 
 
 But it is time for mankind to cease to believe in fables ; to 
 cease to teach, or hear them taught, as sacred truths ; to study 
 their real predicament in nature, and to regulate their lives ac- 
 cordingly. 
 
 EDITOR. 
 
THE 
 
 AGE OF REASON. 
 
 PART FIRST. 
 
TO MY 
 
 FELLOW CITIZENS 
 
 5 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
 I put the following work under your protection.- It contains 
 my opinion upon Religion. You will do me the justice to re- 
 member, that I have always strenuously supported the Right of 
 every Man to his opinion, however different that opinion might 
 De to mine". He who denies to another this right, makes a slave 
 of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself 
 tile right of changing it. 
 
 The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is 
 Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall. 
 
 Your affectionate friend and fellow citizen, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 iMxembourg, (Pari^,) Sth JPufciose, 
 Second year of- the French Republic, one and indivisible, 
 January 27, O. S. 1794. 
 
THE 
 
 AGE OF REASON. 
 
 PART THE FIRST. 
 
 BEING AN INVESTIGATION OF TRUE AND 
 FABULOUS THEOLOGY. 
 
 It has been my intention, for several years past, to publish my 
 .noughts upon religion ; I am well aware of the difficulties that 
 attend the subject, and, from that consideration, had reserved it to 
 a more advanced period of life. I intended it to be the last offer- 
 ing I should make to my fellow citizens of all nations, and that at 
 a time : when the, purity of the motive that induced me to it, could 
 not admit of a. question, even by those who might disapprove the 
 work. 
 
 The circumstance that has now taken place in France of the 
 total abolition of the whole national order of priesthood, and of 
 every thing appertaining to compulsive systems of religion, and 
 compulsive articles of faith, has not only precipitated my inten- 
 tion, but rendered a work of this kind exceedingly necessary, lest, 
 in the general wreck of superstition, of false systems of govern- 
 ment, and false theology, we lose sight of morality,' of humanity, 
 and of the theology that is true. 
 
 As several of my colleagues, and others of my fellow-citizens of 
 France, have given me the example of making their voluntary and 
 individual profession of faith, I also will make mine; and I do this 
 with all that sincerity and frankness with which the mind of man 
 communicates with itself. 
 
12 IP' THE AGE 0» REASON. [PART I. 
 
 ' Jl believe in one God, and no more ; and I hope for happiness 
 
 Mond this life- 
 believe the equality of man ; and I believe that religious duties 
 consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make 
 our fellow creatures happy. 
 
 But, lest it should T>e supposed that I believe many other things 
 in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare 
 the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing 
 them. 
 
 I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by 
 the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, 
 by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My 
 own mind is my own church. 
 
 All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Chris- 
 tian, or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, 
 set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and 
 profit. 
 
 I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe 
 otherwise ; they have the same right to their belief as I have to 
 mine. But it is necessary to the happiness t>f man, that he be 
 mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity docs not consist in believ 
 ing, or in disbelieving ; it consists in professing to believe what 
 he does not believe. 
 
 It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so 
 express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a 
 man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, 
 as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not be- 
 lieve, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other 
 crime. He takes up the trade of a priest for the sake of gain, 
 and, in order to qualify himself for that trade, he begins with a 
 perjury. Can we conceive any thing more destructive to morality 
 than this 1 
 
 Soon after I had published the pamphlet, " Common Sense," 
 in America, I saw the exceeding probability that a revolution in 
 the system of government would be followed by a- revolution in 
 the system of religion. The adulterous connection of church - 
 and state, wherever it had taken place, whether Jewish, Christian, 
 or Turkish, had so effectually prohibited, by pains and penalties, 
 overy discussion upon established creeds, and upon first princi- 
 ples of religion, that until the system of government should be 
 
PART I. J THE AGE OF REASON. IS 
 
 changed, those subjects could not be brought fairly and openly 
 before the world ; but that whenever this should be done, a revo- 
 lution in the system of religion would follow. Human inven- 
 tions and priest-craft would be detected ; and man would return to 
 the pure, unmixed, and unadulterated belief of one God, and no 
 more. 
 
 Every national church or religion has established itself by pre- 
 tending some special mission from God, communicated to certain 
 individuals. The Jews have their Moses ; the Christians their 
 Jesus Christ, their apostles, and saints;, and the Turks their Ma- 
 homet, as if the way to God was not open to every man alike. 
 
 Each of those churches show certain books, which they call reve- 
 lation, or theword of God. The Jews say, that their word of God 
 was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say, 
 that their word of God came by divine inspiration ; and the Turks 
 say, that their word of God (the Koran) was brought by an angel 
 from Heaven.. Each of those churches accuse the other of un- 
 belief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all. 
 
 As it is necessary to affix right ideas to words, I will, before I 
 proceed further into the subject, offer some other observations on 
 the word revelation. Revelation when applied to religion, means 
 something communicated immediately from God to man. 
 
 No one will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty to make 
 such a communication, if he pleases.' But admitting, for the sake 
 of a case, that" something has been revealed to a certain person, 
 and not revealed to any other person, it is revelation to that person 
 only. When he tells it to a second person, a second to a third, a 
 third to a fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those 
 persons. It is revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to 
 every other, and, consequently, they are not obliged to believe it. 
 
 It is a contradiction in terms and ideas, to call any thing a 
 revelation that comes to us at second-hand, either verbally or in 
 writing. Revelation is necessarily limited to the first communi- 
 cation — after this, it is • only an account of something which that 
 person says was a revelation made to him ; and though he may 
 find himself obliged to believe it, it cannot be incumbent on me 
 to believe it in the same manner ; for it was not a revelation made 
 to me, and I have only his word for it that it was made to him. 
 
 When Moses told the children of Israel that he received the two 
 tables of the commandments from the hands of God, they were 
 
14 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART I. 
 
 not obliged to believe him, because they had no other authority for 
 it than his telling them so ; and I have no other authority for it 
 than some historian telling me so. The commandments carry no 
 internal evidence of divinity with them ; they contain some good 
 moral precepts, such as any man qualified to be a lawgiver, or a 
 legislator, could produce himself, without having recourse to 
 supernatural intervention.* 
 
 When I am told that the Koran was written in Heaven, and 
 brought to Mahomet by an angel, the account comes too near the 
 same kind of hearsay evidence and second-hand authority as the 
 former, I did not see the angel myself, arid, therefore, I have a 
 right not to believe it. 
 
 When also I am told that a woman called the Virgin Mary, 
 said, or gave out, that she was with child without any cohabitation 
 with a man, and that her betrothed husband, Joseph, said that an 
 angel told him so, I have a right to believe them or not ; such a 
 circumstance required a much stronger evidence than their bare 
 word for it ; but we have not even this— for neither Joseph nor 
 Mary wrote any such matter themselves ; it is only reported by 
 others that they said so — it is hearsay upon hearsay, and I do not 
 choose to rest my belief upon such evidence. 
 
 It is, however, not difficult to account for the credit that was 
 given to the story of Jesus Christ being the son of God. He 
 was born when the heathen mythology had still some fashion and 
 repute in the world, and that mythology had prepared the people 
 for the belief of such a story. Almost all the extraordinary men 
 that lived under the heathen mythology were reputed to be the 
 sons of some of their gods. It was not a new thing, at that time, 
 to believe a man to have been celestially begotten ; the intercourse 
 of goda with women was then a matter of familiar opinion. Their 
 Jupiter, according to their accounts, had cohabited with hundreds ; . 
 the story therefore had nothing in it either new, wonderful or ob- 
 scene ; it was conformable to the opinions that then prevailed 
 among the people called Gentiles, or Mycologists, and it was 
 those people only that believed it. The Jews, who had kept 
 strictly to the belief of one God, and no more, and who had 
 always rejected the heathen mythology, never credited the story. 
 
 * It is, however, necessary to except the declaration which says that God 
 visits the sins of the fathers upon, the children; it is contrary to every principle 
 of moral justice. 
 
PART I-] THE AGE OF REASON. IS 
 
 It is curious to observe how the theofy-of what is called the. 
 Christian Church, sprung out of the tail of heathen mythology. 
 A direct incorporation took place in the first instance) by making 
 the reputed founder to be celestially begotten. The trinity of 
 gods that then followed was no other than a reduction of the 
 former plurality, which was about twenty or thirty thousand ; the 
 statue of Mary succeeded the statue of Diana of Ephesus ; the 
 deification of heroes changed into the canonization of saints ; the 
 mythologists had gods for every thing ; the Christian Mythologists 
 had saints for every thing ; the church became as crowded with 
 the one, as the pantheon had been with the other ; and Rome was 
 the place of both. The Christian theory is little else than the 
 idolatry of the ancient Mythologists, accommodated to the pur- 
 poses of power and revenue ; and it yet remains to reason and 
 philosophy to abolish the amphibious fraud. 
 
 Nothing that is here said can apply, even with the most distant 
 disrespect, to the real character of Jesus Christ. He was a vir- 
 tuous and an amiable man. The morality that he preached and 
 practised was of the most benevolent kind ; and though, similar 
 systems of morality had been preached by Confucius,, and by some 
 of the Greek philosophers, many years before; by "the Quakers 
 since ; and by many good men in all ages, it has not been ex- 
 ceeded by any. 
 
 Jesus Christ wrote no account of himself, of his birth, parent- 
 age, or any thing else ; not a line of what is called the Jfew 
 Testament is of his own writing. The history of him is alto- 
 gether the work of other people ; and as to the account given of 
 his resurrection and ascension, it was the necessary counterpart 
 to the story of his birth. His historians, having brought him 
 into the world in a supernatural manner, were obliged to take him 
 out again in the same manner, or the first part of the story must 
 •have fallen to the ground; 
 
 The wretched contrivance with which this latter partis told, ex- 
 ceeds every thing that went before it. The first part, that of the 
 miraculous conception, was not a thing that admitted of publicity; 
 and therefore the tellers of this part of the story had this Ad- 
 vantage, that though they might not be credited, they could not 
 be detected. They could not be expected to prove it, because 
 it was not one of those things that admitted of proof, and it was 
 
18 THE AGE OP HEASOK. [PART I 
 
 impossible that the person of whom it was told could prove it 
 himself. 
 
 But the resurrection of a dead person from the grave, and his 
 ascension through the air, is a thing very different as to the evi- 
 dence it admits of, to the invisible conception of a child in the 
 womb. The resurrection and ascension, supposing them to have 
 taken place, admitted of public and occular demonstration, like 
 that of the ascension of a balloon, or the sun at noon day, to all 
 Jerusalem at least. A thing which every body is required to 
 believe, requires that the proof and evidence of it should be equal 
 to all, and universal j and as the public visibility of this last 
 related act, was the only evidence that could give sanction to the 
 former part, the whole of it falls to the ground, because that evi- 
 dence never was given. Instead of this, a small number of per- 
 sons, not more than eight or nine, are introduced as proxies 
 for the whole world, to say they saw it, and all the rest of the 
 world are called upon to believe it. But it appears that Thomas 
 did not believe the resurrection ; and, as they say, would not be- 
 lieve without having occular and manual demonstration himself; 
 So neither will I, and the reason is equally as good for me, and 
 for every other person, as for Thomas- 
 It is in vain to attempt to palliate or disguise this matter. The 
 story, so far as relates to the supernatural part-, has every mark of 
 fraud and imposition stamped upon the face of it. Who were the 
 authors of it is as impossible for us now to know, as it is for us 
 to be assured, that the books in which the account is related, were 
 written by the persons whose names they bear ; the best surviving 
 evidence we now have respecting this affair is the Jews. They 
 are regularly descended from the people who lived in the time this 
 resurrection and ascension is said to have happened, and they say, 
 it is not true. It has long appeared to me a strange inconsistency 
 to cite the Jews as a proof of the truth of the story. It is just the 
 same as if a man were to say, I will prove the truth of what 'I have 
 told you, by producing the people who say it is false. 
 
 That such a person as Jesus Christ existed, and that he was 
 crucified, which was the mode of execution at that day, are his- 
 torical relations strictly within the limits of probability. He ~ 
 preached most excellent morality, and the equality of man ; but 
 he preached also against the corruptions and avarice of the Jew- 
 ish priests, and this brought upon him the hatred and vengeance of 
 
TAM I.J THE AGE OF REASON. 1? 
 
 the whole ordei of priesthood. The accusation which those 
 priests brought against him was that of sedition and conspiracy 
 against the Roman government, to which the Jews were then 
 subject and tributary ; and it is not improbable that the Roman 
 government might have some secret apprehensions of the effects 
 of his doctrine as well as the Jewish priests ; neither is it impro- 
 bable that Jesus Christ had in contemplation the delivery of the 
 Jewish nation from the bondage of the Romans. Between the 
 two, however, this virtuous reformer and revolutionist- lost his 
 life. 
 
 It is upon this plain, narrative of facts, together with anotheV 
 case [ am going to mention, that the Christian Mythologists, 
 calling themselves the Christian Church, have erected their 
 fable, which for absurdity and extravagance, is not uxceeded by 
 any thing that is to be found in the mythology of the ancients. 
 
 The ancient Mythologists tell us that the race of Giants made 
 war against Jupiter, and that one of them threw a hundred rocks 
 against him at one throw ; that Jupiter defeated him with thunder, 
 and confined him afterwards under Mount Etna, and that every 
 time the Giant turns himself, Mount Etna belches fire. 
 
 It is here easy to see that the circumstance of the mountain, 
 that of its being a volcano, suggested the idea of the fable; and 
 that the fable is made to fit and wind itself up with. that circum- 
 stance. 
 
 The Christian Mythologists tell us, that their Satan made war 
 against the Almighty, who defeated him, and. confined him after' 
 wards, not under a mountain, but in a pit. It is here-easy to see 
 that the first fable suggested the idea of the second ; .for the fable 
 of Jupiter and the Giants was told many hundred years before 
 that of Satan. 
 
 Thus far the ancient and the christian Mythologists differ very 
 little from each other. -- But the latter have contrived to carry .the 
 matter much farther. Theyhavexontrived to connect the fabu- 
 lous part of the -story of Jesus Christ with the fable originating 
 from Mount Etna ; and, in order to make all the parts of the story 
 tie together, they have taken to their aid* the traditions of the 
 Jews ; for the Christian mythology is made up partly from the 
 ancient mythology, and partly from the Jewish traditions. 
 
 The Christian Mythologists, after having confined Satan in a 
 pit, were obliged to let him out again to bring on the sequel of the 
 
16 AGE OF REASON* f PAKT 1 
 
 fable. He is then introduced into the- Garden of Eden in the 
 shape of a snake or a serpent,~and in that shape he enters into 
 familiar conversation with Eve, who is no way surprised to hear a 
 snake-talk ; and vhe issue of this tete-a-tete is, that he persuades 
 her to eat an apple, and the eating of that apple damns all man- 
 kind. 
 
 After giving Satan this triumph over the whole creation, one 
 would have supposed that the church Mythologists would baye 
 been kind enough to send him back to the pit : or, if they had not 
 done this, that they would have put a mountain upon him, (for 
 they say that their faith can remove a mountain) or have put him 
 under a mountain, as the former Mythologists -had done, to pre- 
 vent his getting again among the women and doing more mischief. 
 But instead of this, they leave him at large, without even obliging 
 him to give his parole — ihe secret of which is, that they could not 
 do without- him ; and after being at the trouble of making him, 
 they bribed him to stay. Tfrey promised Kim all the Je^ws, all 
 the Turks by anticipation, nine-tenths of the world beside, ar<J 
 Mahomet into the bargain. After this, who can doubt- the boun 
 tifulness of the Christian mythology. 
 
 Having thus made an insurrection and a battle in Heaven* in 
 which none of the combatants could be either killed or wounded — 
 put Satan into the pit — let him out again— given him a triumph 
 over the. whole creation — damned all mankind by the. eating of an 
 apple, these Christian Mythologists bring the two ends of -theii 
 fable together. They represent this virtuous and amiable man, 
 Jesus Christ, to be at once both God and Man, and also the Son 
 of God, celestially begotten, on purpose to be sacrificed, because 
 they say that Eve in her longing had eaten an apple. 
 
 Putting aside every thing that might excite laughter by its a.b- 
 surdity, or detestation by its profaneness, and confining ourselves 
 merely to an examination of the parts, it is impossible to conceive 
 a story more derogatory to the Almighty, more inconsistent with 
 his wisdom, more contradictory to his power, than this story is. 
 
 In order to make for it a foundation to rise upon, the inventors 
 were under the necessity of giving to the being, whom they call 
 Satan, a power equally as great, if not greater than they attribute 
 to the Almighty. They have not only given him the power of 
 liberating himself from the pit, after what they call his fall, but 
 thev have made that powev increase afterwards to infinity. Before 
 
PAUT I.] THE AGE OF REASON. 19 
 
 this fall they represent him only as an angel of limited existence, 
 as they represent the rest. After his fall, he becomes, by their 
 account; omnipresent. He exists everywhere, and at the same 
 time; He occupies the wholeimmensity of space. 
 
 Not content with this deification of Satan, they represent him 
 as defeating, by stiiitag«em-,in the shape of an animal of the crea- 
 tion, all the power and wisdom of the Almighty. They represent 
 him as having compelled the Almighty to the direct necessity either 
 of surrendering the whale of the creation to the government and 
 sovereignty of this Satan, or of capitulating for its redemption by 
 coming down upon earth, and exhibiting himself upon a cross in 
 the shape of a man. • / 
 
 Had the inventors of this story told it the contrary way, that 
 is, had they represented the Almighty as compelling Satan to ex- 
 hibit himself on a cross, in the shape of 'a snake, as a punishment 
 for his new transgression, the story would have been less absurd — 
 less contradictory! But, instead of -this, they make the transgressor 
 triumph, -and the Almighty, fall. 
 
 That many good men have believed' this strange fable, and lived 
 very good lives -under ,that belief (for "credulity is not a crime) is 
 what; I, have, no doubt of. In the first place, they were educated 
 to believe it, and they would have believed any thing else in the 
 same manner. There are also maay who have been so enthusi- 
 astically enraptured by what they conceived to be the infinite love 
 of God. to man, in making a sacrifice of himself, that the vehe- 
 mence of the idea Has forbidden- and deterred them from examin- 
 ing into the absurdity and profaneness of the story. The more 
 unnatural any thing is, the more is it capable, of becoming the ob- 
 ject of dismal admiration. 
 
 But if objects for gratitude and admiration are bur desire, da 
 they not present themselves every hour to our eyes ? Do we not 
 see a fair creation prepared to receive us the instant we are born 
 — a world furnished to our hands, that cost us nothing? Is it we 
 that light up the sun, that pour down the rain, and fill the earth 
 with abundance 1 "Whether we sleep or wake, the vast machinery 
 o£ the universe still goes on. Are these things, and the blessings 
 they indicate in future, nothing to us 1 Can our gross feelings be 
 excited by no other subjects than tragedy and suicide 1 Or is:the 
 gloomy pride' of man become so intolerable, that nothing can 
 flatter it but a sacrifice of the Creator 1 
 
20 THE AGE OF REASON. [PAKT I. 
 
 I fr know that this bold investigation will alarm many, but it 
 would be paying too great a compliment to their credulity to for- 
 bear it upon that account ; the times and the subject demand it to 
 be done. The suspicion that the theory of what is called the 
 Christian church is fabulous, is becoming very extensive m all 
 countries - r and it will be a consolation to men staggering under 
 that suspicion, and doubting what to believe and what to disbe- 
 lieve, to see the subject freely investigated. I therefore pass on to 
 an examination of the books called the Old and New Testament. 
 These books, beginning with Genesis and ending with Revela- 
 tion, (which, by the bye, is a book of riddles that requires a revela- 
 tion to explain it) are, we are-told, the word of God. It is, there- 
 fore, proper for us to know who told us so, that we may know 
 what credit to give to the report. -" The answer to this question is, 
 that nobody can tell, except that we tell one another so. The 
 case, however,, historically appears to be as follows : — 
 - When the church Mycologists established their system, they 
 collected all the writings they could -find;- and managed them as 
 they pleased. It is a matter altogether of uncertainty to us 
 whether such of the writings as now appear under the name of the 
 Old and New Testament, are in the same state in which those 
 collectors say they found them, -or whether they added, altered, 
 abridged, or dressed them up. 
 
 Be this as it may, they decided by vote which of the books out 
 of the collection they had made, should be the wojrd of god, and 
 which should not. They rejected several ; they voted others to 
 be doubtful, such as the books called the Apocrypha ; and those 
 books which had a majority of votes, were- voted to be the word 
 of God. Had they voted otherwise, all the people, since calling 
 themselves Christians, had believed otherwise — for the belief of 
 the one comes from the vote of the other. Who the people were 
 that did all this, we know nothing of, they called themselves by 
 the general name of the Church ; and this is all we know of the 
 matter. 
 
 As we have no other external evidence or authority for believ- 
 ing these -books to be the word of God, than what I have men- 
 tioned, .which is no evidence or authority a all, I come, in the 
 next place, to examine the internal evidence contained in the 
 books themselves. 
 
PARTI.] THE AGE OP REASON. HI 
 
 In theformer part of this Essay, I have spoken of revelation. — 
 I now proceed further with that subject, for the purpose of applying 
 it to tile books in question. 
 
 Revelation is a communication of something-, which the person, 
 to whom that thing is revealed* did not know before. For if I 
 have done a thing, or seen it done, it needs no revelation to 
 tell me I have done it, or seen it, nor to enable me to tell it, or to 
 write it. 
 
 Revelation^ therefore, cannot be applied to any thing done upon' 
 earth, of which man is 'himself the actor or the witness ; and 
 consequently all the historical and anecdotal part of the Bible, 
 which is almost the whole of it, is not within .the meaning and 
 compass of the word revelation, and, therefbre,\ is not the- word of 
 Go*. - 
 
 When Sampson ran off with the gate-posts of Gaza,' if he ever 
 did so, (and whether he did or not is nothing to us,) 6r when he 
 visited his Delilah, or caught his foxes, or did any thing else, what- 
 has revelation to do with these things? -■■ If they were facts, he 
 could tell them himself; or his secretary, -if he kept; one, could 
 write them, if -they were worth either telling or writing ; and if 
 they were -fictious, revelation could' hot make them true ; and 
 whether true or not, we are neither the bettef nor the wiser for 
 knowing'tbem. When we contemplate the immensity of "that 
 Being, who directs and governs the incomprehensible whole, of 
 which the utmost ken of' human sight can discover but a part, 
 we ought to feel -shame at calling such paltry stories the word of 
 God. 
 
 As to the account of the Creation, with -which the book of 
 Genesis opens, it has all the appearance "of being a: tradition which 
 the Israelites had among them before they came into Egypt f and 
 after -their departure from that country, they put if at the head of 
 their history, without telling (as it is.most probable) that they did 
 not know how they came by it". The manner in which the account 
 opens, shows it to be traditionary. It begins abruptly : it is no- 
 body that speaks ; it is nobody that hears ;• it is addressed to no- 
 body ; it has neither first, second, or third person ; it has every 
 criterion of being a tradition, it has ho voucher. - Moses does not 
 take it Opon himself by introducing it with the formality that he 
 
22 THE AGE OP HEASON. [PART I. 
 
 uses on other occasions, such as that of saying, Hie^Lord spake 
 unto JWoses, saying." 
 
 Why it has been called the Mosaic account of the Creation, I 
 am at a loss to conceive. Moses, I believe, was too good a 
 judge of such subjects to put his name to that account. He had 
 been educated among the Egyptians," who were a people as well 
 skilled in science, and particularly in astronomy, as any people of 
 their day ; and the silence and caution" that Moses observes, in 
 not authenticating the account, is a- good "negative evidence that 
 he neither told it nor believed it. — The case is, that every nation 
 of people has been world-makers, and the Israelites had as much 
 right to set up the trade of world-making as any of the rest ; and 
 as Moses was not an Israelite, he might not choose to contradict 
 the tradition. The account, however, is harmless ; and this is 
 more than can be said of many other parts of the Bible. 
 
 Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous de- 
 baucheries, the cruel and torturous executions, the unrelenting 
 vindictiveness, with- which more than half the Bible is filled, it 
 would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon, 
 than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that "has 
 served to corrupt and brutalize mankind ; and, for my own. part, I 
 sincerely detest it, as L detest every thing that is cruel. 
 
 We scarcely meet with any thing, a few phrases excepted, but 
 what -deserves either our abhorence or our contempt, till we come 
 to the miscellaneous parts of the Bible. .In the anonymous pub- 
 lications, the Psalms, and the Book of Job, more particularly in 
 the latter, we find a great deal of elevated sentiment reverentially 
 expressed of the power and benignity of the Almighty ; but they 
 stand on no higher rank than many,other compositions on similar 
 subjects, as well before that time as since. 
 
 The Proverbs which are said to be Solomon's, though most 
 probably a collection, (bocauseAey discover a knowledge of life, 
 which his situation excluded him from knowing) are an instructive 
 table of ethics'. They are inferior in keenness to the proverbs of 
 the Spaniards, and not more wise and economical than those of the 
 American Franklin. 
 
 All the remaining parts of the Bible, generally known by the 
 name of the Prophets, are the works of the Jewish poets and 
 itinerant preachers, who mixed poetry, anecdote, and devotion 
 
PAJtf i.J the age 6K reason. Sf3 
 
 together — and those works still retain the air and style of poetry, 
 though in translation.* *• 
 
 There is hot, throughout the whole book called the Bible, any 
 Word that describes to us what we call a poet, nor any word that 
 describes what we calTpOetry. The case is, that the word pro- 
 phet, to which latter times have affixed a new idea, was the Bible 
 word for poet, and the word prophesijing meant the art of making 
 poetry. It also meant the art Of playing poetry "to a.turie upon any 
 instrument of music. 
 
 We read of prophesying with pipes, tabrets, and horns — of 
 prophesying with harps, with psalteries, with cymbals, and with 
 every other instrument of music then in fashion". Were we now 
 to speak of prophesying with a fiddle, or with a pipe and tabor, the 
 expression would have no meanings or would appear ridiculous, 
 and to some people contemptuous', because We have changed the 
 meaning of the word. 
 
 We are told of Saul being among the prophets, and also that he 
 prophesied ;- but We are nottold'what they prophesied, nor what he 
 prophesied. The case is, there wfts nothing to tell ; for thesn 
 prophets were a company of musicians and poets, and Saul joined 
 in the concert, and this~wus [called prophesying. ' 
 
 * As thefe are many readers who do not. see tha't a composition is poetry, 
 unless. it-be in rhyme, it is-fqr .their information that I add this note. ' .- . 
 
 Poetry consists principally in two things^— imagery'ahd composition. The 
 composition of poetry differs from that of prose in the manner of mixing long 
 and short syllable's together. Take a long^syllable out of a line„of,poetryj,and 
 put a short one in the room of it, or put a long syllable where a short one 
 should' be, and that line will lose its poetical harmony. It will have an effect 
 upon the line like thaf -of misplacing a note hi a song. ; _ 
 
 The imagery in those books, called the prophets, appertains altogether to 
 poetry. It Is fictitious, and often extravagant, and not admissible in any other 
 kind of writing than jg'OBU-y. 
 
 To sliow that these writings arercoYnposed in poetical numbers,. I will take 
 ten syllables^ as they stand in the book, and make a line of the same number 
 of syllables fheroic .measure) that shall rhyme with the last word. It will 
 then be'seen that the composition of those books is poetical measure. The 
 instance I shall produce is from Isaiah : — 
 
 "Hear, Oye'heavens, and give ear, O .earth-!" 
 ,'T_is God himself that calls, attention forth. 
 
 Another instance! shall quote is from the mournful Jeremiah, to which 
 shall add two other lin.es, for the purpose of carrying out the figure, and 
 ahdtfiiig the intention of The i poet. - '/-' • 
 
 ' " 0! that mine head were waters and mine eyes" 
 ' Were fountains flowing like the liquid skies; 
 
 " Then would' I.give the mighty flood release, 
 And weep a deluge for the human race. 
 
94 THE- AGE OJP REASON. [PART I, 
 
 The account given of this affair in the book called Samuel, is, 
 that Saul met a company of prophets ; a whole company of them ! 
 coming down with a psaltery, a tabret, a pipe, and a harp, and 
 that they prophesied, and that he prophesied with them. But 
 it appears afterwards, that Saul prophesied badly ; that is, per- 
 formed his part badly ;' for it is said, that, an " evil spirit from 
 God"* came upon Saul, and hB prophesied. 
 
 Now, were there no other passage- in the book called the Bible, 
 than this, to demonstrate to us that we have -lost the original 
 meaning of the word prophesy, and substituted, another meaning in 
 its places this ,alone would be sufficient ; for it is impossible to 
 use and apply the word prop hesy, in the place it is here used and 
 applied, if we give to it the sense which latter times have affixed 
 to it. The manner in which it is here used strips it of all religious 
 meaning, and shows that a man might then be a prophet, or he 
 might prophesy i as he may now be a poet or musician, without 
 any jegard to the moi-ality or immorality of his character. The 
 word was originally a term of science, promiscuously applied to 
 poetry and to music, and not restricted .to any subject upon which 
 poetry and music might be exercised. 
 
 Deborah and Barak are called prophets, not because they pre- 
 dicted any thing, but because «they composed the poem or song 
 that bears their name, in celebration of an act already done. 
 David is ranked among the prophets, for he was a musician, and 
 was also reputed to be (though perhaps very, erroneously) the 
 author of the Psalms. But Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are not 
 called prophets ; it does not appear from any accounts we have, 
 that they could either singyplay music, or make poetry; 
 
 We are told of the greater. and the lesser prophets. They might 
 as well tell us of the greater and the lesser God ;■ for there cannot 
 be degrees in prophesying consistently with its modem sense. — 
 But there are degrees in poetry, and therefore the phrase is recon- 
 cileable to the case, when we understand by it the greater and die 
 lesser poets. - 
 
 It is altogether unnecessary, after this, to offer any observations 
 upon what those men, styled prophets, have written. The axe 
 goes at once, to the root,~by showing that the original meaning of 
 
 * As those men who call themselves divines and commentators, are very 
 fond of puzzling one another, I leave them to contest the meaning of the first 
 Btirtof the phrase, that of on evil spirit of God. I keep to my text — I keep to 
 the meaning of the word prophesy. 
 
rABT I.] TH3 AGS OF REASON. 25 
 
 the word has been mistaken, and consequently all the inferences 
 that have been drawn from those books, the devotional respect 
 that has been paid to them, and the laboured commentaries that 
 have been written upon them, under that mistaken meaning, are 
 not worth disputing about. In many things, however, the wri- 
 tings of the Jewish poets deserve a better fate than that of being 
 bound up, as they now are, with the trash that accompanies them, 
 under the abused name of the word of God. 
 
 If we permit ourselves to conceive right ideas of things, wo 
 must necessarily affix the idea, not only of unchangeableness, but 
 of the utter impossibility ,of any change taking place, by any 
 means or accident whatever, in that which we would honour with 
 the name of the word of God ; and therefore the word of God 
 cannot exist in any written or human language. 
 
 The continually progressive change to, which the meaning, of 
 words is subject, the want of an universal language which renders 
 translation necessary, the errors to which translations are again 
 subject, the mistakes of copyists and printers, together with the 
 possibility of wilful alteration, are of themselves evidences that 
 the human language, whether in speech or in print, cannot be the 
 vehicle of the word of God. The word of Gpd exists in some- 
 thing else. 
 
 Did the book, called the Bible, excel in purity of ideas and 
 expression all the books now extant in the world, I would not take 
 it for my rule of faith, as being the word of God, because the 
 possibility would nevertheless exist of my being imposed upon. 
 But when I see throughout the greatest part of this book, scarcely 
 any thing but a history of the grossest vices, and a collection of 
 the most paltry and contemptible tales, I cannot dishonor my 
 Creator by calling it by his name. 
 
 Thus much for the Bible ; I now go on to the book 'called the 
 New Testament. The JVeio Testament !. that is, the new will, 
 as if there could be two wills of the Creator. 
 
 Had it been the object or the intention of Jesus Christ to estab 
 lish a new religion, he would undoubtedly have written the system 
 himself, or procured it to be written in his life time. But there is 
 no publication extant authenticated with his name. All the books 
 called the New Testament were written after his death. He was 
 a Jew by birth and by profession ; and he was the son of God in 
 
 4 
 
20 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART U 
 
 like manner that every other person is — for the Creator is the 
 Father of All. 
 
 TJie first four books, called Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John, do 
 not give a history of the life of Jesus Christ, but only detached 
 anecdotes of him. It appears from these books, that the whole 
 time of his being a preacher was not more than eighteen months ;* 
 and it was only during this short time, that those men became ac- 
 quainted with him. They make mention of him at the age of twelve 
 years, sitting, they say, among the Jewish doctors, asking and 
 answering them questions. As this^was several years before their 
 acquaintance with him began, it is most probable they had this 
 anecdote from his parents. From this time there is no account 
 of him for about sixteen years. Where he lived, or how he em- 
 ployed himself during this interval, is not known. Most probably 
 he was working at his father's trade, which was that of a car- 
 penter. It does not apoear that he had any school education, and 
 the probability is, that he could not write, for his parents were 
 extremely poor, as appears from their not being able to pay for a 
 bed when he was bom. 
 
 It is somewhat curious that the three persons whose names are 
 the most universally recorded, were of very obscure parentage. 
 Moses was a foundling ; Jesus Christ was born in a stable ; and 
 Mahomet was a mule driver. The first and the last of these men 
 were founders of different systems of religion ; but Jesus Chris' 
 funded no new system. He called men to the practice of morsi 
 virtues, and the belief of one God. The great trait in his rhii 
 racter is philanthropy; 
 
 The manner in which he was apprehended, shows that he wi. ,• 
 not much known at that time ; and it shows also, that the meetings 
 he then held with his followers were in secret ; and that he had 
 given over or suspended preaching publicly. Judas could no other 
 wife hetray him than by giving information where he was, and 
 pointing him out to the officers that went to arrest him ; and the 
 reason for employing and paying Judas to do this could arise only 
 from the cause already mentioned, that of his not being much 
 known, and living concealed. 
 
 The idea of his concealment, not only agrees very ill with his 
 reputed divinity, but associates with it something of pusillanimity ; 
 and his being betrayed, or in other words, his being apprehended, 
 on the information of one of his followers, shows that he did not 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OF REASON. 27 
 
 intend to be apprehended, and consequently that he did not intend 
 to be crucified. 
 
 The Christian Mythologists tell us, that Christ died for the sins 
 of the world, and that he came on purpose to die. Would it not 
 then have been the same if he had died of a fever, or of the small 
 pox, of old age, or of any thing else 1 
 
 The declaratory sentence which, they say, was passed upon 
 Adam, in case he eat of the apple, was not, that thou shalt surely 
 be crucified, but, thou shalt surely die — the sentence of death, and 
 not the manner of dying. Crucifixion, therefore, or any other 
 particular manner of dying, made no part of the sentence that 
 Adam was to suffer, andconsequently, even upon their own tac- 
 tics, it could make no part of the sentence that Christ was to 
 suffer in the room of Adam. A. fever would have done as well 
 as a cross, if there was any occasion for either. 
 
 The sentence of death, which they tell us, was thus passed upon 
 Adam, must either have meant dying naturally, that is, ceasing to 
 • live, or have meant what these, Mythologists call damnation ; and 
 consequently, the act of dying on the part of Jesus Christ, must 
 according to their system, apply as a prevention to one or other of 
 these two things happening to Adam and to us* 
 
 That it does not prevent our dying is evident, because we all 
 die ; and if their accounts of longevity be true, men die faster since 
 the crucifixion than before ; and with respect to the second ex- 
 planation, (including with it the natural death of Jesus Christ 
 as a substitute for the eternal death or damnation of all mankind,) 
 it is impertinently representing the Creator as corning off, or 
 revoking the sentence, by a pun or a quibble upon the word death. 
 That manufacturer of quibbles, St. Paul, if he wrote the books 
 + hat bear his name, ha"s helped this quibble on by making another 
 quibble upon the word Adam. He makes there to be two Adams ; 
 the one who sins in fact, and suffers by proxy ; the other who sins 
 by proxy, and suffers in fact. A religion thus interlarded with 
 quibble, subterfuge, and pun, has a tendency to instruct its pro- 
 fessors in the practice of these arts. They acquire the habit 
 without being aware of the cause. 
 
 If Jesus Christ was the being which those Mythologists 'tell us 
 he was, and that he came into this world to suffer, which is a word 
 they sometimes use instead of to die, the only real suffering he 
 could have endured, would have been to live. His existence here 
 
98 THE AGE OP REASON. [PA-BT t 
 
 was a state of exilement or transportation from Heaven, and the 
 way back to his original country was to die. — In fine, every thing 
 in this strange system is the reverse of what it pretends to be. It 
 is the reverse of truth, and I become so tired of examining into its 
 inconsistencies and absurdities, that I hasten to the conclusion of 
 it, in order to proceed to something better. 
 
 How much, or what parts of the books called the New Testa- 
 ment, were written by the persons whose names they bear, is what 
 we can know nothing of, neither are we certain in what language 
 'they were originally written. The matters they now contain may 
 be classed under two heads — anecdote and epistolary correspon- 
 dence. 
 
 The four books already mentioned, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
 John, are altogether anecdotal. They relate events after they had 
 taken place. They tell what Jesus Christ did and said, and what 
 others did and said to him ; and in several instances they relate 
 the same event differently. Revelation is necessarily out of the 
 question with respect to those books; not only because of the 
 disagreement of the writers, but because revelation cannot be 
 applied to the relating of facts by the persons who saw them done, 
 nor to the relating or recording of any discourse or conversation 
 by those who heard it. The book called the Acts of the Apostles 
 (an anonymous work) belongs also to the anecdotal part. 
 
 AU the other parts of the New Testament, except the book of 
 enigmas, called the Revelations, are a collection of letters under 
 the name of epistles ; and the forgery of letters has been such a 
 common practice in the world, that the probability is at least equal, 
 whether they are genuine or forged. One thing, however, is 
 much less equivocal, which is, that out of the matters contained in 
 those books, together with the assistance of some old stories, the 
 church has set up a system of religion very contradictory to the 
 character of the person whose name it bears. It has set up a 
 religion of pomp and of revenue, in pretended imitation of a per- 
 son whose life was humility and poverty. 
 
 The invention of purgatory, and of the releasing of souls there- 
 from, by prayers, bought of the church with money ; the selling of 
 pardons, dispensations and indulgencies, are revenue laws, with- 
 out bearing that name or carrying that appearance. But the case 
 nevertheless is, that those things derive their origin from the 
 paroxysm of the crucifixion and the theory deduced therefrom 
 
PART I-] THE ARE OF REASON. 29 
 
 which was, that one person could stand in the place of another, 
 and could perform meritorious services for him. The probability, 
 therefore, is, that the whole theory or doctrine of what is called 
 the redemption (which is said to have been accomplished by the 
 act of one person in the room of another) was originally fabricated 
 on purpose to bring forward and build, all those secondary and 
 pecuniary redemptions upon ; and that .the passages in the books 
 upon which the idea of theory of redemption is built, have been 
 manufactured and fabricated for that purpose. Why are we to 
 give this church credit, when she tells us that those books are 
 genuine in every part, any more than we give her credit for every 
 thing else she has told us ; or for the miracles she says she has 
 performed'? That she could fabricate writings is certain, because 
 she could write ; and the composition of the writings in question, 
 is of that kind that anybody might do it; and that she did 
 fabricate them is not more inconsistent with probability, than 
 that she should tell us, as she has done, that she could and did 
 work miracles. 
 
 Since, then, no external evidence can, at this long distance of 
 time, be produced to prove whether the church fabricated the doc- 
 trines called redemption or not, (for such evidence, whether for or 
 against, would be subject to the same suspicion of being fabrica- 
 ted,) the ease can only be referred to the internal evidence which 
 the thing carries within itself ; and this affords a very strong pre- 
 sumption of its being a fabrication. For the Internal evidence is, 
 that the theory or doctrine of redemption has for its basis an idea 
 of pecuniary justice, and not that of moral justice. 
 
 If I owe a person money, and cannot pay him, and he threatens 
 to put me in prison, another person can take the debt upon him- 
 self, and pay it for me ; but if I have committed a crime, every 
 circumstance of the case is changed ; moral justice cannot take 
 the innocent for the guilty, even if the innocent would offer itself. 
 To suppose justice to do this, is to destroy the principle of its 
 existence, which is the thing itself ; it is then no longer justice ; it 
 is indiscriminate revenge. 
 
 This single reflection will show that the doctrine of redemption 
 is founded, on a mere pecuniary idea, corresponding to that of a 
 • debt, which another person might pay ; and as this pecuniary idea 
 corresponds again with the system of second redemptions, ob- 
 tained through the means of money given to the church for 
 
30 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART I. 
 
 pardons, the probability is, that the same persons fabricated both 
 one and the other of those theories ; and that, in truth, there is no 
 such thing as redemption ; that it is fabulous, and that man stands 
 in the same relative condition with his Maker he ever did stand, 
 since man existed, and that it is his greatest consolation to think 
 so. 
 
 Let him believe this, and he will live more consistently and 
 morally, than by any other system ; it is by his being taught to 
 contemplate himself as an out-law, as an out-cast, as a beggar, as 
 a mumper, as one thrown, as it were, on a dunghill, at an immense 
 distance from his Creator, and who must make his approaches by 
 creeping and cringing to intermediate beings, that he conceives 
 either a contemptuous disregard for every thing under the name 
 of religion, or becomes indifferent, or turns, what he calls, devout. 
 In the latter case, he consumes his life in grief, or the affectation 
 of it ; his prayers are reproaches ; his humility is ingratitude ; 
 he calls himself a worm, and the fertile earth a dunghill ; and 
 all the blessings of life, by the thankless name of vanities; be 
 despises the choicest gift of God to man, the gift of reason ; 
 and having endeavoured to force upon himself the belief of a 
 system against which reason revolts, he ungratefully calls it 
 human reason, as if man could give reason to himself. 
 
 Tet, with all this strange appearance of humility, and this con- 
 tempt for human reason, he ventures into the boldest presump- 
 tions;, he finds fault with every thing; his selfishness is never 
 satisfied ; his ingratitude is never at an end. He takes on him- 
 self to direct the Almighty what t^ do, even in the government 
 of the universe ; he prays dicta^orially ; when it is sun-shine, he 
 prays for rain, and when it is rain, he prays for sun-shine ; he 
 follows the same idea in every thing that he prays for ; for what 
 is the amount of all his prayers, but an attempt to make the 
 Almighty change his mind, and act otherwise than he does ? It is 
 as if he were to say — thou knowest not so well as I. 
 
 But some perhaps will say^Are we to have no word of God 
 — no revelation ! I answer, Yes : there is a word of God ; there 
 is a revelation. 
 
 The word of God is the creation we behold : And it is 
 in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, 
 that God speaketh universally to man. 
 
PART 1. 1 THE AGE OF REASOJT. 81 
 
 Human language is local and changeable, and is therefore inca- 
 pable of being used as the means of unchangeable and universal 
 information. The idea that God sent Jesus Christ to publish, as 
 they say, the glad tidings to all nations, from one end of the earth 
 to the other, is consistent only with the ignorance of those who 
 knew nothing of the extent of the world, and who believed, as 
 those world-saviours believed, and continued to believe, for seve- 
 ral centuries, (and that in contradiction to the discoveries of phi- 
 losophers and the experience of navigators,) that the earth was flat 
 like a trencher ; and that a man might walk to the end of it. 
 
 But how was Jesus Christ to make any thing Isnown to all na- 
 tions 1 He could speak but one language, which was Hebrew ; 
 and there are in the world several hundred languages. Scarcely 
 any two nations speak the same language, or understand each 
 other ; and as to translations, every man who knows any thing of 
 languages, knows that it was impossible to translate from one lan- 
 guage to another, not only without losing a great part of the ori- 
 ginal, but frequently of mistaking the sense ; and besides all this, 
 the art of printing was wholly unknown at the time Christ lived. 
 
 It is always necessary that the means that are to accomplish any 
 end, be equal to the accomplishment of that end, or the end can- 
 not be accomplished. It is in this, that the difference between 
 finite and infinite power and wisdom discovers itself. Man fre- 
 quently fails in accomplishing his ends, from a natural inability of 
 the power to the purpose ; and frequently from the want of wis- 
 dom to apply power properly. But it is impossible for infinite 
 power and wisdom to fail as man faileth. The means it useth are 
 always equal to the end ; but human language, more especially as 
 there is not an universal language, is incapable of being used 
 as an universal means of unchangeable and uniform information, 
 and therefore it is not the means that God useth in manifesting 
 himself universally to man. 
 
 It is only in the creatjon that all our ideas and conceptions of 
 a word of God can unite. The Creation speaketh an universal 
 language, independently of human .speech or human language, 
 multiplied and various as they be. It is an ever-existing original, 
 which every man can read. It cannot be forged ; it cannot be 
 counterfeited ; it cannot be lost ; it cannot be altered ; it cannot 
 be suppressed. It does not depend upon the will of man whether 
 it shall be published or not ; it publishes itself from one end of the 
 
32 THE AGE OF REASOK. [>ART I. 
 
 earth to the other. It preaches to all nations and to all worlds ; 
 and this word of God reveals to man all that is necessary for man 
 to know of God. 
 
 Do we want to contemplate his power ? We see it in the im- 
 mensity of the Creation. Do we wal t to contemplate his wis- 
 dom ? We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incom- 
 prehensible whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his 
 munificence 1 We see it in the abundance with which he fills the 
 earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy ? We see it in his 
 not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful. In 
 fine, Mo we want to know what God is ? Search not the book 
 called the Scripture, which any human hand might make, but the 
 Scripture called the Creation. 
 
 The only idea man can affix to the name of God, is that of a 
 first cause, the cause of all things. And, incomprehensible and 
 difficult as it is for a man to conceive what a first cause is, he ar- 
 rives at the belief of it, from the tenfold greater difficulty of disbe- 
 lieving it. It is difficult beyond description to conceive that space 
 can have no end ; but it is more difficult to conceive an end. It 
 is difficult beyond the power of man to conceive an eternal dura- 
 tion of what we call time ; but it is more impossible to conceive 
 a time when there shall be no time. 
 
 In like manner of reasoning, every thing we behold carries in 
 itself the internal evidence that it did not make itself. Every 
 man is an evidence to himself, that he did not make himself; 
 neither could his father make himself, nor his grandfather, nor any 
 of his race; neither could any tree, plant, or animal make itself; 
 and it is the conviction arising from this evidence, that carries us 
 on, as it were, by necessity, to the belief of a first cause eternally 
 existing, of a nature totally different to any material existence we 
 know of, and by the power of which all things exist ; and this first 
 cause man calls God. 
 
 It is only by the exercise of. reason, that man can discover 
 God. Take away that reason, and he would be incapable of 
 understanding any thing ; and, in this case it would be just as 
 consistent to read even the book called the Bible to a horse as to 
 a man. How then is it that those people pretend to reject 
 reason ? 
 
 Almost the only parts in the book called the Bible, that coBvey 
 to us any idea of God, are some chapters in Job, and the 19th 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OF REASON. 33 
 
 Psalm ; I recollect no other. ■ Those parts are true deislical com- 
 positions ; for they treat of the Deity through his works. They 
 take the book of Creation as the word of God, they refer to no 
 other book, and all the inferences they make are drawn from that 
 volume. 
 
 I insert, in this place,, the 19th Psalm, as paraphrased into Eng- 
 lish verse by Addison. I recollect not the prose, and where I 
 write this I have not the- opportunity of seeing it. 
 
 The spacious firmament on high, 
 
 With all the blue etherial sky, 
 
 And spangled heavens, a shining frame, 
 
 Their great original proclaim. 
 
 The unwearied sun, from day to day, 
 
 Does his Creator's power display ; 
 
 And publishes to every land, 
 
 The work of an Almighty hand. 
 
 Soon as the evening shades prevail, 
 
 The moon takes up the wondrous tale, 
 
 And nightly to the listning earth, 
 
 Repeats the story of her birth ; 
 
 Whilst all the stars that round her burn, 
 
 And all the planets, in- their turn, 
 
 Confirm the tidings as they roll, 
 
 And spread the truth from pole to pole. 
 
 What though in solemn silence all 
 
 Move round this dark terrestrial ball ; - 
 
 What though no real voice, nor sound, 
 
 Amidst their radient orbs be found, 
 
 In reason's ear they all rejoice, 
 
 And utter forth a glorious voice, 
 
 For ever singing as they shine, 
 
 The hand that made cs is divine. 
 
 What more does man want to know, than that the hand or 
 power, that made these .things is divine, is omnipotent? Let.him 
 believe this with, the force it is impossible to repel, if he permits 
 his reason to act, and his rule of moral life will follow of course. 
 
 The allusions in Job have all of them the same tendency with 
 this Psalm ; that of deducing or proving, a truth, that would be 
 otherwise unknown, from truths already known. 
 
 I recollect not enough of the passages in Job, to insert them 
 correctly : but there is one occurs to me that is applicable, to the 
 subject I am speaking upon. " Canst thou by searching find out 
 God 1 Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection?" 
 
84 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART 1. 
 
 I know not how the printers have pointed this passage, for I 
 keep no Bible ; but it contains two distinct questions, that adrmi 
 of distinct answers. » 
 
 First — Canst thou by searching find out God ? Yes ; because 
 in the first place, I know I did not make myself, and yet I have 
 existence; and by searching into the nature of. other things, I 
 find that no other thing could make itself; and yet millions of 
 other things exist.; therefore it is, that I know, by positive con- 
 clusion resulting from this search, that there is a power superior 
 to all those things, and that power is God. 
 
 Secondly — Canst thou find out the Almighty to perfection ? 
 No ; not only because the power and wisdom He has manifested 
 in the structure of the Creation that I behold is to me incompre- 
 hensible, but because even this manifestation, great as it is, is- 
 probably but a small display of that immensity of power and wis- 
 dom, by which millions of other worlds, to me invisible by then- 
 distance, were created and continue to exist. 
 
 It is evident that both of these questions are put to the reason 
 of the person to whom they are supposed to have been addressed; 
 and it is only by admitting the first question to be answered 
 affirmatively, that the second could follow. It would have beee 
 unnecessary, and even absurd, to have put a second question 
 more difficult than the first, if the first question had been answered 
 negatively. The two questions have different objects ; the first 
 refers to the existence of God, the second to his attributes ; 
 reason can discover the one, but it falls infinitely short in dis- 
 covering the whole of the other. 
 
 I recollect not a single passage in all the writings ascribed to 
 
 the men called apostles, that convey any idea of what God is. 
 
 Those writings are chiefly controversial ; and the subject they 
 
 dwell upon, that of a man dying in agony on a cross, is better 
 
 suited to the gloomy genius of a monk in a ^:ell, by whom it is not 
 
 impossible they were written, than to any man breathing the open 
 
 air of the Creation. The only passage that 'occurs to me, that has 
 
 any reference to the works of God, by which only his power and 
 
 wisdom can be known, is related to have been spoken by Jesus 
 
 Christ, as a remedy against distrustful care. "Behold the lilies 
 
 of the field, they toil not, neither do they spin." This, however, 
 
 is far inferior to the allusions in Job and in the 19th Psalm ; but 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OP REASON. 35 
 
 it is similar in idea, and the modesty of the imagery is correspon- 
 dent to the modesty of the man. 
 
 As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species 
 of atheism — a sort of religious denial of God. It professes to be- 
 lieve in a man rather than in God. It is a compound made up 
 chiefly "of manism with but little deism, and is as near to atheism 
 as twilight is to darkness. It introduces between man and his 
 Maker an opaque body, which it calls a Redeemer, as the moon 
 introduces her opaque self between the earth and the sun, and it 
 produces by this means a religious or an irreligious eclipse of light* 
 It has put the whole orbit of reason into shade. 
 
 The effect of this obscurity has been, that of turning everything 
 upside down, and representing it in reverse ; and among the re- 
 volutions it has thus magically produced, it has made a revolution 
 in Theology. 
 
 That which is now called natural philosophy, embracing the 
 whole circle of science, of which Astronomy occupies the chief 
 place, is the study of the works of God, and of the power and wis- 
 dom of GocTin his works, and is the. true theology,- 
 
 As to the theology that is now studied in its place, it is the 
 study of human opinions, and of human fancies concerning God. 
 It is not the study of God himself in the works that he has made, 
 but in the works or writings that man has made ;" and it is not 
 among the least of the mischiefs that the Christian system has 
 done to the world, that it has abandoned the original and beautiful 
 system of theology, like a beautiful innocent, to distress and re 
 proach, to make room for the hag of superstition. 
 
 The book of Job, and the 19th Psalm, which even the church 
 admits to be more ancient than the chronological order in which 
 they stand in the book called the Bible, are theological orations 
 conformable to the original system of theology. The internal 
 evidence of those orations proves to a. demonstration that the 
 study and contemplation, of the works of Creation, and of the 
 power and wisdom of God, revealed and manifested in those 
 works, made a great part of the religious devotion of the times in 
 which they were written ; and it was this devotional study and 
 contemplation that led to the discovery of the principles upon 
 which, what are now called Sciences, are established ; and it is to 
 the discovery of these principles that almost all the Arts that con- 
 tribute to the convenience o" human life, owe their existence. 
 
86 THE AGE OP REASON. [pABT I. 
 
 Every principal art has some science for its parent, though the 
 person who mechanically performs the work does not always, and 
 but very seldom, perceive the connexion. 
 
 It is a fraud of the Christian system to call the sciences human 
 invention ; it is only the application of them that is human. Every 
 science has for its basis a system of principles .as fixed and unal- 
 terable- as those by which the universe is regulated and governed. 
 Man cannot make principles, he can only discover them. 
 
 For example— Every person who looks at an Almanack sees an 
 account when an eclipse will take place, and he sees also that it 
 never fails to take place according to the account there given. 
 This shows that man is acquainted with the laws by which the 
 heavenly bodies move. But it would be something worse than 
 ignorance, were any church on earth to say, that those laws are a 
 human invention. It would also be ignorance, or something 
 worse, to say that the scientific principles, by the aid of which 
 man is enabled to calculate and foreknow when an eclipse will 
 take place, are a human invention. Man cannot invent and 
 thing' that is eternal and immutable ; and the scientific principles 
 he employs for this purpose must, and are, of necessity, as eternal 
 and immutable as the laws by which the heavenly bodies move, or 
 they could not be used as they are to ascertain the time when, and 
 the manner how, an eclipse will take place. 
 
 The scientific principles that man employs to obtain the fore- 
 knowledge of an eclipse, or of any thing else, relating to the mo- 
 tion of the heavenly bodies, are contained chiefly in that part of sci- 
 ence which is called Trigonometry, or the properties of a triangle, 
 which when applied to the study of the heavenly bodies, is called 
 Astronomy ; when applied to direct the course of a ship on the 
 ocean, it is called Navigation ; when applied to the construction 
 of figures drawn by rule and compass, it is called Geometry ; when 
 applied to the construction of plans of edifices, it is called Archi- 
 tecture ; when applied to the measurement of any portion of the 
 surface of the earth, it is called Land-surveying. In fine, it is 
 the soul of science ; it is an eternal truth ; it contains the mathe- 
 matical demonstration of which man speaks, and the extent of its 
 uses is unknown. 
 
 It may be said, that man can make or draw a triangle, and there- 
 fore a triangle is an human invention. 
 
PARTI.] THE AGE OF REASON. 37 
 
 But the triangle, when drawn, is no other than the image of the 
 principle ; it is a delineation to the eye, and from thence to the 
 mind, of a principle that would otherwise be imperceptible. The 
 triangle does not make the principle, any more than a candle 
 taken into a room that was dark, makes the chairs and tables that 
 before were invisible. All the properties of a triangle exist inde- 
 pendently of the figure, and existed before any triangle was drawn 
 or thought of by man. Man had no more to do in the formation 
 of those properties or principles, than he had to do in making the 
 laws by which the heavenly bodies move ; and therefore the one 
 must have the same divine origin as the other. 
 
 In the same manner as it may be said, that man can make a 
 triangle, so also may it be said, he can make the , mechanical in- 
 strument called a lever ; but the principle, by which the lever acts, 
 is a thing distinct from the instrument, and would exist if the in- 
 strument did not : it attaches itself to the instrument after it is 
 made ; the instrument, therefore, can act no otherwise than it 
 does act ; neither can all the efforts of human invention make it 
 act otherwise — that which, in all such cases, man calls the effect, 
 is no other than the principle itself rendered perceptible to the 
 senses. 
 
 . Since then man cannot make principles, from whence did he 
 gain a knowledge of them, so as to be able to apply them, not 
 only to things on earth, but to ascertain the motion of bodies so 
 immensely distant from him as all the heavenly bodies are? 
 From whence, I ask, coidd he gain that knowledge, but from the 
 study of the true theology ? 
 
 It is the structure of the universe that has taught this know- 
 ledge to man. That structure is an ever-existing exhibition of 
 every principle upon which every part- of mathematical science is 
 founded. The offspring of this science is mechanics ; for me 
 chanics is no other than the principles of science applied practi- 
 cally. The man who proportions the several parts of a mill, uses 
 the same scientific principles, as if he had the power of construct- 
 ing an universe ; but as he cannot give to matter that invisible 
 agency, by which all the components parts of the immense ma- 
 chine of the universe have influenced upon each other and act in 
 motional unison together, without any apparent contact, and to 
 which man has given the name of attraction, gravitation, and re- 
 pulsion, he supplies the place of that agency by the humble imi 
 
38 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART I. 
 
 tation of teeth and cogs. — All the parts of man's microcosm must 
 visibly touch : but could he gain a knowledge of that agency, so 
 as to be able to apply it in practice, we might then say, that ano- 
 ther canonical book of the word of God had been discovered. 
 
 If man could alter the properties of the lever, so also could he 
 alter the properties of the triangle : for a lever (taking that sort of 
 lever which is called a steel-yard, for the sake of explanation) 
 forms, when in motion, a triangle. The line it descends from, 
 (one point of that line being in the fulcrum,) the line it descends 
 to, and the cord of the arc, which the end of the lever describes 
 in the air, are the three sides of a triangle. The other arm of the 
 lever describes also a triangle ; and the corresponding sides of 
 those two triangles, calculated scientifically, or measured geome- 
 trically : and also the sines, tangents, and secants generated from 
 the angles, and geometrically measured, have the same proportions 
 to each other, as the different weights have that will balance each 
 other on the lever, leaving the weight of the lever out of the case 
 
 It may also be said, that man can make a wheel and axis , 
 that he can put wheels of different magnitudes together, and pro 
 duce a mill. Still the case comes back to the same point, which 
 is, that he did not make the principle that gives the wheels those 
 powers. That principle is as unalterable as in the former case, 
 or rather it is the same principle under a different appearance to 
 the eye. 
 
 The power that two wheels, of different magnitudes, have upon 
 each other, is in the same proportion as if the semi-diameter of the 
 two wheels were joined together and made into that kind of lever 
 [ have described, suspended at the part where the semi-diameters 
 join ; for the two wheels, scientifically considered, are no other 
 than the two circles generated by the motion of the compound 
 lever. 
 
 It is from the study of the true theology that all our knowledge 
 of science is derived, and it is from that knowledge that all the 
 arts have originated. 
 
 The Almighty lecturer, by displaying the principles of science 
 in the structure of the universe, has invited man to study and to 
 imitation. It is as if he had said to the inhabitants of this globe, 
 that we call ours, » I have made an earth for man to dwell upon, 
 and I have rendered the starry heavens visible, to teach him 
 science and the arts. He can now provide for his own comfort 
 
PABT I.J THE AGE OP REASON. 39 
 
 AND LEARN FROM MY MUNIFCIENCE TO ALL, TO BE KIND TO 
 EACH OTHER." * 
 
 Of what use is it, unless it be to teach man something, that his 
 eye is endowed with the power of beholding, to an incomprehen- 
 sible distance, an immensity of worlds revolving in the ocean of 
 space 1 Or of what use is it that this immensity of worlds is visi- 
 ble to man ? What has man to do with- the Pleiades, with Orion, 
 with S'irius, with the star he calls the north star, with the moving 
 orbs he has named Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, 
 if no uses are to follow from iheir being visible 1 A less power 
 of vision would have been sufficient for man, if the immensity he 
 now possesses were given only to waste itself, as it were, on an 
 immense desert of- space glittering with shows. 
 
 It is only by contemplating what he calls the starry.heavens, as 
 the book and school of science, that he discovers any use in their 
 being visible to~him, or any advantage resulting from his immen- 
 sity of vision. But when he contemplates the subject in this 
 light, he sees an additional motive for saying, that nothing was 
 made in vain ; for in vain woul3 be this power of vision if it 
 taught man nothing. 
 
 As the Christian system of faith has made a revolution in theo- 
 logy, so also has it made a revolution in the state of learning. 
 That which is now called learning, was not learning, originally. 
 Learning does not consist, as the schools now make it consist, in 
 the knowledge of languages, but in the knowledge of things to 
 which language gives names. 
 
 The Greeks were a learned people, but learning with them did 
 not consist in speaking Greek, any more than in a Roman's speak- 
 ing Latin, or a Frenchman's speaking French, or an Englishman's 
 speaking Finglish. From what we know of the Greeks, it does 
 not appear that they knew or studied any language but their own, 
 and this was one cause of their becoming so learned ; it afforded 
 therR more time to apply themselves to better studios. The 
 schools of the Greeks were schools of science and philosophy, 
 and not of languages ; and it is in the knowledge -of the things 
 that science and philosophy 'teach, that learning consists. 
 
 Almost all the scientific learning that now exists, came to ua 
 from the Greeks, or the people who spoke the Greek language. — 
 It, therefore,' became necessary for the pepple of other nations, 
 who spoke a different language, that some among them should 
 
40 THE AGE 07 REASON. [PART I. 
 
 leam the Greek language, in order that the learning the Greeks 
 had, might be made known in those nations, by translating the 
 Greek books of science and philosophy into the mother tongue of 
 each nation. 
 
 The. study, therefore, of the Greek language (and in the same 
 manner for the Latin) was no other than the drudgery business of a 
 linguist ; and the language thus obtained, was no other than the 
 means, as it were the tools, employed to obtain the learning the 
 Greeks had. It made no part of the learning itself; and was so 
 distinct from it, as to make it exceedingly probable that the per- 
 sons who had studied Greek sufficiently to translate those works, 
 such, for instance, as Euclid's Elements, did not understand 
 any of the learning the works contained. 
 
 As there is now nothing new to be learned from the dead lan- 
 guages, all the useful books being already translated, the lan- 
 guages are become useless, and the time expended in teaching 
 and learning them is wasted. So far as the study of languages 
 may contribute to the progress and communication of knowledge, 
 (for it has nothing to do with the creation of knowledge,) it is only 
 in the living languages that new knowledge is to be found ; and 
 certain it is, that, in general, a youth will learn more of a living 
 language in one year, than of a dead language in seven ; and it is 
 but seldom that the teacher knows much of it himself. The diffi- 
 culty of learning the dead languages does not arise from any supe- 
 rior abstruseness in the languages themselves, but in their being 
 dead, and the pronunciation entirely lost. It would be the same 
 thing with any other language when it becomes dead. The best 
 Greek linguist' that now exists, does not Understand GreeK so well 
 as a Grecian ploughman did, or a Grecian milkmaid : and the 
 same for the Latin, compared with a ploughman or milkmaid of 
 the Romans ; "it would therefore be advantageous to the state of 
 learning to abolish the study of the dead languages, and to make 
 learning consist, as it originally did, in scientific knowledge. 
 
 The apology that is sometimes made for continuing to teach 
 the dead languages is, that they are taught at a time, when a child 
 is not capable of exerting any other mental faculty than that of 
 memory; but that is altogether erroneous. The human mind 
 has a natural disposition to scientific knowledge, and to the things 
 connected with it.' The first and favourite amusement of a child, 
 even before it begins to play, is that of imitating the works of man, 
 
PAIIT 1.] THE AC.E OF REASON. 41 
 
 It builds houses with cards or sticks ; it navigates the little ocean 
 of a bowl of water with a paper boat, or dams the stream of -a 
 gutter, and contrives something which it calls a mill ; and it in- 
 terests itself in the fate of its works with a care that resembles 
 affection. It afterwards goes to school, where its genius is killed 
 by the barren study of a dead language, and the philosopher is lost 
 in the linguist. 
 
 But the apology that is now made for continuing to teach the 
 dead languages, could not be the cause, at first, of cutting down 
 learning to the narrow and humble sphere of linguistry ; the cause, 
 therefore, must be sought for elsewhere. In all researches 01 
 this kind, the best evidence that can be produced, is the internal 
 evidence the thing carries with itself, and the evidence of cir- 
 cumstances that unites with it ; both of which, in this case, are 
 not difficult to be discovered. 
 
 Putting then aside, as a matter of distinct consideration, the 
 outrage offered to the moral justice of God, by supposing him to 
 make the innocent suffer for the guilty, and also the loose mo- 
 rality and low contrivance of supposing him to change himself into 
 the shape of a man, in order to make an excuse to himself for not 
 executing his supposed sentence upon Adam ;' putting, I say, 
 those things aside as matter of distinct consideration, it is certain 
 that what is called the Christian system of faith, including in it the 
 whimsical account of the creation — the strange story of Eve — the 
 snake and the apple — the ambiguous idea of a man-god — the cor- 
 poreal, idea of the death of a god — the mythological idea of a 
 family of gods, and the Christian system of arithmetic, that three 
 are one, and one is three, are all irreconcilable, not only to the 
 divine gift of reason, that God hath given to Man, but to the 
 knowledge that man gains.of the power and wisdom of God, by 
 the aid of the sciences, and by studying the structure of the uni- 
 verse that God has made. 
 
 The setters^-up,- therefore, and the advocates of the Christian 
 system of faith, could not but foresee that the continually progres- 
 sive knowledge that man would gain, by the aid of science, of the 
 power and wisdom of God,- manifested in the structure of the uni- 
 verse, and in all the works of Creation, would militate against, 
 and call into question, the truth of their system of faith ; and 
 therefore it became necessary to their purpose to cut learning 
 down to a size less dangerous to their project, and this they 
 
 6 
 
42 THE AGE OF REASON i[pART I. 
 
 effected by restricting the idea of learning to the dead study ol 
 dead languages. 
 
 They not only rejected the study of science out of the Christian 
 schools, but they persecuted it'; and it is only within about the 
 last two centuries that the study has been revived. So late as 
 1610, Galileo, a Florentine, discovered and introduced the use 
 of telescopes, and by applying them to observe the motions and 
 appearance of the heavenly bodies, afforded additional means for 
 ascertaining the true structure of the universe. Instead of being 
 esteemed for those discoveries, he was sentenced to renounce 
 them, or the opinions resulting from them, as a damnable heresy. 
 And, prior to that time, Vigilius was condemned to be burned for 
 asserting the antipodes, or in other words, that the earth was a 
 globe, and habitable in every part where there was land ; yet the 
 truth of this is now too well known even to be told. 
 
 If the belief of errors not morally bad did no mischief, it would 
 make no ^art of the moral duty of man to oppose and remove 
 them. There was no moral ill in believing the earth was flat 
 like a trencher, any more than there was moral virtue in 
 believing that it was round like a globe ; neither was there any 
 moral ill in believing that the Creator made no other world than 
 this, any more than there was moral virtue in believing that he made 
 millions, and that the infinity of space is filled with worlds. But 
 when a system of religion is made to grow out of a supposed 
 system of creation that is not true, and to unite itself therewith in 
 a manner almost inseparable therefrom, the case assumes an en- 
 tirely different ground. It is then that errors, not morally bad, 
 become fraught with the same mischiefs as if they were. It ia 
 then that the truth, though otherwise indifferent itself, becomes 
 an essential, by becoming the criterion, that either confirms by 
 corresponding evidence, or denies by contradictory evidence, the 
 reality of the religion itself. In this view of the case, it is the , 
 moral duty of man to obtain every possible evidence that the 
 structure of the heavens, or any other part of creation affords, 
 with respect to systems of religion. But this, the supporters or 
 partizans of the Christian system, as if dreading the result, inces 
 santly opposed, and not only rejected the sciences, but persecuted 
 the professors. Had Newton or Descartes lived three or four 
 hundred years ago, and pursued their studies as they did, it is 
 most probable.they would not have lived to finish them ; and had 
 
FART I.] THE AGE OP REASON. 43 
 
 Franklin drawn lightning from the clouds at the same time, it 
 would have been at the hazard of expiring for it in flames. 
 
 Later times have laid all the blame upon the Goths and Vandals; 
 but, hqwever unwilling the partizans of the Christian system may 
 be to believe or to acknowledge, it, it is nevertheless true, that the 
 
 age of ignorance commenced with the Christian system There 
 
 was more knowledge in the world before that period, than for 
 many centuries afterwards ; and as to religious knowledge, the 
 Christian system, as already said, was only another species of 
 mythology ; and the mythology to which it succeeded, was a cor- 
 ruption of an ancient system of theism.* 
 
 It is owing to this long interregnum of science, and to no other 
 cause, that we have now to look through a vast chasm of many 
 
 hundred years to the respectable characters we call the ancients. 
 
 Had the progression of knowledge gone on proportionably with 
 the stock that before existed, that chasm would have been filled 
 up with characters rising superior in knowledge to each other ; and 
 those_ ancients we now so much admire, would have appeared 
 respectably in the back ground of the scene. But the Christian 
 system laid all waste ; and if we take our stand about the begin- 
 ning of the sixteenth century, we look back through that long 
 chasm, to -the times of the ancients, as over a vast sandy desart, 
 in which not a shrub appears to intercept the vision to the fertile 
 hills beyond. 
 
 * It is impossible for us now to know" at what time the heathen mythology 
 began ; but it is certain, from the internal evidence that it carries, that it did 
 not begin in the same state or condition in which it ended. All the gods of 
 that mythology, except Saturn, were of modern invention. The supposed 
 reign of Saturn was prior to that which is called the heathen mythology, and 
 was so far a species of theism, that it admitted the belief of only one God. 
 Saturii is supposed to have abdicated the government in favor of his three sons 
 "Ujd one daughter, Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune, and Juno j after this, thousands of 
 other gods and demi-gods-were imagmarily created, and the calendar of gods 
 increased as fast as the" calendar of saints, and the calendars of courts have 
 increased since. 
 
 All the corruptions that have taken place, in theology and in religion, have 
 been produced by admitting of what man calls revealed religion. The Myco- 
 logists pretended to more revealed religion than the Christians do. They had 
 their oracles and their priests, who were supposed to receive and deliver the 
 word of God verbally, on almost all occasions. 
 
 Since then all corruptions down from Molock to modern predestinariariism, 
 and the human sacrifices of the heathens to the Christian sacrifice of the Crea- 
 tor, have been produced by admitting of what is called revealid religion, the 
 most effectual means to prevent all such evils and impositions is, not to admit 
 of any other revelation than that which is manifested in the book of creation, 
 and to contemplate the creation as the only true and real work of God that 
 ever did, or ever will exist ; and that every thing else, called the word of God, 
 is fable and imposition. 
 
44 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART I. 
 
 It is an inconsistency scarcely possible to be credited, that any 
 thing should exist, under the name of a religion, that held it to be 
 irreligious to study and contemplate the structure of the universe 
 that God had made. But the fact is too well established to be 
 denied. The event that served more than any other to break the 
 first link in this long chain of despotic ignorance, is that known by 
 the name of the Reformation by Luther. From that time, though 
 it does not appear to have made any. part of the intention of 
 Luther, or of those who are called reformers, the sciences began 
 to revive, and liberality, their natural associate, began to appear. 
 This was the only public good the Reformation did ; for, with 
 respect to religious good, it might as well not have taken place. 
 The mythology still continued the same ; and a multiplicity of 
 National Popes grew out of the downfall of the Pope of Christ- 
 endom. 
 
 Having thus shown from the internal evidence of things, the 
 cause that produced a, change in the state of learning, and the 
 motive for substituting the study of dead languages, in the place 
 of the sciences, I proceed, in addition to the several observations, 
 already made in the former part of this work, to compare, or rather 
 to confront the evidence that the structure of the universe affords, 
 with the Christian system of religion ; but, as I cannot begin this 
 part better than by referring to the ideas that occurred to me at 
 an early part of life, and which I doubt not have occurred in some 
 degree to almost every other person at one time or other, I shall 
 state what those ideas were, and add thereto such other matter 
 as shall arise out of the subject, giving to the whole, by way of 
 preface, a short introduction. 
 
 My father being of the Quaker profession, it was my good 
 fortune to have an exceeding good moral education, and a tolera- 
 ble stock of useful learning. Though I went to the grammar 
 school,* I did not learn Latin, not only because I had no inclina- 
 tion to learn languages, but because of the objection the Quakers 
 have against the books in which the language is taught. But this 
 did not prevent me from being acquainted with the subjects of all 
 the Latin books used in the school. 
 
 The natural bent of my mind was to science. I had some 
 
 * The same school, Thetibrd in Norfolk, that the present Counsellor Mh> 
 gay went to, and under the same master. 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OP REASON. 45 
 
 turn, and I believe some talent for poetry; but this I rather 
 repressed than encouraged, as leading too much into the field of 
 imagination. As soon as I was able, I purchased a pair of globes, 
 and attended the philosophical lectures of Martin and Ferguson, 
 and became afterwards acquainted with Dr. Bevis, of the society, 
 called the Royal Society, then living in the Temple, and an excel- 
 lent astronomer. 
 
 1 had no disposition for what is called politics. It presented 
 to my mind no other idea than is contained in the woi *< Jockeyship 
 When, therefore, I turned my thoughts towards matters of gov 
 ernment, I had to form a system for myself, that- accorded with 
 the moral and philosophic principles in which I had been educated,. 
 I saw or at least I thought I saw, a vast scene opening itself to 
 the world in the affairs of America ; and it appeared to me, that 
 unless the Americans changed the plan they were then pursuing, 
 with respect to the government of England, and declared themv 
 selves independent, they would not only involve themselves in a 
 multiplicity of new difficulties, but shut out the prospect that was 
 then offering itself to mankind through their means. It was from 
 these motives that I published the work known by the name of 
 " Common Sense," which is the first work I ever did publish ; and 
 so far as I can judge of myself, I believe I should never have been 
 known in the world as an author, on any subject whatever, had it 
 not been for the affairs of America. I wrote " Common Sense" 
 the latter end of the year 1775, and published it the first of Janu- 
 ary, 1776. Independence was declared the fourth of July fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 Any person, who has made observations on the state and pro- 
 gress of the human mind, by observing his own, cannot but have 
 observed, that there are two distinct -classes of what are called 
 Thoughts ; those that we produce in ourselves by reflection and 
 the act of thinking, and those that bolt into the mind of their own 
 accord. I have always made it a rule to treat those voluntary 
 visitors with civility, taking care to examine, as well as I was 
 able, if they were worth entertaining ; and it is from then! I have 
 acquired almost all the knowledge that I have. As to the learning 
 that any person gains from school education, it serves only, like a 
 small capital, to put him in the way of beginning learning for him- 
 self afterwards. — Every person of learning is finally his own 
 teacher, the reason of which is, that principles, being of a distinct 
 
46 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART I. 
 
 quality to circumstances, cannot be impressed upon the memory • 
 their place of mental residence is the understanding, and they are 
 never so lasting as when they begin by conception. Thus much 
 for the introductory part. 
 
 From the time I was capable of conceiving an idea, and acting 
 upon it by reflection, I either doubted the truth of the Christian 
 system, or thought it to be a strange affair ; I scarcely knew 
 which it was : but I well remember, when about seven or eight 
 years of age, hearing a sermon read by a relation of mine, who 
 was a great devotee of the church, upon the subject of what is 
 called redemption by the death of the Son of God. After the ser- 
 mon was ended, I went into the garden, and as I was going down 
 the garden steps (for I perfectly recollect the spot) I revolted at 
 the recollection of what I had heard, and thought to myself that it 
 was making God Almighty act like a passionate man, that 
 killed his son, when he could not revenge himself any other way; 
 and as I was sure a man would be hanged that did such a thing, I 
 could not see for what purpose they preached such sermons. This 
 was not one of. those kind of thoughts that had any thing in it of 
 childish levity ; it was to me a serious reflection, arising from the 
 idea I had, that God was too good to do such an- action, and also 
 too almighty to be under any necessity of doing it. I believe in 
 the same manner at this moment ; and I moreover believe, that 
 any system of religion that has any thing in it that shocks the 
 mind of a child, cannot be a true system. 
 
 It seems as if parents of the Christian profession were ashamed 
 to tell their children any thing about the principles of their religion. 
 They sometimes instruct them in morals, and talk to them of the 
 goodness of what they call Providence ; for the Christian my- 
 thology has five deities — there is God the Father, God the Son, 
 God the Holy Ghost, the God Providence, and the Goddess Na- 
 ture. But the Christian story of God the Father putting his son 
 to death, or employing people to do it, (for that is the plain lan- 
 guage of the story,) cannot be told by a parent to a child ; and to 
 tell him that it was done to make mankind happier and better, is 
 making the story still worse, as if mankind could be improved by 
 the example of murder ; and to tell him that all this is a mystery, 
 is only making an excuse for the incredibility of it. 
 
 How different is this to the pure and simple profession of 
 Deism ! The true Deist has but one Deity ; and his religion 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OP REASON. 47 
 
 consists in contemplating the power, wisdom, and benignity of 
 the Deity in his works, and in endeavoring to imitate him in every 
 thing moral, scientifical, and mechanical. 
 
 The religion that approaches the nearest of all others to true 
 Deism, in the moral and benign part thereof, is that professed by 
 the Quakers : but they have contracted themselves too much, by 
 leaving the works of God out of their system. Though I rever- 
 ence their philanthropy, I cannot help smiling at the conceit, that 
 if the taste of a Quaker could have been consulted at the creation, 
 what a silent and drab-colored creation it would have been t Not 
 a flower would have blossomed its gaities, nor a bird been permit- 
 ted to sing. 
 
 Quitting these reflections, I proceed to other matters. After I 
 had made myself master of the use of the globes, and of' the or- 
 rery,* arid conceived an idea of the infinity of space, and theeter- 
 nal divisibility of matter, and obtained, at least, a general knowr 
 ledge of what is called natural philosophy, I began to compare, 
 or, as I have before said, to confront the eternal evidence those 
 things afford with the Christian system of faith. 
 
 Thbugh it is not a direct article of the Christian system, that 
 this world that we inhabit, is the whole of the habitable creation, 
 yet it is so worked up therewith, from what is called the Mosaic 
 account of the Creation, the story of Eve and the apple, and the 
 counterpart of that story, the death of the Son of God, that to be- 
 lieve otherwise; that is, to believe that God created a plurality ol 
 worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the 
 Christian system of faith at once little and ridiculous, and scatters 
 it in the mind like feathers in the air. The two beliefs cannot be 
 held together in the same mind ; and he who thinks that he be- 
 lieves both, has thought but little of either. 
 
 Though the belief of a plurality of worlds was familar to the an 
 cients, it is only within the last three centuries that the extent and 
 dimensions of this globe that we inhabit have been ascertained.-- 
 
 * As this book may fall into the hands of persons who do not know what an 
 orrery is, it is for their information I add this note, as the name gives no idea 
 of the uses of the thing. The orrery has its name from the person who in 
 vented it. It is a machinery of clock-work, representing the universe in min- 
 iature, and in which the revolution of the earth round itself and round the 
 sun, the. revolution of the moon round the earth, the revolution of the planets 
 round the sun, their relative distances from the sun, as the centre of the whole 
 system, their relative distances from each other, and their different magni 
 tudes, are represented as they really exist in what we call the heavens. 
 
48 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART I. 
 
 Several vessels, following the tract of the ocean, have sailed en- 
 tirely round the world, as a man may march in a circle, and come 
 round by the contrary side of the circle to the spot he set out from. 
 The circular dimensions of our world, in the widest part, as a man 
 would measure the widest round of an apple, or a ball, is only 
 twenty-five thousand and twenty English miles, reckoning sixty- 
 nine miles and an half to an equatorial degree, and may be sailed 
 round in the space of about three years.* 
 
 A world of this extent may, at first thought, appear to us to be 
 great ; but if we compare it with the immensity of space in which 
 it is suspended, like a bubble or balloon in the air, it is infinitely 
 less, in proportion, than the smallest grain of sand is to the size of 
 the world, or the finest particle of dew to the whole ocean, and is 
 therefore but small ; and, as will be hereafter shown/ is only one 
 of a system of worlds, of which the universal creation is com- 
 posed. 
 
 It is not difficult to gain some faint idea of the immensity ol 
 space in which this and all the other worlds are suspended, if we 
 follow a progression of ideas. When we think of the size or 
 dimensions of a room, our ideas limit themselves to the walls, and 
 there they stop ; but when our eye, or our imagination darts into 
 space, that is, when it looks upwards into what we call the open 
 air, we cannot conceive any walls or boundaries it can have ; and 
 if for the sake of resting our ideas, we suppose a boundary, the 
 question immediately renews itself, and asks, what is beyond that 
 boundary ? and in the same manner, what beyond the next boun- 
 dary 1 and so on till the fatigued imagination returns and says, 
 there is no end. Certainly, then, the Creator was not pent for 
 room, when he made this world no larger than it is ; and we have 
 to seek the reason in something else. 
 
 If we take a survey of our own world, or rather of this, of which 
 the Creator has given us the use, as our portion in the immense 
 system of Creation, we find every part of it, the earth, the waters, 
 and the air that surrounds it, filled, and, as it were, crowded with 
 life, down from the largest animals that we know of to the smallest 
 insects the naked eye can behold, and from thence to others still 
 
 * Allowing a ship to sail, on an average, three miles in an hour, she would 
 sail entirely round the world in less than one year, if she could sail in a direct 
 circle ; but she is obliged to follow the course of the ocean. 
 
rABT I. J THE AGE OF KEASON. 48 
 
 smaller, and totally invisible without the assistance of the micro- 
 scope. Every tree, every plant, every leaf, serves not only as an 
 habitation, but as a world to some numerous race, till animal 
 existence becomes so exceedingly refined, that the effluvia of a 
 blade of grass would be food for thousands. 
 
 Since then no part of our earth is left unoccupied, why is it to 
 be supposed that the immensity of space is a naked void, lying in 
 eternal waste ? There is room for millions of worlds as large or 
 larger than ours, and each of them millions of miles apart from 
 each other. 
 
 Having now arrived at this point, if we carry our ideas only 
 one thought further, we shall see, perhaps, the true reason, at 
 least a very good reason, for our happiness, why the Creator, in- 
 stead of making one immense world, extending over an immense 
 quantity of space, has preferred dividing that quantity of matter 
 into several distinct and separate worlds, which we call planets, 
 of which our earth is one. But before I explain my ideas upon 
 this subject, it is necessary (not for the sake of those that already 
 know, but for those who do not) to show what the system of the 
 universe is. 
 
 That- part of the universe inat is called the solar system (mean- 
 ing the system of worlds to which our earth belongs, and of which 
 .Sol, or in English language, the Sun, is the centre) consists, be- 
 sides the Sun, of six distinct orbs, or planets, or worlds, besides 
 the secondary bodies, called the satellites or moons, of which our 
 earth has one that attends her in her annual revolution round the 
 Sun, in like manner as other sattelites or - moons, attend the 
 planets or worlds to which they severally belong, as may be seen 
 by the assistance of the telescope. 
 
 The Sun is the centre, round which those six worlds or planets 
 revolve at different distances therefrom, and in circles concen- 
 trate to each other. Each world keeps constantly, in nearly 
 the same track round the- Sun, and continues, at the same time, 
 turning round itself, in nearly an upright position, as a top turns 
 round itself when it is spinning on the ground, and leans a little 
 sideways. 
 
 It is this leaning of the earth (23^ degrees) that occasions sum- 
 mer and winter, and the different length of days and nights. If the 
 earth turned round itself in a position perpendicular to the plane or 
 level of the circle it moves in around the Sun, as a top turns round 
 
60 THE AOE OF REASON. [PAKT I 
 
 when it stands erect on the ground, the days and nights would be 
 always of the same length, twelve hows day and twelve hours night, 
 and the seasons would be uniformly the same throughout the year. 
 Every time 'that a planet (our earth for example) turns round 
 itself, it makes'what we call day and night ; and every time it 
 goes entirely round the Sun, it makes what we call a year, conse- 
 quently our world turns three hundred and sixty-five times round 
 itself, in going once round the Sun.* 
 
 The names that the ancients gave to those six worlds, and 
 which are still called by the same names, are Mercury, Venus, 
 this world that we call ours, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. They 
 appear larger to the eye than the stars, being many million miles 
 nearer to our earth than any of the stars are. The planet Venus 
 is that which is called the evening star, and sometimes the morn- 
 ing star, as she happens to set after, or rise before the Sun, which 
 in either case, is never more than three hours. 
 
 The Sun, as before said, being the centre, the planet, or world, 
 nearest the Sun, is Mercury ; his distance from the Sun is thirty- 
 four million miles, and he moves round in a circle always at that 
 distance from the Sun, as a top may be supposed to spin round in 
 the track m which a horse goes in a mill. The second world is 
 Venus, she is fifty-seven million miles distant from the Sun, and 
 consequently moves round in a circle much greater than that of 
 Mercury. The third world is that we inhabit, and which is eighty- 
 eight million miles distant from the Sun, and consequently moves 
 round in a circle greater than that of Venus. The fourth world 
 is Mars, he is distant from the Sun one hundred and thirty-four 
 million miles, and consequently moves round in a circle greater 
 than that of our earth. The fifth is Jupiter, he is distant from 
 the Sun five hundred and fifty-seven million miles, and eonse 
 quently moves round in a circle greater than that of Mars. The 
 sixth world is Saturn, he is distant from the Sun seven hundred 
 and sixty-three million miles, and consequently moves round in a 
 circle that surrounds the circles, or orbits, of all the other worlds 
 or planets. 
 
 The space, therefore, in the air, or in the immensity of space, 
 that our solar system takes up for the several worlds to perform 
 
 * Those who supposed that the Sun went round the earth every 24 hours, 
 made the same mistake in idea that a cook would do in fact, that should 
 make the fire go round the meat, instead of the meat turning round itself to- 
 wards the fire. 
 
Fart i.] tub age op reason. 61 
 
 their revolutions in round the Sun, is of the extent in a straight line 
 of the whole diameter. of the orbit or cicle, in which Saturn moved 
 round the Sun, which being double his distance from the Sun, is fif- 
 teen hundred and twenty-six million miles : and its circular extent 
 is nearly five thousand million ; and its globical content is almost 
 three thousand five hundred million times three thousand five hun- 
 dred million square miles.* 
 
 But this, immense as it is, is only one system of worlds. Be- 
 yond this, at a vast distance into space, far beyond all power of 
 calculation, are the stars called the fixed stars. They are called 
 fixed, because they have no_ revolutionary motion, as the six 
 world's or planets have that I have been describing. Those fixed 
 stars continue always at the same distance from each other, and 
 always in the same place, as the Sun does in the centre of our 
 system. The. probability, therefore, is, that each of those fixed 
 stars is also a Sun, round which another system of worlds or 
 planets, though too remote for us to discover, performs its revo- 
 lutions, as our system of worlds does round our central Sun. 
 
 By this easy progression of ideas, the immensity of space will 
 appear to us to be filled with systems of worlds ; and that no part 
 of space lies at waste, any more than any part of the globe or 
 earth and water is left unoccupied. 
 
 Having thus endeavoured to convey, in a familiar and easy 
 manner, some idea of the structure of the universe, I return to 
 explain what I before alluded to, namely, the great benefits arising 
 to man in consequence of the Creator having made a plurality of 
 worlds, such as our system is, consisting of a central Sun and six 
 worlds besides satellites, in preference to that "of creating one 
 world only of a vast extent. 
 
 * If it should be asked, how can man know these things ? I have one plain 
 answer to give, which is, that man knows how_ to caleulate an eclipse, and 
 also how to calculate to a minute of time when the planet Venus, in making 
 her revolutions round the Sun, will come in a straight line between our earth 
 and the Sun, and will appear to us about the size of a large pea passing across 
 the face of the -Sun. This happens but twice in about an hundred years, at 
 the distance of about eight years from each other, and has happened twice in 
 our time, both of which were foreknown by calculation. It can also be known 
 when they will happen a»ain for a thousand years to come, or to any other 
 portion of time. As, taerefore, man could not be able to do these things if he 
 did not understand tne solar system, and the manner in which the revolutions 
 of the several planets or worlds are performed, the fact of calculating an 
 eclipse, or a transit of Venus, is a proof in point that the knowledge exists; 
 and as to a few thousand, or even a few million miles, more or less, it makes 
 scarcely any sensible difference in such immense distances. 
 
52 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART U 
 
 It is an idea I have never lost sight of, that all our knowledge 
 of science is derived from the revolutions (exhibited to our eye 
 and from thence to our understanding) which those several planets 
 or worlds, of which our system is composed, make in their circuit 
 round the Sun. 
 
 Had then the quantity of matter which these six worlds con 
 tain been blended into one solitary globe, the consequence to us 
 would have been, that either no revolutionary motion would have 
 existed, or not a sufficiency of it to give us the idea and the 
 knowledge of science we now have ;- and it is from the sciences 
 that all the mechanical arts that contribute so much to our earthly 
 felicity and comfort, are derived. 
 
 As, therefore, the Creator made nothing in vain, so also must 
 it be believed that He organized the structure of the universe in 
 the most advantageous manner for the benefit of man ; and as 
 we see, and from experience feel, the benefits we derive from the 
 structure of the universe, formed as it is, which benefits we should 
 not have had the opportunity of erijoying, if the structure, so far 
 as relates to our system, had been a solitary globe — we can dis- 
 cover at least one reason why a plurality of worlds has been 
 made, and that reason calls forth the devotional gratitude of man, 
 as well as his admiration. 
 
 But it is not to us, the inhabitants of this globe, only, that the 
 benefits arising from a plurality of worlds are limited. The in- 
 habitants of each of the worlds of which our system is composed, 
 enjoy the same opportunities of knowledge as we do. They be- 
 hold the revolutionary motions of our earth, as we behold theirs. 
 All the planets revolve in sight of each other ; and, therefore, the 
 same universal school of science presents itself to all. 
 
 Neither does the knowledge stop here. The system of worlds 
 next to us exhibits, in its revolutions, the same principles and 
 school of science, to the inhabitants of their system, as our system 
 does to us, and in like manner throughout the immensity of space. 
 
 Our ideas, not only of the almightiness of the Creator, but of 
 his wisdom and his beneficence, become enlarged in proportion as 
 we contemplate the extent and the structure of the universe. The 
 solitary idea of a solitary world, rolling or at rest in the immense 
 ocean of space, gives place to the cheerful idea of a society 01 
 worlds, so happily contrived as to administer, even by their mo- 
 tion, instruction to man. We see our own earth filled with abund* 
 
PART I.] THE ACE OP REASON. 53 
 
 ance ; but we forget to consider how much of that abundance is 
 owing to the scientific knowledge the vast machinery of the uni- 
 verse has unfolded. 
 
 But, in the midst of those reflections, what are we to think of 
 the Christian system of faith, that forms itself upon the idea of 
 only one world, and that of no greater extent, as is before shown, 
 than twenty- five thousand miles? An extent which a man, walk- 
 ing at the rate of three miles an hour, for twelve hours in the day, 
 could he keep on in a circular direction, would walk entirely 
 round in less than two years. Alas ! what is this to the mighty 
 ocean of space, and the almighty power of the Creator ! 
 
 From whence then could arise the solitary and strange conceit, 
 that the Almighty, who had millions of worlds equally dependent 
 on his protection, should quit the care of all the rest, and come 
 to die in our world, because, they say, one man and one woman 
 had eaten an apple ! And, on the other hand, are we to suppose 
 that every world in the boundless creation, had an Eve, an apple, 
 a serpent and a redeemer? In this case, the person who is irre- 
 verently called the Son of God, and sometimes God himself, 
 would have nothing else to do than to travel from world to world, 
 in an endless succession of death, with scarcely a momentary 
 interval of life. 
 
 It has been by rejecting the evidence, that the word or works 
 of God in the creation affords to our senses, and the action of our 
 reason upon that evidence, that so many wild and whimsical sys- 
 tems of faith, and of religion, have been fabricated and set up. 
 There may be many systems of religion, that so far from being 
 morally bad, are in many respects morally good : but there can be 
 but one that is true ; and that one necessarily must, as it ever 
 will, be in all things consistent with the ever existing" word of God 
 that we behold in his works. But such is the strange construc- 
 tion of the Christian system of faith, that every evidence the 
 Heavens afford to man, either directly contradicts it, or renders 
 it absurd. 
 
 It is possible to believe, and I always feel pleasure in encourag- 
 ing myself to believe it, that there have been men in the world, 
 who persuade themselves that, what is called a pious fraud, might, 
 at least under particular circumstances, be productive of some 
 good. But the fraud being once established, could not afterwards 
 
64 THE AGE OP REASON. ^f_PART I 
 
 be explained ; for it is with a pious fraud as with a bad action, it 
 begets a calamitous necessity of going on. 
 
 The persons who first preached the Christian system of faith, 
 and in some measure combined it with the morality preached by 
 Jesus Christ, might persuade themselves that it was better than 
 the heathen mythology that then prevailed. From the first 
 preachers the fraud went on to the second, and to the third, till the 
 idea of its being a pious fraud became lost in the belief of its 
 being true ; and that belief became again encouraged by the 
 interests of those who made a livelihood by preaching it. 
 
 But though such a belief might, by such means, be rendered 
 almost general among the laity, it is next to impossible to account 
 for the continual persecution carried on by the church, for several 
 hundred years, against the sciences, and against the professors ot 
 sciences, if the church had not some record or tradition, that it 
 was originally no other than a pious fraud, or did not foresee, that 
 it could not be maintained against the evidence that the structure 
 of the universe afforded. 
 
 Having thus shown the irreconcileable inconsistencies between 
 the real word of God existing in the universe and that which is 
 called the word of God, as shown to us in a printed book that any 
 man might make, I proceed to speak of the three principal means 
 that have been employed in all ages, and perhaps in all countries, 
 to impose upon mankind. 
 
 Those three means are Mystery, Miracle, and Prophesy. The 
 two first are incompatible with true religion, and the third ought 
 always to be suspected. 
 
 With respect to mystery, every thing we behold is, in one sense, 
 a mystery to us. Our own existence is a mystery ; the whole 
 vegetable world is a mystery. We cannot account how it is that 
 an acorn, when put into the ground, is made to develope itself, 
 and become an oak. We know not how it is that the seed we sow 
 unfolds and multiplies itself, and returns to us such an abundant 
 interest for so small a capital. 
 
 The fact, however, as distinct from the operating cause, is not 
 a mystery, because we see it ; and we know also the means we 
 
 are to use, which is no other than putting seed in the ground. 
 
 We know, therefore, as much as is necessary for us to know ; and 
 that part of the operation that we do not know, and which if we 
 did, we could not perform, the Creator takes upon himself and 
 
PART I.J THE AGE OV REASON. 65 
 
 performs it for us. We are, therefore, better off than if we had 
 been let into the secret, and left to do it for ourselves. 
 
 But though every created thing is, in this sense, a mystery, the 
 word mystery cannot be applied to moral truth, any more than 
 obsenrity can be applied to light. The God in whom we believe 
 is a God of moral truth, and not a God of mystery or obscurity. 
 Mystery is the antagonist of truth. It is a fog of human invention, 
 that obscures truth, and represents it in distortion. Truth never 
 envelopes itself in mystery ; and the mystery in which it is at any 
 time enveloped, is the work of its antagonist, and never of itself. 
 
 Religion, therefore, being the belief of a God, and the practice 
 of moral truth, cannot have connection with mystery. The belief 
 of 'a God, so far from having any thing of mystery in it, is of all 
 beliefs the most easy, because it arises to us, as is before obser- 
 ved, out of necessity. And the practice of moral truth, or, in 
 other words, a practical imitation of the moral goodness of God, 
 is no other than our acting towards each other as he acts benignly 
 towards all. We cannot serve God in the manner we serve those 
 who cannot do without such service ; and, therefore, the only idea 
 we can have of serving God, is that of contributing to the happi- 
 ness of the Jiving creation thai God has made. This cannot be 
 done by retiring ourselves from the society of the world, and 
 spending a recluse life in selfish devotion. 
 
 The very nature and design of religion, if I may so express it, 
 prove, even to demonstration, that it must be free from every thing 
 of mystery., and unincumbered with every thing that is mysterious. 
 Religion, considered as a duty, is incumbent upon every living 
 soul alike, and, therefore, must be on a level to the understanding 
 and comprehension of all. Man does not learn religion as he 
 learns the secrets and mysteries of a trade. He learns the theory 
 of religion by reflection. It arises out of the action of his own 
 mind upon the things which he sees, or upon what he may happen 
 to hear or to read, and the practice joins itself thereto. 
 
 When men, whether from policy or pious fraud, set up systems 
 of religion incompatible with the word or works of God in the. 
 creation, and not only above, but repugnant to human comprehen- 
 sion, they were under the necessity of inventing or adopting a 
 word that should serve as a bar to all questions, inquiries and 
 speculations.. The word mystery answered this purpose ; and 
 
56 THE AGE or REASON VpART I- 
 
 thus it has happened that religion, which Is in itself without 
 mystery, has been corrupted into a fog of mysteries. 
 
 As mystery answered all general purposes, miracle followed as 
 an occasional auxiliary. The former served to bewilder tne 
 mind ; the latter to puzzle the senses. The one was the lingo, 
 the other the legerdemain. 
 
 But before going further into this subject* it will be proper to 
 inquire what is to be understood by a miracle. 
 
 In the same sense that every thing may be said to be a mystery, 
 so also may it be said that every thing is a miracle, and that no 
 one thing is a greater miracle than another. The elephant, 
 though larger, is not a greater miracle than a mite ; nor a 
 mountain a greater miracle than an atom. To an almighty 
 power, it is no more difficult to make the one than the other ; 
 and no more difficult to make a million of worlds than to make 
 one. Every thing, therefore, is a miracle, ' in one sense, whilst 
 in the other sense, there is no such thing as a miracle. It is 
 a miracle when compared to our power, and to our comprehen- 
 sion ; it is not a miracle compared to the power that performs it ; 
 but as nothing in this description conveys the idea that is affixed 
 to the word miracle, it is necessary to carry the inquiry further. 
 
 Mankind have conceived to themselves certain laws, by which 
 what they call nature is supposed to act ; and that a miracle is 
 something contrary to the operation and effect of those laws, but 
 unless we know the whole extent of those laws, and of what arc 
 commonly called the powers of nature, we are not able to judge 
 whether any thing that may appear to us wonderful or miraculous, be 
 within, or be beyond, or be contrary to, her natural power of acting. 
 
 The ascension of a man several miles high into the air, would 
 have_ every thing in it that constitutes the idea of a miracle, if it 
 were not known that a species of air can be generated several 
 times lighter than the common atmospheric air, and yet possess 
 elasticity enough to prevent the balloon, in which that light air is 
 enclosed, from being compressed into as many times less bulk, by 
 the common air that surrounds it. In like manner, extracting 
 flames or sparks of fire from the human body, as visible as from 
 a steel struck with a flint, and causing iron or steel to move with- 
 out any visible agent, would also give the idea of a miracle, if 
 we were not acquainted with electricity and magnetism ; so also 
 would manv other experiments in natural philosophy, to those 
 
FAhT I.] THE ACE OF REASON. 87 
 
 who are not acquainted with the subject. The restoring persons 
 to life, who are to appearance dead, as is practised upon drowned 
 persons, would also be a miracle, if it were not known that ani- 
 mation is capable of being suspended without being extinct. 
 
 Besides these, there are performances_by slight of hand, and by 
 persons acting in concert, that have a miraculous appearance, 
 which, ;vhen known, are thought nothing of. And, besides these, 
 there are mechanical and optical deceptions. There is now an 
 exhibition in Paris of ghosts or spectres, which, though it is not 
 imposed upon ,the spectators as a fact, has an astonishing appear- 
 ance. As, therefore, we know not the extent to which either 
 nature or art can go, there is no criterion to determine what a 
 miracle is ; and mankind, in giving credit to appearances, under 
 the idea of their being miracles, are subject to be continually im- 
 posed uDon. 
 
 Since then appearances are so capable of deceiving, and things 
 not real have a strong resemblance to things that are, nothing can 
 be more inconsistent than to suppose that the Almighty would 
 make use of means, such as are called miracles, that would sub- 
 ject the person who performed them to the suspicion of being an 
 impostor, and the person who related them to be suspected of 
 lying, and the doctrine intended to be supported thereby to be 
 suspected as a fabulous invention.. 
 
 Of all the modes of evidence that ever were intended to obtain 
 belief to any system or opinion to which the name of religion has 
 been given, that of miracle, however successful the imposition 
 may have been, is the most inconsistent. For, in the first place, 
 whenever recourse is had to show, for the purpose of procuring 
 that belief, (for a miracle, under any idea of the word, is a show,) 
 it implies a lameness or weakness in the doctrine that is preached. 
 And, in the second place, it is degrading the Almighty into the 
 character of a show-man, playing tricks to amuse and make the 
 people stare and wonder. It is also the most equivocal sort of 
 evidence that can be set up ; for the belief is not to depend upon 
 the thing called a miracle, but upon the credit of the reporter, 
 who says that he saw it ; and, therefore, the thing, were it true, 
 would have no better chance of being believed than if it were a lie; 
 
 Suppose I were to say, that when I sat down to write this book, 
 a hand presented itself in the air, took up the pen and wrote every 
 word that is herein written ; would any body believe met Cer- 
 
 8 
 
88 THE AGE OF HEASQK. [PART I. 
 
 tainly they would not. Would they believe me a whit the more 
 if the thing had been a fact ; certainly they would not. - Since 
 then a real miracle, were it to happen, would be subject to the 
 same fate as the falsehood, the inconsistency becomes the greater, 
 of supposing the Almighty would make use of means that would 
 not answer the purpose for which they were intended, even if they 
 were real. 
 
 If we are to suppose a miracle to be something so entirely out 
 of the course of what is called nature, that she must go out of 
 that course to accomplish it, and we see an account given of 
 such miracle by the person who said he saw it, it raises a ques- 
 tion in the mind very easily decided, which is, is it more probable 
 that nature should go out of her. course, or that a man should 
 tell a lie ? We have never seen, in our time, nature go out of 
 her course ; but we have good reason to believe that millions 
 of lies have, been told in the same time ; it is, therefore, at least 
 millions to one, that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie. 
 
 The story of the whale swallowing Jonah, though a whale is 
 large enough to do it, borders greatly on the marvellous ; but it 
 would have approached nearer to the idea of miracle, if Jonah 
 had swallowed the whale. In this, which may serve for all cases 
 of miracles, the matter would decide itself, as before stated, 
 namely, is it more probable that a man should have swallowed a 
 whale or told a lie. 
 
 But supposing that Jonah had really swallowed the whale, and 
 gone with it in his belly to Ninevah, and to convince the people 
 that it was true, have cast it up in their sights of the full length and 
 size of a whale, would they not have believed 'iim to have been the 
 devil, instead of a prophet? or, if the whale had carried Jonah to 
 Ninevah, and cast him up in the same public manner, would they 
 not have believed the whale" to have been the devil, and Jonah one 
 of his imps. 
 
 The most extraordinary of all the things cilled miracles, related 
 in the New Testament, is that of the devil flying away with Jesus 
 -- Christ, and carrying him to the top of a high mountain ; and to the 
 top of the highest pinnacle of the temple, and showing him and 
 promising to him all the kingdoms of the world. How happened it 
 that he did not discover America ; or is it only with kingdoms that 
 his sooty highness has any interest? 
 
PART 1-3 THE AGE OP REASON. 59 
 
 I have too much respect for the moral character of Christ, to 
 believe that he told this whale of a miracle himself: neither is it 
 easy to account for what purpose it could have been fabricated, 
 unless it were to impose upon the connoisseurs of miracles, as is 
 sometimes practised upon the connoisseurs of Queen Anne's far- 
 things, and collectors of relics and antiquities; or to render the 
 belief of miracles, ridiculous, by outdoing miracles, as Don Quix- 
 otte outdid chivalry ; or to embarrass the belief of miracles, by 
 making it doubtful by what power, whether of God or the Devil, 
 any thing called a miracle was performed. It requires, however, 
 a great deal of faith in the devil to believe this miracle. 
 
 In every point of view in which those things called miracles can 
 be placed and considered, the reality of them is improbable, and 
 their existence unnecessary. They would not, as before observed, 
 answer any useful purpose, even if they were true ; for it is more 
 difficult to obtain belief to a miracle, than to a principle evidently 
 moral, without any miracle. Moral principle speaks universally for 
 itself. Miracle could be but a thing of the moment, and seen but 
 by a few ; after this it requires a transfer of faith from God to man 
 to believe a miracle upon man's report. Instead, therefore, of ad- 
 mitting the recitals of miracles as evidence of any system of reli- 
 gion being true, they ought to be considered as symptoms of its 
 being fabulous. It is, necessary to the full and upright character 
 of truth- that it rejects the crutch ; and it is consistent with the 
 character of fable, to seek the aid that truth rejects. Thus much 
 for mystery and miracle. 
 
 As mystery and miracle took charge of the past and the present, 
 prophesy took charge of the future, and rounded the tenses of 
 . faith. It was not sufficient to know what had been done, but what 
 would be done. The supposed prophet was the supposed historian 
 of times to come *, and if he happened, in shooting with a long 
 bow of a thousand years, to strike within a thousand miles of a 
 mark, the ingenuity of posterity could make it point-blank ; and if 
 he happened to be directly wrong, it was only to suppose, as in the 
 case of Jonah and Ninevah, that God had repented himself and 
 changed his mind. What a fool do fabulous systems make of 
 man ! 
 
 It has been, shown, in a former part of this work, that the 
 original meaning of the words prophet and prophesying has been 
 changed, and that a prophet, in the sense of the word as now used, 
 
60 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART I. 
 
 is a creature of modern invention ; and it is owing to this change in 
 the meaning of the words, that the flights and metaphors of the Jew- 
 ish poets, and phrases and expressions now rendered obscure, by 
 our not being acquainted with the local circumstances to which 
 they applied at the time they were used, have been erected into 
 prophecies, and made to bend to explanations, at the will and 
 whimsical conceits of sectaries, expounders and commentators. 
 Every thing unintelligible was prophetical, and every thing insig- 
 nificant was typical. A blunder would have served as a prophe- 
 cy ; and a dish-clout for a type. 
 
 If by a prophet we are to suppose a man, to whom the Almighty 
 communicated some event that would take place in future, either 
 there were such men, or there were not. If there were, it is con- 
 sistent to believe that the event so communicated, would be told in 
 terms that could be understood ; and not related in such a loose 
 and obscure manner as to be out of the comprehensions of those 
 that heard it, and so equivocal as to fit almost any circumstance 
 that might happen afterwards. It is conceiving very irreverently 
 of the Almighty, to suppose he would deal in this jesting manner 
 with mankind ; yet all the things called prophesies in the book 
 called the Bible, come under this description. 
 
 But it is with prophecy as it is with miracle ; it could not ans- 
 wer the purpose even if it were real. Those to whom a prophecy 
 should be told, could not tell whether the man prophesied or lied, 
 or whether it had been revealed to him, or whether he conceited 
 it; and if the thing that he prophesied, or intended to prophecy, 
 should happen, or something like it, among the multitude of things 
 that are daily happening, nobody could again know whether he 
 foreknew it, or guessed at it, or whether it was accidental. A pro- 
 phet, therefore, is a character useless and unnecessary ; and the 
 safe side of the case is, to guard against being imposed upon by 
 not giving credit to such relations. 
 
 Upon the whole, mystery, miracle, and prophecy, are appen- 
 dages that belong to fabulous and not to true religion. They are 
 the means by which so many Lo lures ! and Lo theres ! have been 
 spread about the world, and religion been made into a trade. The 
 success of one imposter gave encouragement to another, and the 
 quieting salvo of doing some good by keeping up a pious fraud 
 protected thorn from remorse. 
 
PART I.] THE AGE OF REASON. 61 
 
 Having now extended the subject to a greater length than I first 
 intended, I shall bring it to a close by abstracting a summary 
 from the whole. 
 
 First — That the idea or belief of a word of God existing in 
 print, or in writing, or in speech, is inconsistent in itself for 
 reasons already assigned. These reasons, among many others, 
 are the want of an universal language ; the mutability of language.; 
 the errors to which translations are subject ; the possibility of 
 totally suppressing such a word ; the probability of altering it, or 
 of fabricating the whole, and imposing it upon the world. 
 
 Secondly — That the Creation we behold is the real and ever 
 existing word of God, in which we cannot be deceived. It pro- 
 claims his power, it demonstrates his wisdom, it manifests his 
 goodness and beneficence. 
 
 Thirdly— That the moral duty of man consists in imitating the 
 moral goodness and beneficence of God manifested in the crea- 
 tion towards all his creatures. That seeing as we daily do the 
 goodness of God to all men, it is an example calling upon all men 
 to practise the same towards each other ; and, consequently, that 
 every thing of persecution and revenge between man and man, and 
 every thing of cruelty to animals, is a violation of moral duty. 
 
 I trouble not myself about the manner of future existence. I 
 content myself with believing, even to positive conviction, that 
 the power that gave me existence is able to continue it, in any 
 form and manner he pleases, either with or without this bodv : and 
 it appears more probable to me that I shall continue to exist here- 
 after, than that I should have had existence, as I now have, before 
 that existence began. 
 
 It is certain that, in one point, all nations of the earth and all 
 religions agree ; all believe in a God ; the things in which they 
 disagree, are the redundancies annexed to that belief; and, there- 
 fore, if ever an universal religion should prevail, it will not be 
 believing any thing new, but in getting rid of redundancies, and 
 believing as man believed at first. Adam, if ever there was such 
 a man, was created a Deist ; but in the mean time, let every man 
 follow, as he has a right to do, the religion and the worship he 
 prefers. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST PART. 
 
THE 
 
 AGE OF REASON. 
 
 PART SECOND. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 I have mentioned in the former part of The Age of Reason, that 
 it had long been my intention to publish my thoughts upon .reli- 
 gion ; but that I had Originally reserved it to a later period in life, 
 intending it to be the last work I should undertake. The circum- 
 stances, however, which existed in France in the latter end of the 
 year 1793, determined me to delay it no longer. The just and 
 humane principles of the revolution which philosophy had first 
 diffused, had been departed from. The idea, always dangerous 
 to society as if is derogatory' to the Almighty, that priests could 
 forgive sins, though it seemed to exist no longer, had blunted the 
 feelings of humanity, and callously prepared men for the commis- 
 sion of all manner of crimes. The intolerant Spirit of church 
 persecutions had transferred itself into politics ; the tribunal, 
 styled revolutionary, supplied the place of ah inquisition ; and the 
 guillotine and the stake outdid the fire and faggot of the church. 
 I saw many of my most intimate friends destroyed ; others daily 
 carried to prison ; and I had reason to believe, and had also 
 intimations given me, that the same danger was approaching my- 
 self: 
 
 Under these disadvantages, I began the former part of the Age 
 of Reason ; I had, besides, neither Bible nor Testament to refer 
 to, though I was writing against both ; nor could I procure any ; 
 notwithstanding which, I have produced a work that no Bible be- 
 liever, though writing at his ease, and with a library of church 
 books about, him, can refute. Towards the latter end of Decem- 
 ber of that year, a motion was made and carried, to exclude 
 foreigners from the convention. There were but -two in it, 
 Anacharsis Cloots and myself; and I saw, I was particularly 
 
 pointed at by Bourdon do l'Oise, in his speech on that motion. 
 
 9 
 
65 PTtEPACE 
 
 Conceiving, after this, that I had but a few days of liberty, I sat 
 down and brought the work to a close as speedily as possible ; 
 and I had not finished it more than six hours, in the state it has 
 ehice appeared, before a guard came there about three in the 
 morning, with an order signed by the two committees of public 
 safety and surety-general, for putting me in arrestation as a 
 foreigner, and conveyed me to the prison of the Luxembourg. 1 
 Contrived, in my -way there, to call on Joel Barlow, and I put the 
 manuscript of the work into his hands, as more safe than in my 
 possession in prison ; and not knowing what might be the fate in 
 France either ©f the writer or the work, I addressed it to the 
 protection of the citizens of the United States. 
 
 Ilk with justice that I say, that the guard who executed this 
 order, and the interpreter of the Committee of general surety, 
 who accompanied them to examine my papers, treated me not 
 only with civility, but with respect. The keeper of the Luxem- 
 bourg, Bennoit, & man of a good heart, showed to me every friend- 
 ship in his power, as did also all his family, while he continued in 
 that station. He was removed from it, put into arrestation, and 
 carried before the tribunal upon a malignant accusation, but ac- 
 quitted. 
 
 After I had been in the Luxembourg about three weeks, the 
 Americans, then in Paris, went in a body to the convention, to 
 reclaim me as their countryman and friend ; hut were answered 
 by the President, Vader, who was also President of the Committee 
 of surety-general, and had signed the order, for my arrestation, 
 that I was born in England. I heard no more, after this, from any 
 person out of the -walls of the prison, till the fall of Robespierre, 
 on the 9th of Thermidor — July 27, 1794. 
 
 About two months before this event, I was seized with a fever, 
 that in its progress had every symptom of becoming mortal, and 
 from the effects of which I am not recovered. It was then that I 
 remembered with renewed satisfaction, and congratulated myself 
 most sincerely on having, written the, former part of" The Age of 
 Reason," I had then but little expectation of surviving, and those 
 about me had less. I know, therefore, by experience, the consci- 
 entious trial of my own principles. - 
 
 I was then with three chamber comrades, Joseph Vanheule, of 
 Bruges, Charles Bastini, and Michael R ubyns, of Louvain. The 
 unceasing and anxious attention of these three friends to me, bv 
 
MEFACE. Qf 
 
 night and by day, I remember with gratitude, and mention with 
 pleasure. It happened that a physician (Dr. Graham) and a 
 surgeon, (Mr. Bond,) part of the suite of Genera) O'Hara, were 
 then in the Luxembourg. I ask not myself, whether it be con- 
 venient to them, as men under the English government, that I 
 express to them my thanks ; but I should reproach myself if I 
 did not ; and also to the physician of the Luxembourg, Dr. 
 Markoski. 
 
 I have some reason to believe, because I cannot discover any 
 other cause, that this illness preserved me in existence. Among 
 the. papers of Robespierre that were examined and reported upon 
 to the Convention, by a Committee of Deputies, is a note in the 
 hand-writing of Ilobespierre, in. the following words : — 
 
 " Demander que Thomas Paine goit To demand that a decree of accuso- 
 dccrete d'accusation, pour l'interet de tion be passed against Thomas Paine, 
 l'Amcrique autantque de laFrance." for the interest of America, as well as 
 
 of France. i 
 
 From what cause it was that the intention was not put in exe- 
 cution, I know not, and cannot inform myself; and therefore I 
 ascribe it to impossibility, on account of that illness. 
 
 The Convention, to repair as much as lay in their power 
 the injustice I had sustained, invited me publicly and unani- 
 mously to return into the Convention, and which I accepted, 
 to show I could bear an injury without permitting it to injure 
 my principles or my disposition. It is not because right prin- 
 ciples have been violated, that they are to be abandoned. 
 
 I have seen, since I have been at liberty, several publica- 
 tions written, some in America, and some " in England, as 
 answers to the former part of " The Age of Reason." If 
 the authors of these can amuse themselves by so doing, I 
 shall not interrupt them. They may write against the work, 
 and against me, as much as they please ; they do me more 
 service than they intend, and I can have no objection that 
 they write on. They will find, however, by this second part, 
 without its being written as an answer to them, that they 
 must return to their work, and spin their cobweb over again. 
 The first is brushed away by accident. 
 
 They will now find that I have furnished myself with a 
 Bible and a Testament ; and I can say also that I have found 
 them to be much worse books than I had conceived. If I 
 
68 PREFACE. 
 
 have erred in any thing, in the former part of the Age or 
 Reason, it has been by speaking better of some parts- of those 
 books than they have deserved. 
 
 I observe that all my opponents resort, more or less, to 
 what they call Scripture Evidence and Bible authority, to help 
 them out. They are so little masters of the subject, as to 
 confound a dispute about authenticity with a dispute about 
 doctrines ; I will, however, put them right, that if they should 
 be disposed to write any more, they may know how to begin. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE 
 October, 1795 
 
THE 
 
 AGE OF REASON. 
 
 PART THE SECOND. 
 
 It has often been said, that any thing may be proved from the 
 Bible, butbcfore any thing can be admitted as proved by the Bible, 
 the Bible itself must be proved to be true ; for if the Bible be not 
 true, or the truth of it be doubtful, it ceases to have authority, and 
 cannot be admitted as proof of any thing. 
 
 It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the 
 Bible, and of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the 
 Bible on the world as a mass of truth, and as the, word of God ; 
 they have disputed and wrangled, and have anathematized each 
 other about the supposable meaning of particular parts and passa- 
 ges therein ; one has said and insisted that such a passage meant 
 such a thing ; another that it meant directly the contrary ; and a 
 third, that it means neither one nor the other, but something differ- 
 ent from both ; and this they call understanding the Bible. 
 
 It has happened, that all the answers which I have seen to the 
 former part of the Age of Reason have been written by priests ; 
 and these pious men, like their predecessors, contend and wrangle, 
 and pretend to understand the Bible ; each understands it differ- 
 ently, but each understands it best ; and they have agreed in no- 
 thing, but in telling their readers that Thomas Paine understands 
 it not. 
 
 Now instead of wasting their time, and heating themselves in 
 fractious disputations about doctrinal points drawn from the Bible, 
 these men ought to know, and if they do not, it is civility to inferrr 
 
f® THE AGE, OF REASON. [>ART H. 
 
 tetfflj Hbal tEe first thing to, be understood is, whether there is s-nf- 
 ie&nt awfihority for believing the. Bible ta he tho word of Q&i,, 01 
 whether there is not ? 
 
 There aire matters in that book, said to be -done by the express 
 mmtanemd. of God, that are as shocking to. -humanity, arid to every 
 afea we 'have of moral justice, as any thing done by Robespierre, 
 % ©arriar,, by Joseph, fe Bon,, in France, by the EaghsS govern 
 sags* m the East Indies,, or by any other assassin in modern times. 
 Tttaa we; read in the- books ascribed to Moses-, Joshua, &e. thai 
 fcy(ffi.e Israelites) came by stealth upon whole nations of people, 
 iitfea, as the; history itself shows, had given them no offenee ; thai 
 $&«^ fflttli. aS those nations to the sworct; thai thsy spared neither 
 Bg« ustse- infimcg; ; that they, utterly destrcajid -men, vxmteis esnd eMI- 
 &«bj &q£ they, left not o seal to hreal&e; expressions that cira 
 l^peated over and over again in those books, aud that too with 
 endting; ferocity ; are we sure these things are facts t Are we 
 R»e that, the Creator of man commissioned these things to be 
 &soet i are we sare that the books that tell us so were written by 
 Ms authority Z 
 
 It is. not. the antiquity of a tale that is any evidence of its truth ; 
 as the contrary,, it is; a symptom of its being fabulous ; for the more 
 ancient any history pretends to be, the more it has the resemblance 
 i£ a fable. The origin of every natioii is buried in fabulous tra- 
 tfiion, and. that of the Jews is as much to be suspected as any 
 ether.. To charge the commission of acts upon the Almighty, 
 \iftlch, in their own nature, and by every rule of moral justice, are 
 dimes,, as all assassination is, and more especially the assassina- 
 tion of infants, is matter of serious concern. The Bible tells us, 
 ihat those assassinations were done by the express command of 
 God. To believe, therefore! the Bible to be true, we must un- 
 lelieve all our belief in the moral justice of God ; for wherein 
 could crying or smiling infants offend? And to read the Bible 
 without horror, we must undo every thing that is tender, sympa 
 thizing, and benevolent in the heart of man. Speaking for my- 
 self, if I had no other evidence that the Bible wasTabuIous, than 
 the sacrifice I must make.to believe it to he true, that alone would 
 be sufficient to determine my choice. 
 
 But in addition to all the mora} evidence against the Bible, 1 
 will in the progress- o£.this work, prpduce such other evidence, as 
 
«ven a priest cannot deny ? wnd show, from "{hat ■evidence, 'tlxaJt 
 the Bible is not entitled to -credit, as being the word of G-od. 
 
 Brat, before I proceed to this examination, I will show wherein 
 the Bilie difers fro™ all rxtoer ancient writings with respect to (he 
 nature tsf the evidence necessary to establish its authenticity -, and 
 this is the move proper to be done, because the advocates eff Ifoe 
 Bible, in their answers to the former part of the &'gz «f Heimm, 
 undertake to say, and they put some stress thereon, that the aw 
 thentieity of the Bibfe is as weil established as that of any other 
 ancient book"; as if our belief of the one could become any rule 
 fforour belief of the other-. 
 
 i know-, however-, bwt of one ancient book that aothoritatively 
 challenges universal consent and belief, and that is, Euclid's 
 Elements of Geometry ;* and. the reason is,-because it is a book of 
 self-evident demonstration, "entirely independent of its author, and 
 ■of every thing relating to time, place and circumstance. The mat- 
 ters contained in tint book would have the same authority they 
 now have, had they been written by any other person, or had the 
 work been anonymous, or had the author never been known -, for 
 the identical certainty of who was the author, makes no part of but 
 belief of the matters f^ntained in the book. But it is quite other- 
 with with respect to the books ascribed to Moses, to Joshua, to 
 Samuel, &c. ttoese are books of 'testimony, and they testify of things 
 naturally irrcVedible ; and,' therefore^, the whole of our belief, as to 
 the authenticity of those books, rest, in the first place, upon the 
 tzrl-amty that they were written by Moses, Joshua, and Samuel ; 
 secondly, upon the credit we give to their testimony. We may 
 believe the first, that is, we may believe the certainty of the 
 authorship, and yet not the testimony; in the same manner that 
 we may believe that a certain person gave evidence "upon a case 
 and yet not believe the evidence that he gave. But if it should be 
 found, that the books ascribed to Moses, Joshua, and ' Samuel, 
 were not written by Moses, Joshua, and Samuel, and every part of 
 the authority and authenticity of those books is gone at once ; for 
 there can be no -such thing as forged or invented testimony; 
 Eveither can there be anonymous testimony, more especially as ta 
 tMngs naturally incredible 3 such as that of, talking with G^d Jae% 
 
 * ^cto,&6cordrsg to -ShrowoiogjeaJ history, lived three "htcndiFedl y«ajs W> 
 Sum GhJfel, and m>o\« one Au»d«sd Wore -Archimedes; 1a swis ©f Asi «stvr 
 ef A.te$»w&-% •& Egypt. 
 
72 THE ACH OP REASON. [fABT II. 
 
 to face, or that of the sun and moon standing still at the commana 
 of a man. The greatest part of the other ancient books are works 
 of genius ; of which kind are those ascribed to Homer, to Plato, 
 to Aristotle, to Demosthenes, to Cicero, &c. Here again the 
 author is not essential in the credit we give to any of those works ; 
 for, as works of genius, they would have the same merit they 
 have Tiow, were they anonymous. Nobody believes the Trojan 
 story, as related by Homer, to be true — for it is the poet only that 
 is admired: and the merit of the poet will remain, though the 
 ,story be fabulous. But if we disbelieve the matters related by 
 the Bible authors (Moses for instance) as we disbelieve the things 
 i-elated by Homer, there remains nothing of Moses inour estima- 
 tion, but an impostor. As to the ancient historians, from Hero- 
 dotus to Tacitus, we credit them as far as they relate things pro- 
 •bable and credible, and no further : for if we da, we must believe 
 the two miracles which Tacitus relates were performed by Ves- 
 pasian, that of curing a lame man, and a blind man, in just the 
 same manner as the same things are told of Jesus Christ by his 
 historians. We must also believe the miracles cited by Josephus, 
 that of the sea of Pamphilia opening to let Alexander and his 
 army pass, as is related of the Red Sea in Exodus. These mi- 
 racles are quite as well authenticated as the Bible miracles, and 
 yet we do not believe them ; consequently the degree of evidence 
 necessary to establish our belief of things naturally incredible, 
 whether in the Bible or elsewhere, is far greater than that which 
 obtains our belief to natural and probable things ; and, therefore, 
 the advocates for the Bible have no claim to our belief of the 
 Bible, because that we believe things stated in other ancient 
 writings ; sinte we believe the things stated in these writings no 
 further than they are probable and credible, or because they are 
 self-evident, like Euclid ; or admire them because they are ele- 
 gant, like Homer ; or approve them because they are sedate, like 
 Plato ; or judicious, like Aristotle. 
 
 Having premised these things, I proceed to examine the authen- 
 ticity of the Bible, and I begin with what are called the five books 
 of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deutero- 
 nomy. My intention is to show that those books are spurious, 
 and that Moses is not the author of them ; and still further, that 
 they were not written in the time of Moses, nor till several hun- 
 dred years afterwards ; that they are no other than an attempted 
 
1URT 1!.} THE AGE OP REASON. 73 
 
 history of the life of Moses, and of the times in which he is said to 
 have lived, and also of the times prior thereto, written by some 
 very ignorant and stupid pretenders to authorship, several hundred 
 years after the death of Moses, as men now write histories of 
 things that happened, or are supposed to have happened, several 
 hundred or several thousand years agp. 
 
 The evidence that I shall produce in this case is from the books 
 themselves } and I will confine my self to this evidence only. — 
 Where I to refer for proof to any of the ancient authors, whom 
 the advocates of the Bible call profane authors, they would con- 
 trovert that authority, as t controvert theirs ; I will therefore meet 
 them on their own ground, and oppose them with their own 
 weapon, the Bible. 
 
 In .the first place r there is no affirmative evidence that Moses is 
 the author of those books ; and that he is the author, is altogether 
 an unfounded opinion, got abroad nobody knows how. The style 
 and manner in which those books are written, give no room to be- 
 lieve, or even to suppose, they were written by Moses ; for it is alto- 
 gether the style and manner of another person speaking of Moses. 
 In Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, (for every thing in Genesis- is 
 prior -to the times of Moses and not the least allusion is made to 
 him therein,) the whole, I say, of these books is in the third person ; 
 it is always, the Lord said unto Moses, or Moses said unto the 
 Lord: or Moses said unto the people, or the people said unto 
 Moses ; and this is the style and manner that historians use, in 
 speaking of the person whose lives and actions they are writing. 
 It may be said that a man may speak of himself in the third per- 
 son ; and, therefore, it may be supposed that Moses did ; but 
 supposition proves nothing ; and if the advocates for the belief 
 that Moses wrote those books himself, have nothing better to 
 advance than supposition, they may as well be silent. 
 
 But granting the grammatical right, that Moses might speak of 
 himself in the third person, because any man might speak of him- 
 self in that manner, it cannot be admitted as a fact in those books, 
 that it is Moses who speaks, without rendering M>t*i«8 truly ridicu- 
 lous and absurd : — for example, Numbers, chap, xii. ver. 3. 
 •' JVoto the man Moses was very meek, above all men which were on 
 the face of the earth*" If Moses said this of himself, instead of 
 being the meekest of men, he was one of the most, vain and arro- 
 gant of coxcombs ; and the advocates for those books may now 
 
 10 
 
74 THE *G£ OF REASON. [PART If. 
 
 take which side they please, for both sides are against them ; if 
 Moses was not the author, the books are without authority; and if 
 he was the author, the author was without credit, because to boast 
 of meekness, is the reverse of meekness, and is a lie in sentiment. 
 
 In Deuteronomy, the style and manner of writing marks more 
 evidently than in the former books, that Moses is not the writer. 
 The manner here used is dramatical : the writer opens the subject 
 by a short introductory discourse, and then introduces Moses in 
 the act of speaking, and when he has made Moses finish his har- 
 rangue, he (the writer) resumes his own part, and speaks till he 
 brings Moses forward again, and at last closes the scene with an 
 account of the death, funeral, and character of Moses. 
 
 This interchange of speakers occurs four times in this book : 
 from the first verse of the first chapter, to the end of the fifth verse, 
 it is the writer who speaks ; he then introduces Moses as in the 
 act of making his harrangue, and this continues to the end of the 
 40th verse of the fourth chapter ; here the writer drops Moses, 
 and speaks historically of what was done in consequence of what 
 Moses, when living, is supposed to have said, and which the 
 writer has dramatically rehearsed. 
 
 The writer opens the subject again in the first verse of the fifth 
 chapter, though it is only by saying, that Moses called the people 
 of Israel together ; he then introduces Moses as before, and con- 
 tinues him, as in the act of speaking, to the end of the 26th chap- 
 ter. He does the same thing at the beginning of the 27th chap- 
 ter ; and continues Moses, as in the act of speaking, to the end 
 of the 28th chapter. At the 29th chapter the "writer speaks 
 again through the whole of the first verse, and the first line 
 of the second verse, where he introduces Moses for the last time, 
 and continues him, as in the act of speaking, to the end of the 33d 
 chapter. 
 
 The writer having now finished the rehearsal on the part of 
 Moses, comes forward, and speaks through the whole of the last 
 chapter ; he begins by telling the reader, that Moses went up to 
 the top of Pisgi i ; that he saw from thence the land which (the 
 writer says) had been promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ; 
 that he, Moses, died there, in the land of Moab, but that no man 
 knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day, that is, unto the time in 
 which the writer lived, who wrote the book of Deuteronomy. The 
 wnter then tells us, that Moses was 110 years of age when he 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 75 
 
 died— that his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated; 
 and he concludes by saying, that there arose not a prophet since 
 in Israel like unto Moses, whom, says this anonymous writer, the 
 Lord knew face to face. 
 
 Having thus shown, as far as grammatical evidence applies, that 
 Moses was not the writer of those books, I will, after making a 
 few observations on the inconsistencies of the writer of the book 
 of Deuteronomy, proceed to show, from the historical and chro- 
 nological evidence contained in those books, that Moses, toas not, 
 because he could not be, the writer of them ; and consequently, 
 that there is no authority for believing, that the inhuman and 
 horrid butcheries of rnen, women, and children, told in those 
 books, were done, as those books say they were, at the command 
 of God. It is a duty incumbent on every true Deist, that he 
 vindicate the moral justice of God against the calumnies of the 
 Bible. 
 
 The writer,of the book of Deuteronomy, whoever he was, (for it 
 Is an anonymous work,) is obsure, and also in contradiction with 
 himself, in the account he has given of Moses. 
 
 After telling that Moses went to the top of Pisgah (and it does 
 not appear from any account that he ever came down again) he 
 tells us, that Moses died there in the land of Moab, and that he 
 buried him in a valley in the land of Moab ; but as there is no 
 antecedent to the pronoun he, there is no knowing who he was 
 that did bury him. If the Writer meant that he (God) buried him, 
 how should he (the writer) know it? or why should we (the 
 readers) believe him 1 since we know not who the writer was that 
 tells us so, for certainly Moses could not himself tell where he 
 was buried. 
 
 The writer also tells us, that no man knoweth where the sepulchre 
 of Moses is unto this day, meaning the time in which this writer 
 lived ; how then should he know that Moses was buried in a 
 valley in the land of Moab I for as the writer lived long after the 
 time of Moses, as is evident from his using the expression of unto 
 this day, meaning a great length of time after the death of Moses, 
 he certainly was not at his funeral ; and on the other hand, it is 
 impossible that Moses himself could say, that no man knowetn 
 where the sepulchre is unto this day. To make Moses the speaker, 
 would be an improvement on the play of a child that hides himself 
 and cries nobody can find me ; nobody can find Moses. 
 
T6 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART It. 
 
 This writer has no where told us how he came by the speeches 
 which he has put into the mouth of Moses to speak, and, therefore, 
 we have a right to conclude, that he either composed them himself, 
 or wrote them from oral tradition. One or the other of these is 
 the more probable, since he has given, in the fifth chapter, a table 
 of commandments, in which that calletl the fourth commandment 
 is different from the fourth commandment in the twentieth chapter 
 of Exodus. In that of Exodus, the reason given for keeping the 
 seventh day is, "because (says the commandment) God made 
 the heavens and the earth in six -days, and rested on the seventh ;" 
 but in that of Deuteronomy, the reason given is, that it was the 
 day on which the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and 
 therefore, says this commandment, the Lord thy God commanded 
 thee to keep the sabbath-day. This makes no mention of the 
 creation, nor that'o{ the coming out of Egypt- There are also 
 many things given as laws of Moses in this book, that are not to 
 be found in any of the other books ; among which is that inhuman 
 and brutal law, chap. xxi. ver. 18, 19, 20, 21, which authorizes 
 parents^ the father and the mother, to bring their own children to 
 have them stoned to death for what it is pleased to call stubborn- 
 ness. But priests have always been fond of preaching up Deu- 
 teronomy, for Deuteronomy preaches up tythes ; and it is from 
 this book, chap. xxv. ver.- 4, they have taken the phrase, and 
 applied it to tything, that thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he 
 treaoleth out the com ; and that this might not escape observation, 
 they have noted if in the table of contents at the head of the chap- 
 ter, though it is only a single verse of less than two lines. O ! 
 priests ! priests ! ye are willing to be compared to an ox, for the 
 sake of tythes. Though it is impossible for us to know identically 
 who the writer of Deuteronomy was, it is not difficult to discover 
 him professionally, that he was some Jewish priest, who lived, as 
 I shall-show in the course of this work, at least three hundred and 
 fifty years, after the time of Moses. 
 
 I come now to speak of the historical and chronological 
 evidence.' The chronology that I shall use is the Bible chro- 
 nology ; for I mean not to go out of the Bible for evidence of any 
 thing, but to make the Bible itself prove historically and chronolo- 
 gically, that Moses is not the author of the books-ascribed to him. 
 It is, therefore, proper that I inform the reader, (such an one at 
 least as may not have the opportunity of knowing it,) that in the 
 
PART II. J THE 4.GE OP REASON. 77 
 
 larger Bibles, and also in some smaller ones, there is a series 01 
 chronology printed in the margin of every page, for the purpose ol 
 showing how long the historical matters stated in each page hap- 
 pened, or are supposed 'to have happened, before Christ, and, con- 
 sequently, the distance of time between one historical circum- 
 stance and another. 
 . I begin with the book of Genesis. In the 14th chapter of Gene- 
 sis, the writer gives an -account of Lot being taken prisoner in a 
 battle between the four kings against five, and carried oiF; and 
 that when the account of Lot being taken, came to Abraham, he 
 armed all his household, and marched to rescue Lot from the 
 captors ; and that he pursued, them unto Dan. (yer. 14.) 
 
 To show in what manner this expression of puYsuing them unto 
 Dan applies to the case in question, I will refer to two circum- 
 stances, the one in America, the other in France. The city 
 now called New- York, in America, was originally New Amster- 
 dam ; and the town in France; lately called Havre Marat, was 
 before called Havre de Grace. New Amsterdam was changed to 
 New-York in the year 1664 ; Havre de Grace to Havre Marat in 
 1793. Should, therefore, any writing be found, though without 
 date, in which the name of New- York should be mentioned, it 
 would be certain evidence that such a writing could not have been 
 written before, and must have been written after New Amster- 
 dam was changed to New- York, and consequently not till after 
 the year 1664, or at least during the course of that year. And, in 
 like manner, any dateless writing, with thaname of Havre Marat, 
 would be certain evidence that such a writing must have been 
 written after Havre de Grace became Havre Marat, and conse- 
 quently not-till after the year 1793, or at least during the course 
 of that year. 
 
 I now come to the application of those cases, and to show that 
 there was no such place as Dan, till many years after the death of 
 Moses ^ and consequently, that Moses could not be. the writer of 
 the book of Genesis," where this account of pursuing them unto 
 Don is given.. 
 
 The place that is called Dan in the Bible was originally a town 
 of the Gentiles, called Laish ; and when the tribe of Dan seized 
 upon this town, they changed its name to Dan, in commemoration 
 of Dan, who was the father of that tribe, and the great grandson 
 of Abraham. 
 
73 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART If. 
 
 To establish this in proof, it is necessary to refer from Genesis 
 to the 18th chapter of the book called the book of Judges. It is 
 there said (ver. 27) that they (the Danites) come imto Laish to d 
 people thai were quiet and secure, and they smote them with the 
 edge of the sword (the Bible is filled with murder) and burned the 
 cily with fire ; and they built a city, (ver. 2S,) and dwelt therein, 
 and they called the name of the city Dan„after the name of Dan, 
 their father, howbeit the name. of the city was Laish at the first. 
 
 This account of the Danites taking possession ofLaishand 
 changing it to Dan, is placed in the book of Judges immediately 
 after the death of Sampson. The death of Sampson is said to 
 have happened 1120 years before Christ, and that of Moses 1451 
 before Christ ; and, therefore, according to the historical arrange- 
 ment, the place was not called Dan till 331 years after the death 
 of Moses. 
 
 There is a striking confusion between the historical and the 
 chronological arrangement in the Book of Judges. The five 
 last chapters, as they stand in the book, 17, IS, 19, 20, 21, are 
 put chronologically before all the preceding chapters; they 
 are made to be 28 years before the 16th chapter, 266 before 
 the 15th, 245 before the 13th, 195 before the 9th, 90 before the 
 4th, and 15 years before the first chapter. This shows the un- 
 certain and fabulous state of the Bible. According to the chrono- 
 logical arrangement, the taking of Laish, and giving it the name 
 of Dan, is made to be 20 years after the death of Joshua, who was 
 the successor of Moses ; and by the historical order as it stands 
 in the book, it is made to be 306 years after the death of Joshua, 
 and 331 after that of Moses ; but they both exclude Moses from 
 being the writer of Genesis, because, according to either of the 
 statements, no such place as Dan existed in the time of Moses ; 
 and, therefore, the writer of Genesis must have been some person, 
 who lived after the town of Laish had the name of Dan ; and who 
 that person was, nobody knows-; and consequently the book of 
 Genesis is anonymous and without authority.. 
 
 I proceed now to state another point of historical and chrono- 
 logical evidence, and to show therefrom, as in the preceding case, 
 that Moses is not the author of the book of Genesis. 
 
 In the 36th chapter of Genesis there is given a genealogy of the 
 sons and descendants of Esau, who are called Edomites, and also 
 a. list, by name, of the kings of Edom ; in enumerating of which. 
 
PART II. J THE AGE OF REA80N. 79 
 
 it is said, verse 31, "And these are the kings that reigned in 
 Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel.' 
 
 Now, were any dateless writings to be found, in which, speak- 
 ing of any past events, the writer should say, these things happen- 
 ed before there was any Congress in America, or before there 
 was any Convention in France, it would be evidence that such 
 writings could not have been written before, and could only be 
 written after there was a Congress in America, or a Convention in 
 France, as the case might be ; and, consequently, that it could not 
 be written by any person who died before there was a Congress 
 in the one country, or a Convention in the other. 
 
 Nothing is more frequent, as well in history as in conversation, 
 than to refer to a fact in the room of a date : it is most natural so 
 to do, because a fact fixes itself in the memory better than a 
 date ; secondly, because the fact includes the date, and serves to 
 excite two ideas at once ; and this manner of speaking by circum- 
 stances implies as positively that the fact alluded to is past , as if 
 it was so expressed. When a person speaking upon any jnatier, 
 says, it was before I was married, or before my son was born, or 
 before I went to America, or before I went to France, it is abso- 
 lutely understood, and intended to be understood, that he has been 
 married, that he has had a son, that he has been in America, or 
 been in France. Language does not admit of using this mode of 
 expression in any otner sense ; and whenever such an expression 
 is found any where, it can only be understood in the sense in 
 which only it could have been used. 
 
 The passage, therefore, that I have quoted — " that these are the 
 kings that reigned in Edom, before there reigned any king over 
 the children of Israel," could only have been written after the 
 first king began to reign over them ; and,' consequently, that the 
 book of Genesis so far from having been written by Moses, could 
 not have been written till the time of Saulat least. This is the 
 positive sense of the passage; but the expression, any king, im- 
 plies more kings than one, at least it implies two, and this will 
 carry it to the time of David ; and, if taken in a general sense. 
 it carries itself through all the time of the Jewish monarchy. 
 
 Had. we met with this verse in any part of the Bible that pro- 
 fessed to have been written after kings began to reign in Israel, it 
 would have been impossible not to have seen the application of it 
 It happens then that this is the case ; the two books of Chro 
 
SO THE AGE OF REASON. [PART It. 
 
 nicies, whieh gave a history of all the kings of Israel, are pro* 
 fessedly, as well as in fact, written after the Jewish monarchy be- 
 gan; and this verse that I have quoted, and all the remaining 
 verses of the 36th chapter of Genesis, are, word for word, in the 
 first cnapter of Chronicles, beginning at the 43d verse. 
 
 It was with consistency that the writer of the Chronicles could 
 say, as he has said, 1st Chron. chap, i, ver. 43, These are the kings 
 that reigned in Edom, before there reigned any king over the 
 children of Israel, because he was going to give, and has given a 
 list of the kings that had reigned in Israel ; but as it is impossible 
 that the same expression could have been used before that period, 
 it is as certain as any thing can be proved from historical language, 
 that this part of Genesis is taken from Chronicles, and that Ge- 
 nesis is not so old as Chronicles, and probably not so old as the 
 book of Homer, or as iEsop's Fables, admitting Homer to have 
 been, as the tables of chronology state, contemporary with David 
 or Solomon, and iEsop to have lived about the end of th» 
 Jewish monarchy. 
 
 Take away from Genesis the belief that Moses was the author, 
 on which only the strange belief that it is the word of God has 
 stood, and there remains nothing of- Genesis but an anonymous 
 book of stories, fables, and traditionary or invented absurdities, or 
 of downright lies. The storyof Eve and the serpent, and of 
 Noah and his ark, drops to a level with the- Arabian Tales, with- 
 out the merit of being entertaining ; and the account of men living 
 to eight and nine hundred years becomes as fabulous as the im- 
 mortality x>f the giants of the Mythology. 
 
 Besides, the charactei of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the 
 most horrid that can be imagined. If those accounts be true, he 
 was the wretch that first began and carried on wars on the 
 score, or on the pretence of religion ; and under that mask, or 
 that infatuation, committed the most unexampled atrocities that 
 are to be found in the history of any nation, of which I will state 
 only one instance. 
 
 When the Jewish army returned from one of their murdering 
 and plundering excursions, the account goes on. as follows, 
 Numbers, chap. xxxi. ver. 13. 
 
 "And Moses, and Eleazer the priest, and all the princes of the 
 congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp ; and 
 Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains 
 
TkKT II.] THE AGE Oy REASON. SI 
 
 over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from 
 the battle ; and Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the 
 women alive I behold, these caused the children of Israel, through 
 the council of Balaam, to commit trespass against the Lord in 
 the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congrega- 
 tion of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the lit- 
 tle ones, and kill every woman that hath known a man by lying 
 with him ; but all the woman children that have not known a man 
 by lying with him keep alive for yourselves. 
 
 Among the detestable villains that in any period of the world 
 have disgraced the name of man, it is impossible to find a greater 
 than Moses, if this account be true. Here is an order to butcher 
 the boys, to massacre the mothers, and debauch the daughters. 
 
 Let any mother put herself in the situation of those mothers ; 
 one child murdered, another destined to violation, and herself in 
 the hands of an executioner : let any daughter put herself in the 
 situation of those daughters, destined as a prey to the murderers 
 of a mother and a brother, and what will be their feelings ? It is 
 in vain that we attempt to impose upon nature, for nature will 
 have her course, and the religion that tortures all her social ties is 
 a false religion. 
 
 Aftei this detestable order, follows an account of the plunder 
 taken, and the manner of dividing it ; and here it is that the pro- 
 phaneness of priestly hypocrisy increases the catalogue of crimes. 
 Verse 37, " And the Lord's tribute of the sheep was six hundred 
 and three score and fifteen ; and the beeves was thirty and six 
 thousand, of which the Lord's tribute was three score and twelve; 
 and the asses were thirty thousand, of which the Lord's tribute 
 was three-score and one ; and the persons were thirty thousand, 
 of which the Lord's tribute was thirty and two." In short, the 
 matters contained in this chapter, as well as in many other parts 
 of the Bible, are too horrid for humanity, to read, or for decency 
 to hear ; for it appears, from the 35th verse of this chapter, that 
 the number of women-children consigned to debauchery bv the 
 order of Moses was thirty-two thousand. 
 
 People in general know not what wickedness there is in this 
 pretended word of God. Brought up in habits of superstition, 
 they take it for -granted that the Bible is true, and that it is good ; 
 they permit themselves not to doubt of it, and they carry the ideas 
 they form of the benevolence of the Almighty to the book which 
 
 11 
 
82 THE AGE OP REASON. [:FAKT II. 
 
 Ihey have been taught to believe was written by his authority- 
 Good heavens ! it is quite another thing; it is a book of Hes, 
 wickedness, and blasphemy ; for what can be greater blasphemy, 
 than to ascribe the wickedness of man to the orders ©f the Al- 
 mighty 1 
 
 But to return to my subject, that of showing that Moses is not 
 the author of the books ascribed to him, and that the Bible is spu- 
 rious. The two instances I have already given would be suffi- 
 cient, without any additional evidence, to invalidate the authen- 
 ticity of any book that pretended to be four or five hundred years 
 more ancient than the matters it speaks of, or refers to, as facts ; 
 for in the case of farming tliem unto Ban, andT of the kings that 
 reigned over the children of Israel, not eveirthe flimsy pretence 
 of prophesy can be pleaded. The expressions are in the preter 
 tense, and it would be downright idiotism to say that a man conld 
 prophesy in the preter tense. 
 
 But there are many other passages scattered throughout those 
 books that unite in the same point of evidence. It is said in 
 Exodus, (another of the books ascribed to Moses,) chap. xvi. verse 
 34, " And the children of Israel did eat manna iifitil they came to 
 a land inhabited ; they did eat manna until they came unto the 
 borders of the land of Canaan. 
 
 Whether the children of Israel ate manna or net, or what manna 
 was, or whether it was any thing more than a kind of fungus or 
 small mushroom, or other- vegetable substance common to that 
 part of the country, makes nothing to my argument ; all that I 
 mean to sho\y is, that it is not Moses that conld write this account, 
 because the account extends itself beyond the life and time of 
 Moses. Moses, according to the Bible, (but it is such a book of 
 lies and contradictions there is no knowing which part to believe, 
 or whether any,) dies in the wilderness, and never came upon the 
 borders of the land of Canaan ; and, consequently, it could not 
 be he that said what the children of Israel did, or what they ate 
 when they came there. This account of eating manna, which 
 they tell us was written by Moses, extends itself to the time of 
 Joshua, the successor of Moses, as appears by the account given 
 in the book of Joshua, after the children of Israel had passed the 
 river Jordan, and came unto the borders of the land of Canaan. 
 Joshua, chap. v. ver. 12. " Aid the manna ceased on the morrow, 
 after they had eaten of the old corn of the land ; neither had the 
 
*ART II.J THE AGE OP REASON. 83 
 
 children of Israel manna any more, but they did eat of the fruit 
 of the land of Canaan that year."- 
 
 But a more remarkable instance than this occurs in Deuterono- 
 my ; which, while it shows that Moses could not be the writer of 
 that book, shows also the fabulous • notions tljat prevailed at that 
 time about giants. In the third chapter of Deuteronomy, among 
 the conquests said to be made by Moses, is- an account of the 
 taking of Og, king of Bashan, ver. 11. " For only Og, king of 
 Bashan, remained of the race of giants ; behold, his bedstead was 
 a bedstead of iron ; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Am- 
 nion? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the 
 breadth of it, after the ( _cubit of a man." A cubit is 1 foot 9 888- 
 lOOOths inches ; the length, therefore, of the bed was 16 feet 4 
 inches, and the breadth 7 feet 4 inches ; thus much for this giant's 
 bed. Now for the historical part, which, though the evidence is 
 not so direct and positive, as in the former cases, it is nevertheless 
 very presumable and corroborating evidence, and is better than 
 the best evidence on the contrary side. 
 
 The writer, by way of proving the existence of this giant, refers 
 to his bed, as an ancient relic, and says, is. it not in Rabbath (or 
 Rabbah) of the children of Ammon 1 meaning that it is ; for such 
 is frequently the Bible method of affirming a thing. But it could 
 not be Moses that said this, because Moses could know nothing 
 about Rabbah, nor of what was in it. Rabbah was pot a city be- 
 longing to this giant king, nor was it one of the cities that Moses 
 took. The knowledge, therefore, that this bed was at Rabbah, 
 and of the particulars of its, dimensions, must be referred to the 
 time when Rabbah was taken, and this was not till four hundred 
 years after the death of Moses ; for which, see 2 Sa,m. chap, xii. 
 ver. 26. "And Joab (David's general) fought against Rabbah 
 of the children of Ammon, and took the royal city." 
 
 As I am not undertaking to point out all the contradictions in 
 time, place and circumstance, that abound in the books ascribed to 
 Moses, and which prove to a demonstration that those books could 
 not be written by Moses, nor in the time of Moses : I proceed to 
 the book of Joshua, and to show that Joshua is not the author of 
 that book, and that it is anonymous and without authority. The 
 evidence I shall prpduce is contained in the boojc itself; I will 
 not go out of the Bible for proof against the supposed authentici- 
 ty, of the Bible. False testimony is always good against itself. 
 
84 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART It. 
 
 Joshua, according to the first chapter of Joshua, was the imme- 
 diate successor of Moses ; he was, moreover, a military man.which 
 Moses was not, and he continued as chief of the people of Israel 
 25 years ; that is, from the time that Moses died, which, according 
 to the Bible chronology, was 1451 years before Christ, until 1426 
 years before Christ, when, according to the same chronology, 
 Joshua died. If, therefore, we find in this book, said to have been 
 written by Joshua, reference to facts done after the death of Josh- 
 ua, it is evidence that Joshua could not be the author ; and also 
 that the book could not have been written till after the time of the 
 latest fact which it records. As to the character of the book, it is 
 horrid ; it is a military history of rapine and murder, as savage 
 and brutal as those recorded of his predecessor in villany and 
 hvpocrisy, Moses ; and the blasphemy consists, as in the former 
 books, in ascribing those deeds to the order of the Almighty. 
 
 In the first place, the book of Joshua, as is the case in the pre- 
 ceding books, is written in the third person ; it is the historian of 
 Joshua that speaks, forit would have been absurd and vain-glorious 
 that Joshua should say of himself, as is said of him in the last 
 verse of the sixth chapter, that " his fame was noised throughout 
 all the country." I now come more immediately to the proof. 
 
 In the 24th chapter, ver. 31, it is Said, " that Israel served the 
 Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that over- 
 lived Joshua." Now, in the name of common sense, can it be Josh- 
 ua that relates what people had done after he was dead 1 This ac- 
 count must not only have been written by some historian that 
 lived after Joshua, but that lived also after the elders that out-lived 
 Joshua. 
 
 There are, several passages of a general meaning with respect 
 to time, scattered throughout the book of Joshua, that carries the 
 time in which the bdok was written to a distance from the time of 
 Joshua, but without marking by exclusion any particular time, as 
 in the passage above quoted. In that passage, the time that in- 
 tervened between the death of Joshua and the death of the elders 
 is excluded descriptively and absolutely, and the evidence sub- 
 stantiates that the book could not have been written till after the 
 death of the last. 
 
 But though the passages to which I allude, and which I am going 
 to quote, do not designate any particular time hy exclusion, they 
 imply a time far more distant from the days of Joshua, than is 
 
TART II.] THE AGE OF REASON-. 85 
 
 contained between the death of Joshua and the death of the elders. 
 — Such is the passage, chap. x. ver. 14 ; where, after giving an 
 account that the sun stood still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the 
 valley of Ajalon, at the command of Joshua, (a tale only fit to 
 amuse children) the passage says, " And there was no day like 
 that, before it, nor after it, that the Lord hearkened to the voice of 
 a man." 
 
 This tale of the sun standing still upon Mount Gibeon, and the 
 moon in the valley of Ajalon, is one of those fables that detects itself. 
 Such a circumstance could not have happened without being known 
 all over the world. One half would have wondered why the sun 
 did not rise, and the other why it did not set ; and the tradition of 
 it would be universal, whereas there is not a nation in the world 
 that knows any thing about it. But why must the moon stand 
 still 1 What occasion could there be for moon-light in the day- 
 time, and that too while the sun shined 1 As a poetical figure, the 
 whole is well enough ; it is akin to that in the song of Deborah 
 and Baruk, The stars in their courses fought against Sisera ; but 
 it is inferior to the figurative declaration of Mahomet, to the per- 
 sons who came to expostulate with him on his going on, Wert 
 thou, said he, to come to me with the sun in thy right hand and the 
 moon in' thy left, it should not alter my career. For Joshua to 
 have exceeded Mahomet, he should have put the sun and moon 
 one in each pocket, and carried them as Guy Faux carried his 
 dark lanthorn, and taken them out to shine as he might happen to 
 want them. 
 
 The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that 
 it is difficult to class them separately. One step above the sub- 
 lime makes the ridiculous, and one step above the ridiculous makes 
 the sublime again ;. the account, however, abstracted from the 
 poetical fancy, shows the ignorance of Joshua, for he should have 
 commanded the earth to have stood still. 
 
 The time implied by the expression after it, that is, after that 
 day, being put in comparison with all the time that passed before it, 
 must, in order to give any expressive signification to the passage, 
 mean a great length of time : — for example, it would have been 
 ridiculous to have said so the next day, or the next week, or the 
 next month, or the next year ; to give, therefore, meaning to the 
 passage, comparative with the wonder it relates, and the prior time 
 it alludes to, it -must mean centuries of years ; less, however than 
 
S6 THE AGE OF REASON. [rART II. 
 
 one would be trifling, and less than two would be barely admis- 
 sible' 
 
 A distant, but general time, is also -expressed in the 8th chap- 
 ter; where, after giving an account of the taking the city of Ai, it 
 is said, ver. 28th, "And Joshua burned Ai, and made it an heap 
 for ever, a desolation unto this day ;" and again, ver. 29, where, 
 speaking of the king of Ai, whom Joshua had hanged, and buried at 
 the entering of the gate, it is said, " And he raised thereon a great 
 heap of stones, which remaineth unto this day," that is, unto the 
 day or time in which the writer of the book of Joshua lived. And 
 again, in Jhe 10th chapter, where, after speaking of the five kings 
 whom Joshua had hanged on five trees, and then thrown in a 
 cave, it is said, " And he laid great stones on the cave's mouth, 
 which remain unto this very day." 
 
 In enumerating the several exploits of Joshua, and oi the tribes, 
 and of the places which they conquered or attempted, it is said, 
 c. xv. ver. 63, " As for the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 the children of Judah could not drive them out ; but the Jebu- 
 sites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem unto this day." 
 The question upon this passage is, at what time did the Jebusites 
 and the children of Judah dwell together at Jerusalem? As 
 this matter occurs again in the first chapter of Judges, I shall 
 reserve my observations till I come to that part. 
 
 Having thus shown from the book of Joshua itself, without 
 any auxiliary evidence whatever, that Joshua is not the author 
 of that book, and that it is anonymous, and consequently with- 
 out authority. I proceed, as before-mentioned, to the book of 
 Judges. 
 
 The book of Judges is anonymous on the face of it ; and, there- 
 fore, even the pretence is wanting to call it the word of God ; 
 it has not so much as a nominal voucher ; it is altogether' 
 fatherless. 
 
 This' book begins with the same expression as the book of 
 Joshua. That of Joshua begins, chap. i. ver 1, JVbic after the 
 death of Moses, fyc. and this of Judges begins, JVow after the 
 death of Joshua, fyc. This, and the similarity of style between the 
 two books, indicate that they are the work of the same author, but 
 who he was, is altogether unknown : the only point that the book 
 proves is, that the author lived long after the time of Joshua ; for 
 though it begins as if it followed immediately after his death, the 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 87 
 
 second chapter is an epitome or abstract of the whole book, 
 which, according to the Bible chronology, extends its history 
 through a space of 306 years ; that is,- from the death of Joshua, 
 1426 years before Christ, to the xleath of Sampson, 1120 years 
 before Christ, and only 25 years before Saul . went tp seek his 
 father's asses, and was made king. But there is good reason 
 to believe, that it was not written till the time of David, at 
 least, and that the book of Joshua was not written-before the same 
 time. 
 
 In the first chapter of Judges, the writer, after announcing the 
 death of Joshua, proceeds to tell what happened between the chil- 
 dren of Judah and the native inhabitants of the land of Canaan. 
 In this statement, the writer, having abruptly mentioned Jerusa- 
 lem in the 7th verse,. Says immediately after, in the 8th verse, by 
 way of explanation, ;l Now the children of Judah had fought 
 against Jerusalem, and taken it ;" consequently this book could 
 not have been written before Jerusalem had been taken. The 
 reader will recollect the quotation I have just before made from 
 the 15th chapter of Joshua, ver. 63, where it is said, that the Jehu- 
 sites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem at this day ; 
 meaning the time when the book of Joshua was written. 
 
 The evidence I have already produced, to prove that the books 
 I have hitherto treated of were not written by the persons to whom 
 they are. ascribed, nor till many years after their death, if such per- 
 sons ever lived, is already so abundant, that I can afford to admit 
 this passage with less weight than I am entitled to draw from it. 
 For the case is, that so far as the Bible can be credited as an 
 history, the city of Jerusalem was not taken till the time of David; 
 and, consequently, that the books of Joshua, and of Judges, were 
 not written till after the commencement of the reign of David, 
 which was 370 years after the death of Joshua. 
 
 The name of :the city, that was afterwards called Jerusalem, 
 was originally^ Jebus or- Jebusi, and was. the capital of the Jebu- 
 sites. The account of David's tajring this city is given in 2 
 Samuel, c,hap. v. ver. 4, &c; also in 1 chron. chap. xiv. ver. 4, 
 &c. There is no mention in any part of the Bible that it was 
 ever taken before, nor any, account that favours such an opinion. 
 It is not said, either in Samuel or in Chronicles, that they utterly 
 destroyed men, women, and children ; that they left not a soul to 
 breathe, us is said of their other conquests ; and the silence here 
 
88 THE AGE OF REASON. ^PABT II. 
 
 observed implies that it was taken by capitulation, and that the 
 Jebusites, the native inhabitants, continued to live in the place 
 after it was taken. The account, therefore, given in Joshua, that 
 the Jebusites dwell with the children of Judah at Jerusalem at this 
 day, corresponds to no other time than after the taking the city by 
 David. 
 
 Having now shown that every book in the Bible, from Genesis 
 to Judges, is without authenticity, I come to the book of Ruth, an 
 idle, bungling story, foolishly told, nobody knows by whom, about 
 a strolling country girl creeping slyly to bed to her cousin Boaz. 
 Pretty stuff indeed to be called the word of God 1 It is, however, 
 one of the best books in the Bible, for it is free from murder and 
 rapine. 
 
 I come next to the two books of Samuel, and to show that those 
 books were not written by Samuel, nor till a great length of time 
 after the death of Samuel : and that they are, like all the former 
 books, anonymous and without authority. 
 
 To be convinced that these books have been written much later 
 than the time of Samuel, and, consequently, not by him, it is only 
 necessary to read the account which the writer gives of Saul going 
 to seek his father's asses, and of his interview with Samuel, of 
 whom Saul went to inquire about those lost asses, as foolish people 
 now-a-days go to a conjuror to inquire after lost things. 
 
 The writer, in relating this story of Saul, Samuel, and the asses, 
 does not tell it as a thing that had just then happened, but as an 
 ancient story in the time this writer lived; for he tells it in the 
 language or terms used at the time that Samuel lived, which 
 obliges the writer to explain the story in the terms or language 
 used in the time the writer lived. 
 
 Samuel, in the account given of him, in the first of those books, 
 chap. ix. is called the seer; and it is by this term that Saul in- 
 quires after him, ver. 11, " And as they (Saul and his servant) 
 went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out 
 to draw water ; and they said unto them, Is the seer here?" Saul 
 then went according to the direction of these maidens, and met 
 Samuel without knowing him, and said unto him, ver. 18, " Tell 
 me, I pray thee, where the seer's house is? and Samuel answered 
 Saul, and said, I am the seer." 
 
 As the writer of the book of Samuel relates these questions and 
 answers, in the language or manner of speaking used in the time 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. gD 
 
 they are said to have been spoken ; and as that manner of speakr 
 ing was out of use when this author wrote, he found it necessary, 
 in order to make the story understood, to explain the terms in 
 which these questions and answers are spoken ; and he does this 
 in the 9th verse, where he says, " before-time, in Israel, when a 
 man went to inquire of God, thus he spake, Come, let us go to 
 the seer ; for he that is now called a prophet, was before-time 
 tailed a seer." This proves, as I have before said, that this story 
 of Saul, Samuel, and the asses, was an ancient story at the time 
 the book of Samuel was written, and consequently that Samuel 
 did not write it, and that that book is without authenticity. 
 
 But if we go further into those books, the evidence is still more 
 positive that Samuel is not the writer of them ; for they relate 
 things that did not happen till several years after the death of 
 Samuel. Samuel died before Saul; for the 1st Samuel, chap, 
 xxviii. tells, that Saul and the witch of Endor conjured Samuel up 
 after he was dead ; yet the history of the matters contained in 
 those books is extended through the remaining part of Saul's life, 
 and to the latter end of the life of David, who succeeded Saul. 
 The account of the death and burial of Samuel (a thing which he 
 could not write himself) is related in the 25th chapter of the-first 
 book of Samuel ; and the chronology affixed to this chapter makes 
 this to be 1060 years before Christ ; yet the history of this first 
 book is brought down to 1056 years before Christ ;, that is, to 
 the death of Saul, which was not till four years after the death of 
 Samuel. 
 
 The second book of Samuel begins with an account of things 
 that did not happen till four years after Samuel was dead ; for it 
 begins with the reign of David, who succeeded Saul, and it goes 
 on to the end of David's reign, which was forty-three years after 
 the death of Samuel ; and, therefore, the books are in themselves 
 positive evidence that they were not written by Samuel. 
 
 I have now gone through all the books in the first part of the 
 Bible, to which the names of persons are affixed, as being the 
 authors of those books, and which the church, styling itself the 
 Christian church, have imposed upon the world as the writings of 
 Moses, Joshua', and Samuel ; and I have detected and proved the 
 falsehood of this imposition. And now, ye priests, of every des- 
 cription, who have preached and written against the former part 
 of the Age of Reason, what have ye to say 1 Will ye, with all 
 
 12 
 
90 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART lf« 
 
 this mass of evidence against you, and staring you in the face* 
 still have the assurance to march into your pulpits, and continue 
 to impose these books on your congregations, as the works of 
 inspired penmen, and the word of God, when it is as evident as de- 
 monstration can make truth appear, that the persons who, ye say, 
 are the authors, are not the authors, and that ye know not who the 
 authors are. What shadow of pretence have ye now to produce, 
 for continuing the blasphemous fraud ] What have ye still to- 
 offer against the pure and moral religion of Deism, in support of 
 your system of falsehood, idolatry, and pretended revelation t Had 
 the cruel and murderous orders, with whkrh the Eible is filled, 
 and the nnmberless torturing executions of men, women, and 
 children, m consequence of those orders, been ascribed to some 
 friend, whose memory you revered, you would have glowed with 
 satisfaction at detecting the falsehood of the charge, and gloried 
 in defending his injured fame. It is because ye are sunk in the 
 cruelty of superstition, or feel no interest in the honour of your 
 Creator, that ye listen to the horrid tales of the Bible, or hear them 
 with callous indifference. The evidence I have produced, and 
 shall still produce in the course of this work, to prove that the 
 Bible is without authority, will, whilst it wounds the stubbornness 
 of a priest, relieve and tranquillize the minds of millions ; it will 
 free them from all those hard thoughts of the Almighty which 
 priest-craft and the Bible had infused into their minds, and which 
 stood in everlasting opposition to all their ideas of bis moral 
 justice and benevolence. 
 
 I come now to the two books of Kings, and the two books of 
 Chronicles. Those books are altogether historical, and are chief- 
 ly confined to the lives and actions of the Jewish kings, who in 
 general were a parcel of rascals ; but these are matters with which 
 we have no more concern, than we have with the Roman em- 
 perors, or Homer's account of the Trojan war. Besides which, 
 as those works are anonymous, and as we know nothing of the 
 writer, or of his character, it is impossible for us to know what 
 degree of credit to give to the matters related therein. Like all 
 other ancient histories, they appear to be a jumble of fable and 
 of fact, and of probable and of improbable things ; but which, 
 distance of time and place, and change of circumstances iu the 
 world, have rendered obsolete and uninteresting. 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 91 
 
 The chief use I shall make of those books, will be that of com- 
 paring them with each other, and with other parts of the Bible, to 
 show the confusion, contradiction, and cruelty, in this pretended 
 word of God. 
 
 The first book of Kings begins with the reign of Solomon, 
 which according to the Bible Chronology, was 1015 years before 
 Christ ; and the second book ends 588 years before Christ, being 
 a little after the reign of Zedekiah, whom Nebuchadnezzar, after 
 taking Jerusalem, and conquering the Jews, carried captive to 
 Babylon. The two books include a space of 427 years. 
 
 The two book of Chronicles are a history of the same times, 
 and in general of the same persons, by another author; for.it 
 would be absurd to suppose that the same author wrote the his- 
 tory twice over. The first book of Chronicles (after giving the 
 genealogy from Adam to Saul, which takes up the first nine chap- 
 ters) begins with the reign of David ; and the last book ends as 
 in the last book of. Kings, soon after the reign of Zedekiah, about 
 588 years before Christ. The two last verses of the last chapter 
 bring the history 52 years more forward, that is, to 536. But 
 these verses do not belong to the book, as I shall show when I 
 come to speak of the book of Ezra. 
 
 The two books of Kings, besides the history of Saul, David 
 and Solomon, who reigned over all Israel, contain an abstract of 
 the lives of seventeen kings and one queen, who are styled kings 
 of Judah, and of nineteen, who are styled kings of Israel ; for 
 the Jewish nation, immediately on the death of Solomon, split 
 • into two parties, who chose separate kings, and who carried on 
 most rancorous wars against each other. 
 
 Those two books are little more than a history of assassi- 
 nations, treachery, and wars. The cruelties that the Jews had 
 accustomed themselves to practise on the Caananites, whose 
 country they had savagely invaded under a pretended gift front 
 God, they afterwards practised as furiously on each other. 
 Scarcely half their kings died a natural death, and in some instances 
 whole families were destroyed to secure possession to the suc- 
 cessor, who, after a few years, and sometimes only a few months, 
 or less, shared the same fate. In the tenth chapter of the second 
 book of Kings, an account is given of two baskets full of chil- 
 dren's heads, 70 in number, being exposed at the entrance of the 
 city ; tbey were the children of Ahab, and were murdered by 
 
92 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 the" orders of Jehu, whom Elisha, the pretended man of God, 
 had anointed to be king over Israel, on purpose to commit this 
 bloody deed, and assassinate his predecessor. And in the ac- 
 count of the reign of Manaham, one of the kings of Israel who 
 had murdered Shallum, who had reigned but one month, it is said, 
 Kings, chap. xv. ver. 16, that Manaham smote the city of 
 Tiphsah, because they opened not the city to him, and all the 
 women that were therein that were with child they ripped up. 
 
 Could we permit ourselves to suppose that the Almighty would 
 distinguish any nation of people by the name of his chosen people, 
 we must suppose that people to have been an example to all the rest 
 of the world of the purest piety and humanity, and not such a nation 
 of ruffians and cut-throats as the ancient Jews were; a people, 
 who, corrupted by, and copying after such monsters and impos ters 
 as Moses and Aaron, Joshua, Samuel, and David, had distinguish- 
 ed themselves above all others, on the face of the known earth, 
 for barbarity and wickedness. If we will not stubbornly shut 
 our eyes, and steel our hearts, it is impossible not to see, in 
 spite of all that long-established superstition imposes upon the 
 mind, that that flattering appellation of his chosen people is no 
 other than a lie the priests and leaders of the Jews had invent- 
 ed, to cover the baseness of their own characters ; and which 
 Christian priests, sometimes as corrupt, and often as cruel, 
 have professed to believe. 
 
 The two books of Chronicles are a repetition of the same 
 crimes ; but the history is broken in several places, by the author 
 leaving out the reign of some of their kings ; and in this, as well 
 as in that of Kings, there is such a frequent transition from kings 
 of Judah to kings of Israel, and from kings of Israel to kings of 
 Judah, that the narrative is obscure in the reading. In the same 
 book the history sometimes contradicts itself; for example, in the 
 second book of Kings, chap. i. ver. 8, we are told, but in rather 
 ambiguous terms, that after the death of Ahaziah, king of Israel. 
 Jehoram, or Joram (who was of the house of Ahab) reigned, in 
 his stead in the second year of Jehoram, or Joram, son of Je- 
 hoshaphat king of Judah ; and in chap. viii. ver. 16, of the same 
 book, it is said, and in the fifth year of Joram, the son of Ahab, 
 king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah, began to 
 reign ; that is, one chapter says Joram of Judah began to 
 reign in the second year of Joram of Israel ; and the other chap- 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 93 
 
 ter says, that Joram of Israel began to reign in the fifth year of 
 Joram of Judah. 
 
 Several of the most extraordinary matters related in one history, 
 as having happened during the reign of such and such of their kings, 
 are not to be found in the other, in relating the reign of the same 
 king; for example, the two first rival kings, after the death of 
 Solomon, were Rehoboam and Jeroboam ; and in 1 Kings, chap, 
 xii. and xni. an account is given of Jeroboam making an offering 
 of burnt incense, and that a man who-is there called a man of God, 
 cried out against the altar, chap. xiii. ver. 2, " altar ! altar ! 
 thus saith the Lord ; Behold, a child shall be born to the house of 
 David; Josiah by name* and upon thee shall he offer the priests of 
 the high places, and burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall 
 be burnt upon thee." — Ver. 3, " And it came to pass, when king 
 Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried 
 against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, 
 saying, Lay hold on him ; and his hand which he put out against 
 him dried up, so that he could not pull it again to him." 
 
 One would think that such an extraordinary case as this, (which 
 is spoken of as a judgment,) happening to the chief of one of the 
 parties, and that at the first moment of the separation of the Israel- 
 ites into two nations, would if it had been true, have been recorded 
 in both histories. But though men in latter time have believed all 
 that the prophets have said unto them, it does not appear these pro- 
 phets or historians believed each other, they knew each other too 
 well. 
 
 A long account also is given in Kings about Elijah. It runs 
 through several chapters, and concludes with telling, 2 Kings, 
 chap. ii. ver. 11, " And it came to pass, as they (Elijah and Eli- 
 sha) still went on, and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot 
 of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah 
 went up by a whirlwind into heaven." Hum ! this the author of 
 Chronicles, miraculous as the story is, makes no mention oi, though 
 he mentions Elijah by name ; neither does he say any thing of the 
 story related in the second chapter of the same book of Kings, 
 of a parcel of children calling Elisha bald head, bald head ; and 
 that this man of God, ver.24, " turned back, and looked upon them, 
 and cursed them in the name of the Lord ; and there came forth 
 two she bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of 
 them." He also passes over in silence the story told, 2 Kings, 
 
94 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART II 
 
 chap. xiii. that when they were burying a man in the sepulchre, 
 where Elisha had been buried, it happened that the dead man, as 
 they were letting him down, (ver. 21,) " touched the bones of Eli- 
 sha, and he (the dead man) revived, and stood upon his feet." The 
 story does not tell us whether they buriedrlhe man- notwithstand- 
 ing he revived and stood upon his feet, or drew him up again. 
 Upon all these stories, the writer of Chronicles is as silent as any 
 writer of the present day, who did not choose to be accused of 
 lying, or at least of romancing, would be about stories of the same 
 kind. 
 
 But, however these two historians may differ from each other, 
 with respect to the tales related by either, they are silent alike 
 with respect to those men styled prophets, whose writings fill up 
 the latter part of the Bible. Isaiah, who lived in the time of He- 
 zekiah, is mentioned in Kings, and again in Chronicles, when these 
 historians are speaking of that reign ; but except in one or two 
 instances at most, and those very slightly, none of the rest are so 
 much as spoken of, or even hinted at ; though, according to the 
 Bible chronology, they lived within the Jime those histories were 
 written ; some of them long before. If those prophets, as they 
 are called, were men of such importance in their day, as the com- 
 pilers of the Bible, and priests, and commentators have since 
 represented them to be, how can it be accounted for, that not 
 one of these histories should say any thing about them ? 
 
 The history in the books of Kings and of Chronicles is brought 
 forward, as I have already said, to the year 588 before Christ ; it 
 will therefore be proper to examine, which of these prophets lived 
 before that period. 
 
 Here follows a table of all the prophets, with the times in which 
 they lived before Christ, according to the Chronology affixed to 
 the first chapter of each of the books of the prophets ; and also 
 af the number of years they lived before the books of Kings and 
 Chronicles were written. 
 
FART !!.] 
 
 THE AGE OF REASON. 
 
 95 
 
 Table of the Prophets, with the time in which they lived before 
 Christ, and also before the books of Kings and Chronicles 
 were written. 
 
 
 
 Years 
 
 Yrs. before 
 
 
 Names 
 
 before 
 
 Kings and 
 
 Observations. 
 
 
 
 Christ. 
 
 Chronicles. 
 
 
 Isaiah 
 
 - 
 
 760 
 
 172 
 
 mentioned. 
 
 T 
 
 
 629 
 
 41 
 
 ( mentioned only in 
 \ the last c. of Chron, 
 
 Jeremiah - , 
 
 
 Ezekiel 
 
 . 
 
 595 
 
 7 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Daniel 
 
 . 
 
 607 
 
 19 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Hosea 
 
 . 
 
 785 
 
 97 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Joel 
 
 . 
 
 800 
 
 212, 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Amos 
 
 - 
 
 789 
 
 199 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Obadiah - 
 
 . 
 
 789 
 
 199 
 
 not mentioned 
 
 Jonah 
 
 - 
 
 862 
 
 274 
 
 see the note.* 
 
 Micah 
 
 . 
 
 750 
 
 162 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Nahum 
 
 . 
 
 713 
 
 125 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Habakkuk- 
 
 . 
 
 620 
 
 38 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Zephaniah- 
 
 
 630 
 
 42 
 
 not mentioned. 
 
 Haggai v 
 Zachariah > 
 
 after the 
 
 
 
 •- 
 
 Malachi j 
 
 year 588 
 
 
 
 
 This table is either not very honourable for the Bible historians, 
 or not very honorable for the Bible prophets; and I leave to 
 priests, and commentators, who are very learned in little things, 
 to settle the point of etiquette between the two ; and to assign a 
 reason, why the authors of Kings and Chronicles have treated 
 those prophets, whom in the former part of the JLge of Reason, I 
 have considered as poets, with as much degrading silence as artv 
 historian of the present day would treat Peter Pindar. 
 
 I have one observation more to make on the book of Chronic] es ; 
 after which I shall pass on to review the remaining books of the 
 Bible. 
 
 In my observations on the book of Genesis, I have quoted a 
 passage from the 36th chapter, verse 31, which evidently refers to 
 a time, after that kings began to reign over the children of Israel ; 
 and I have shown that as this verse is verbatim the same as in 
 Chronicles, chap. i. verse '43, where it stands consistently with the 
 
 * In 2 Kings, chap. xiv. ver. 25, the name of Jonah is mentioned on account 
 of the restoration of a tract of land by Jeroboam ; but nothing further is said 
 of him, nor is any allusion made to the book of Jonah, nor to his expedition 
 to Ninevah, nor to his encounter with the whale. 
 
96 THE AGE OF REASON. fpART II. 
 
 order of history, which in Genesis it does not, that the verse in 
 Genesis, and a great part of the 36th chapter, have been taken 
 from Chronicles ; and that the book of Genesis, though it is 
 placed first in the Bible, and ascribed to Moses, has been manu- 
 factured by some unknown person, after the book of Chronicles 
 was written, which was not until at least eight hundred and sixty 
 years after the time of Moses. 
 
 The evidence I proceed by to substantiate this is regular, and 
 has in it but two stages. First, as I have already stated, that the 
 passage in Genesis refers itself for lime to Chronicles; secondly, 
 that the book of Chronicles, to which this passage refers itself, was 
 not begun to be written until at least eight hundred and sixty 
 years after the time of Moses. To prove this, we have only to 
 look into the thirteenth verse of the third chapter of the first book 
 of Chronicles, where the writer, in giving the genealogy-of the 
 descendants of David, mentions Zedekiah ; and it was in the 
 time of Zedekiah, that Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, 
 588 years before Christ, and consequently more than 860 years 
 after Moses. Those who have superstitiously boasted of the 
 antiquity of the Bible, and particularly of the books ascribed to 
 Moses, have done it without examination, and without any autho- 
 rity than that of one credulous man telling it to another ; for, so 
 far as historical and chronological evidence applies, the very first 
 book in the Bible is not so ancient as the book of Homer, by more 
 than three hundred years, and is about the same age with JEsop's 
 Fables. 
 
 I am not contending for the morality of Homer ; on the con- 
 trary, I think it a book of false glory, tending to inspire immoral 
 and mischievous notions of honour : and with respect to iEsop, 
 though the moral is in general just, the fable is often cruel ; and the 
 cruelty of the fable -does- more injury to the heart, especially in a 
 child, than the moral does good to the judgment 
 
 Having now dismissed Kings and Chronicles, I come to the 
 next in course, the book of Ezra. 
 
 As one proof, among others, I shall produce, to show the dis- 
 order in which this pretended word of God, the Bible, has been 
 put together, and the uncertainty of who the authors were, we 
 have only to look at the three first verses in Ezra, and the two 
 last in Chronicles ; for by what kind of cutting and shuffling has 
 it been that the three first verses in Ezra should be the two last 
 
PART II.] THE AGB OF REASON. 97 
 
 verses in Chronicles, or that the two last in Chronicles should be 
 the three first in Ezra 1 Either the authors did not know their 
 own works, or the compilers did not know the authors. 
 
 Two last Verses of Chronicles. 
 Ver. 22. Now in the first 
 year of Cyrus, king of Persia, 
 that the word of the Lord, 
 spoken by the mouth of Jere- 
 miah,, might be accomplished, 
 the Lord stirred up the spirit of 
 Cyrus, king of Persia, that he 
 made a proclamation throughout 
 all his kingdom, and put it also 
 in writing, saying. 
 
 23. Thus saith Cyrus, king 
 of Persia, all the kingdoms of 
 the earth hath the Lord God 
 of heaven, given me ; and he 
 hath charged me to build him 
 an house in Jerusalem, which is 
 in Judah. Who is there among 
 you of his people? the Lord 
 his God be with him, and let 
 him go up. 
 
 Three first Verses of Ezra. 
 
 Ver. 1. Now in the first year 
 of Cyrus, king of Persia, . that 
 the word of the Lord, by the 
 mouth of Jeremiah, might be 
 fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the 
 spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, 
 that he made, a proclamation 
 throughout all his kingdom, and 
 put it also in writing, saving, 
 
 2. Thus saith Cyrus, king of 
 Persia, The Lord God of hea- 
 ven hath given me all the king- 
 doms of the earth ; and he hath 
 charged me to build him an 
 house at Jerusalem, which is in" 
 Judah. 
 
 3. Who is there among you 
 of all his people ? his God be 
 with him, and let him go up, to 
 Jerusalem, which is in Judah, 
 and build the house of the Lord 
 God of Israel {he is the God) 
 rohich is in Jerusalem. 
 
 The last verse in Chronicles is broken abruptly, and ends in the 
 
 middle of a phrase with the word up, without signifying to what 
 
 place. This abrupt break, and the appearance of the same verses 
 
 in different books, show, as I have already said, the disorder and 
 
 ignorance in which the Bible has been put together, and that the 
 
 compilers of it had no authority for what they were doing, nor we 
 
 any authority for believing. what they have done.* 
 
 * I observed, as I passed alqng,.several broken and senseless passages in the 
 Bible, without thinking them of consequence enough to be introduced in the 
 body of the work ; such as that, 1 Samuel, chap. xui. ver. 1, where it is said, 
 "Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years oyer Israel, Saul 
 chose him three thousand men, &c." The first part of the verse; that Saul 
 reigned one year has no sense, since it does not tell us what Saul did, nor say 
 any thing of what happened at the end of that one year.;, and it is, besides, 
 mere absurdity to sa/he reigned one year, when the very next phrase say* 
 
 13 
 
9f THE AOE OF REASON. [t±%T '»■ 
 
 The only thing that has any appearance of certainty in the 
 book .of Ezra, is the time in which it was written, which was im- 
 mediately after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian cap- 
 tivity, about 536 years before Christ. Ezra (who, according to 
 the Jewish- commentators, is the same person as is called Esdras 
 in the Apocrypha) was one of the persons who returned, and who. 
 it is probable, wrote the account of that affair. Nehemiah, whose 
 book follows next to Ezra, was another of the returned persons ; 
 and who, it is also probable, wrote the account of the same affair, 
 in the book that bears his name. But those accounts are nothing 
 to us, nor to any other persons, unless it be to the Jews, as a part 
 of the history of their nation; and there is just as much of the 
 word of God in those books as there is in any of the histories of 
 France, or B.apin's history of England, or the history of any other 
 country. 
 
 But even in matters of historical record, neither of those writers 
 are to be depended upon. In the second chapter of Ezra, the 
 writer gives a list of the tribes and families, and of the precise 
 number of souls of each that returned from Babylon to Jerusalem ; 
 and this enrolment of the persons so returned, appears to have 
 been one of the principal objects forwriting the book ; but in this 
 there is an error, that destroys the intention of the undertaking 
 
 he had reigned two ; for if he had reigned two, it was impossible not to have 
 reigned one. 
 
 Another instance occurs in Joshua, chap. v. where the writer tells us a story 
 of an angel (for such the table of contents at the head of the chapter calls 
 him,) appearing unto Joshua ; and the story ends abruptly, and without any 
 conclusion. The story is as follows : — Ver. 13, " And it came to pass, when 
 Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there 
 stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand ; and Joshua 
 went unto him and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries ?" 
 Verse 14, " And he said, Nay ; but as the captain of the hosts of the Lord 
 am I now" come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship 
 and said unto him,' What saith my Lord unto his servant?" Verse 15, 
 " And the captain Of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Lose thy shoe from off 
 thy foot ; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." 
 — And what then ; nothing, for here the story ends, and the chapter too. 
 
 Either this story is broken off in the middle, or it is a story told by some 
 Jewish humourist, in ridicule of Joshua's pretended mission from God ; and 
 the compilers of the Bible, not perceiving the design of the story, have told it 
 as a serious matter. As a story of humour and ridicule, it has a great deal of 
 point , for it pompously introduces an angel in the figure of a man, with a 
 drawn sword in his hand, before whom Joshua falls on his face to the earth, 
 and worships, (which is contrary to their second commandment;) and then, 
 this most important embassy from heaven ends, in telling Joshua to pull off his 
 shoe. It might as well have told him to pull up his breeches. 
 
 It is certain, however, that the Jews did not credit every thing their leaders 
 told them, as appears from the cavalier manner in which they speak of Moses, 
 when he was gone into the mount. "As for this Mpses, say they, we wot 
 not what is become of him." Exod. chap. x. xxii. ver. 1. 
 
PAKT II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 99 
 
 The writer begins his enrolment in the following manner : — 
 chap. ii. ver. 3, " The children of Parosh, two thousand one hun- 
 dred seventy and four." Verse 4, " The children of Shephatiah, 
 three hundred, seventy and two." And in this manner he pro- 
 ceeds through all the families ; and in the 64th verse, he makes a 
 total,. and says, the whole congregation together was forty and two 
 thousand three hundred and threescore. 
 
 But whoever will take the trouble of casting up the several 
 particulars, will find that the tptal is but 29,818 ; so that the error 
 is 12,542.* What certainty then can there be in the Bible for 
 any thing ? 
 
 Nehemiah, in like manner, gives a list of the returned families, 
 and of the number of each family. He begins as in Ezra, by say- 
 ing, chapi vii. ver.-8, " The children of Parosh, two thousand 
 three hundred and seventy-two ;" and so on through all the fami- 
 lies. The list differs in several of the particulars from that of 
 Ezra. In the 66th verse, Nehemiah makes a total, and says, as 
 Ezra had said, " The whole congregation together was forty and 
 two thousand three* hundred and three score." But the particu- 
 lars of this list make a total but of 31,089, so that the error here is 
 1 1,271. These writers may do well enough for Bible-makers, but 
 not for any thing where truth and exactness is necessary. The 
 next book in course is the book of Esther. If Madam Esther 
 thought it any honour to offer herself as a kept mistress to Ahasue- 
 rus, or as a rival to Queen Vashti, who had refused to come to a 
 drunken king, in the midst of a drunken company, to be made a 
 show of, (for the account says, they had been drinking seven days, 
 and were merry,) let Esther and Mordecai look to that, it is no 
 business of ours ; at least, it is none of mine"; besides which the 
 
 * Particulars of the Families from the second chapter of Ezra. 
 
 Chap. ii. 
 
 Verses 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 10 
 
 l\ 
 
 IS 
 
 
 Bro't forw. 
 
 11,577 
 
 Bro't forw 
 
 15,783 
 
 Bro't forw 
 
 19.444 
 
 2172 
 
 Ver. 13 
 
 666 
 
 Ver. 23 
 
 128 
 
 Ver. 33 
 
 725 
 
 372 
 
 14 
 
 2056 
 
 24 
 
 42 
 
 34 
 
 345 
 
 775 
 
 15 
 
 454 
 
 25 
 
 743 
 
 35 
 
 3630 
 
 2812 
 
 16 
 
 ' -98 
 
 26 
 
 621 
 
 36 
 
 973 
 
 1254 
 
 17 
 
 323 
 
 27 
 
 122 
 
 37 
 
 1052 
 
 945 
 
 IS 
 
 112 
 
 - 28 
 
 223 
 
 38 
 
 1247 
 
 760 
 
 19 
 
 223 
 
 29 
 
 52 
 
 39 
 
 1017 
 
 642 
 
 20 
 
 95 
 
 30 
 
 156 
 
 40 
 
 74 
 
 623 
 
 21 
 
 123 
 
 31 
 
 1254 
 
 41 
 
 128 
 
 1222 
 
 22 
 
 56 
 
 32 
 
 320 
 
 42 
 58 
 60 
 
 Total. 
 
 139 
 392 
 652 
 
 11,677 
 
 15,783 
 
 19,444 
 
 90,818 
 
100 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 story has a great deal the appearance of being fabulous, and is als« 
 anonymous. I pass on to the book of Job. 
 
 The book of Job differs in character from all the books we have 
 hitherto passed over. Treachery and murder make no part of 
 this book ; it is the meditations of a mind strongly impressed with 
 the vicissitudes of human life, and by turns sinking under, and 
 struggling against the pressure. It is a highly wrought composi- 
 tion, between willing submission and involuntary discontent ; and 
 shows man, as he sometimes is, more disposed to be resigned than 
 he is capable of being. Patience has but a small share in the 
 character of the person of whom the book treats ; on the contrary, 
 his grief is often impetuous ; but he still endeavours to keep a 
 guard upon it, and seems determined, in the midst of accumulat- 
 ing ills, to impose upon himself the hard duty of contentment. 
 
 I have spoken in a respectful manner of the book of Job in the 
 former part of the Age of Reason, but without knowing at that time 
 what I have learned since ; which is, that from all the evidence 
 that can be collected, the book of Job does not belong to the 
 Bible. 
 
 I have seen the opinion of two Hebrew commentators, Abe- 
 nezra and Spinoza, upon this subject ; they both say that the book 
 of Job carries no internal evidence of being an Hebrew book ; 
 that the genius of the composition, and the drama of the piece, are 
 not Hebrew ; that it has been translated from another language 
 into Hebrew, and that the author of the book was a Gentile ; that 
 the character represented under the name of Satan (which is the 
 first and only time this name is mentioned in the Bible) does not 
 correspond to any Hebrew idea ; and that the two convocations 
 which the Deity is supposed to have made of those, whom the 
 poem calls sons of God, and the familiarity which this supposed 
 Satan is stated to have with the Deity, are in the same case. 
 
 It may also be observed, that the book shows itself to be the 
 production of a mind cultivated in science, which the Jews, so far 
 from being famous for, were very ignorant of. The allusions to 
 objects of natural philosophy are frequent and strong, and are of 
 a different cast to any thing in the books known to be- Hebrew. 
 The astronomical names, Pleiades, Orion, and Arcturus, are 
 Greek, and not Hebrew names, and as it does not appear, from 
 any thing that is to be found in the Bible; that the Jews knew any 
 thing of astronomy, or that they studied it, they had no translation 
 
PART II. J THE AGE OF REASON. 101 
 
 of those names into their own language, but adopted the names aa 
 they found them in the poem. 
 
 That the Jews did translate the literary productipns of the Gen- 
 tile nations 1 into the Hebrew language^ and mix them with their 
 own, is not a matter of doubt ; the thirty-first chapter of Proverbs, 
 is an evidence of this ; it is there said, ver. 1, The word of king 
 Lemuel, the prophecy which his mother taught him. This verse 
 stands, as a preface to the proverbs that follow, and which are not 
 the proverbs of Solomon but of Lemuel ; and this Lemuel was 
 not one of the kings of Israel, nor of Jadah, but of some other 
 country, and consequently a Gentile. The Jews, however, have 
 adopted his proverbs, and as they cannot give any account who 
 the author of the book of Job was, or how they came by the book ; 
 and as it differs in character from the Hebrew writings', and stands 
 totally unconnected with every . other book and chapter in the 
 Bible, before it, and after it, it has all the circumstantial evidence 
 of being originally a book of the Gentiles.* 
 
 The Bible-makers, and those regulators of time, the Chronolo- 
 gists, appear to have been at a loss where to place", and how to 
 dispose of the hook of Job ; for it contains no one historical cir- 
 cumstance, nor allusion to any, that might serve to determine its 
 place in the Bible. But it would not have answered the purpose 
 of these men to have informed the world of their ignorance ; and, 
 therefore, they have affixed it to the sera of 1520 years-before 
 Christ which is during, the time the Israelites were in Egypt, and 
 for which they have ju§t as much authority and no more than I 
 should have for saying it was a thousand years before that period. 
 The probability, however, is, that it is older than any book in the 
 
 . * The grayer known by the name of Jlgur's Prayer, in the 30th chapter of 
 "proverbs, immediately preceding the proverbs of Lemuel, and which is the 
 only sensible, well-coriceivedf and well-expressed prayer in the Bible, has 
 much the appearance of l>einga prayer taken from the Gentiles. The name 
 of Agur occurs on no other occasion than this ; arid he is introduced; together 
 with the prayer ascribed to him, in the same manner, and nearly in the same' 
 words, tharLemuel and his proverbs are introducedin the chapter that follows. 
 The first verse of the 30th chapter says, ''The words of "Agur, the son of Ja- 
 keh,. even the prophecy ;" here the word prophecy is used with the same ap- 
 plication it has in the ..following chapter of Lemuel, unconnected with any 
 thing of prediction. The prayer of Agur is in the 8th and 9th verses, "Remove 
 far from me vanity and lies ; /give me neither riches nor poverty, but feed me with 
 food convenient for me ; 'lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord! 
 er lest I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." This has not 
 any of the marks of being a Jewish prayer, for the Jews^never prayed but 
 when they were in trouble, and never for any thing but victory, vengeance, 
 andriches,- . . 
 
102 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART IT. 
 
 Bible; and it is the only one that can be read without indignation 
 or disgust. 
 
 We know nothing of what the ancient Gentile world (as it is 
 caHed) was before the time of the Jews, whose practice has been 
 to calumniate and blacken the character of all other nations ; and 
 it is from the Jewish accounts that we have learned to call them 
 heathens. But, as far as we know to the contrary, they were a just 
 and moral people, and not addicted, like the Jews, to cruelty and 
 revenge, hut of whose profession of faith we are unacquainted. It 
 appears to have been their custom to personify both virtue and 
 vice by statues and images, as is done now-a-days both by sta- 
 tuary and by painting ; but it does not follow from this, that they 
 worshipped them any more than we do. I pass on to the book of 
 
 Psalms, of which it is not necessary to make much observation. 
 Some of them are moral, and others are very revengeful ; and 
 the greater part relates to certain- local circumstances of the 
 Jewish nation at the time they were written, with which we have 
 nothing to do. It is, however,, an error or an imposition to call 
 them the Psalms of David : they are a collection, as song-books 
 are now-a-days, from different song-writers, who lived at different 
 times. The 137th Psalm could not have been written till more 
 than 400 years after the time of David, because it is written in 
 commemoration of an event, the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, 
 Which did not happen till that distance of time. " By the rivers 
 of Babylon we sat down ; yea, we wept when we remembered Zion. 
 We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst thereof; for 
 there they that carried us away captive, required of us a song, 
 saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion." As a man would 
 say to an American, or to a Frenchman, or to an Englishman, 
 sing us one of your American songs-, or your French songs, or 
 your English songs.. This remark with respect to the time this 
 Psalm was written, is of no other use than to show (among others 
 already mentioned) the general imposition the world has been 
 under, with respect to the authors of the Bible. No regard has 
 been paid to time, place, and circumstance ; and the names ot 
 persons have been affixed to the several books, which it was as 
 impossible they should write, as that a man should walk in pro- 
 cession at his own funeral. 
 
 The Book of ~ Proverbs. These, like the Psalms, are a collec- 
 tion, and that from authors belonging to other nations than those 
 
PAKT II. J THE AGE OF REASON. 103 
 
 of the Jewish nation, as I, have shown in the observations upon 
 the book of Job ; besides ■which, some of the proverbs ascribed 
 to Solomon, did not appear till two hundred and fifty years after 
 the death of Solomon ; for it is said in the 1st verse of the 25th 
 chapter, " These are also proverbs of Solornon, which the men 
 of Hezekiah, king of Judah, copied out." It was two hundred 
 and fifty years from the time of Solomon to the time of-Hezekiah. 
 When a man is famous and his name is abroad, he is made the 
 putative father of things he never said or did ; and this, most 
 probably, has been the case with Solomon. It appears to have 
 been the fashion of that day to make proverbs, as it is now to 
 make jest-books, and father theta upon those who never saw them. 
 
 The Book of Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher, is also ascribed to 
 Solomon, and that with much reason, if not with truth. It is writ- 
 ten as the solitary reflections of a worn-out debauchee, such as 
 Solomon was, who looking back on scenes he can no longer enjoy, 
 cries out, Ml is vanity! A great deal of the metaphor and of the 
 sentiment is obscure, most probably by translation •; but enough 
 is left to show they were strongly pointed in the original.* From 
 what is transmitted to us of the character of Solomon, he was 
 witty, ostentatious, dissolute, and at last melancholy. He lived 
 fast, and died, tired of the world, at the age of fifty-eight, years. 
 
 Seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines, are worse 
 than none ; and, however it may carry with it the appearance of 
 heightened enjoyment, it defeats all the felicity of affection, by 
 leaving it no point to fix upon ; divided love is never happy. This 
 was the case with Solomon ; and if he could not, with all his pre- 
 tensions to wisdom, discover it beforehand, he merited, unpitied, 
 the mortification he afterwards endured. In this point of view, 
 his preaching is unnecessary, because, to know the consequences, 
 it is only necessary to know the cause. Seven hundred wives, 
 and three.&undredxpncubines,- would have stood in place of the 
 whole book. It was heedless after this to say, that all was vanity 
 and vexation of spirit ; for it is impossible to derive happiness 
 from the company of those whom we deprive of happiness. 
 
 To be happy in old age, it is necessary that we accustom our- 
 selves to objects that can accompany the mind all the way through 
 life, and that we take the rest as good in their day. The mere 
 
 * Those that look out of the window shall be darkened, is an obscure figure 
 in translation for loss of sight. 
 
104 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 man of pleasure is miserable in old age ; and- the mere drudge in 
 business is but little better : whereas, natural philosophy, mathe- 
 matical and mechanical science, are a continual source of tranquil 
 pleasure; and in spite of the gloomy dogmas of priests, and of 
 superstition, the study of those things is the study of the true 
 theology ; it teaches man to know and to admire the Creator, for 
 the principles of science are in the creation, and are unchange- 
 able, and of divine origin. 
 
 Those who knew Benjamin Franklin will recollect, that his 
 mind was ever young; his temper ever serene: science, that 
 never grows grey, was always his mistress. He was never with- 
 out an object, for when we cease to have an objeGt, we become 
 Kke an invalid in an hospital waiting for death. 
 
 Solomon's- Songs are amorous and foolish enough, but whic» 
 wrinkled fanaticism has called divine. The compilers of: the 
 Bible have placed these songs .after the book of Ecclesiastes ; and 
 the Chronologists have affixed to them the sera of 1014 years be- 
 fore Christ, at which time Solomon, according to the same chro- 
 nology, was nineteen years of age, and was then forming his 
 seraglio of wives and concubines.. The Bible-makers and the 
 Chronologists should have managed this matter a little better, and 
 either have said nothing about the time, or chosen a time less in- 
 consistent with the supposed divinity of those songs ; for Solomon 
 was then in the honey-moon of one thousand debaucheries. 
 
 If should also have occurred to them, that as he wrote, if he 
 did write,~the book of Ecclesiastes, long after these songs, and in 
 which he exclaims, that all is vanity and vexation of spirit ; that 
 he included those songs in that description. This is the more 
 probable, because he says, or somebody for him, Ecclesiastes, 
 chap, ii.- v. 8, " 1 got me men singers, and women singers, (most 
 probably to sing those songs,) and musical instruments of all 
 sorts ; and behold (ver. 11,) all was vanity and yfixatiojj v of spirit." 
 The compilers, however, have done their work but by halves ; for 
 as they have given us the songs, they should have given us the 
 tunes, that we' might sing them. 
 
 The books, called the books of the Prophets, fill up all the 
 remaining parts of the Bible ; they are sixteen in number, begin- 
 ning with Isaiah, and ending with Malachi, of which I have given 
 you a list in my observations upon Chronicles. Of these sixteen 
 prophets, all of whom, except the three last» lived within the time 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 105 
 
 the books of Kings and Chronicles were written ; two only, 
 Isaiah and Jeremiah, are mentioned in the history of those books. 
 I shall begin with those two, reserving what I have to say on the 
 general character of the men called prophets to another part of the 
 work. 
 
 Whoever will take the trouble of reading the book ascribed to 
 Isaiah, will find it one of the most wild and disorderly composi- 
 tions ever put together ; it has neither beginning, middle, nor end; 
 and, except a short historical part, and a few sketches of history 
 in two or three of the first chapters, is one continued incoherent, 
 bombastical rant, full of extravagant metaphor, without application, 
 and destitute of meaning ; a school-boy would scarcely have been 
 excusable for writing such stuff; it is (at least in the translation) 
 that kind of composition and false taste, that is properly called 
 prose run mad. 
 
 The historical part begins at the 36th chapter, and is continued 
 to the end of the 39th chapter. It relates to some matters that 
 are said to have passed during the reign of Hezek-iah, king of 
 Judah, at which, time Isaiah lived. This fragment of history 
 begins and ends abruptly ; it has not the least connection with the 
 chapter that precedes it, nor with that which follows it, nor with 
 any other in the book. It is probable that Isaiah wrote this frag, 
 ment himself, because he was an actor in the circumstances it 
 treats of; but, except this part, there are scarcely two chapters 
 that have any connection with each other ; one is entitled, at the 
 beginning of the first verse, the burden of Babylon ; another, the 
 burden of Moab ; another, the burden of Damascus ; another, the 
 burden of Egypt ; another, the burden of the Desart of the Sea ; 
 another, the burden of the Valley of Vision ; as you would say, 
 the story of the knight of the burning mountain, the story of Cin- 
 derella, or the children of the wood, &c. &c. 
 
 I have already shown, in the instance of the two last verses of 
 Chronicles, and the three first in Ezra, that the compilers of the 
 Bible mixed and coflfounded the writings of different authors with 
 each other, which alone, were there no other cause, is sufficient to 
 destroy the authenticity of any compilation, because it is more 
 than presumptive evidence that the compilers are ignorant who 
 the authors were. A very glaring • instance of this occurs in the 
 book ascribed to Isaiah, the latter part of the 44th chapter, and 
 the beginning of the 45th, so far from having been written by 
 
 14 
 
106 THE AGE OF KEASCTV. [PART II. 
 
 Isaiah, could only have been written by some person who lived, 
 at least, an hundred an fifty years after Isaiah was dead. 
 
 These chapters are a compliment to Cyrus, who permitted the 
 Jews to return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, to 
 rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, as is stated in Ezra. The 
 last verse of the 44th chapter, and the beginning of the 45th, are 
 in the following words : " That saitli of Cyras, he is my shepherd, 
 and' shall perform all my pleasure ; even saying to Jerusalem, thoti 
 shalt be built ; and fa the temple thy foundations shall be laid : 
 thus saith the Lord to Ms annotated, to Cyrus, whose right hand I 
 have holden to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins 
 of kings to open before him the two-leaved gales, and the gates 
 shall not be shut; I will go before thee, fyc." 
 
 What audacity of church and priestly ignorance it is to impose 
 this book upon the world as the" writing of Isaiah, when Isaian, 
 according to their own chronology, died soon after the death of 
 Hezekiah, which was 698 years before Christ ; and the decree ot 
 Cyrus, in favour of the Jews returning to Jerusalem, was, accord- 
 ing to the same chronology, 536 years before Christ ; which was 
 a distance of time between the two of 162 years. I do not sup- 
 pose that the compilers of the Bible made these book?, but rather 
 that they picked up some loose, anonymous essays, and put them 
 together under the name of such authors as best suited their pur- 
 pose. They have encourage'd the imposition, which is next to 
 inventing it ; for it was impossible but they must have observed it. 
 
 When we see the studied craft of the scripture-makers, in mak- 
 ing every part of this romantic book of school-boy's eloquence, 
 bend to the monstrous idea of a Son of God, begotten by a ghost 
 on the body of a virgin, there is no imposition we are not justifi8tf- A 
 in suspecting them of. Every phrase and circumstance are 
 marked with the barbarous hand of superstitious torture, and forced 
 into meanings it was impossible they could have. The head of 
 every chapter, and the top of every page, are blazoned with the 
 names of Christ and the church, that the unwary reader might 
 suck in the error before he began to read. 
 
 Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, Isaiah, chap. vii. 
 ver. 14, has been interpreted to mean the person called Jesus 
 Christ, and his mother Mary, and has been echoed through Christ- 
 endom for more than a thousand years ; and such has been the 
 rage of this opinion, that scarcely a spot in it but has been stained 
 
>ART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 107 
 
 with blood and marked with desolation in consequence of it. 
 Though it is not my intention to enter into controversy on subjects 
 of this kind, but to confine myself to show that the Bible is spuri- 
 ous; and thus, by taking away the foundation, to overthrow at 
 once the whole structure of superstition raised thereon ; I will, 
 however, stop a moment, to expose the, fallacious application of 
 this passage. 
 
 Whether Isaiah was playing ,a trick with Ahaz, king of Judah, 
 to whom this passage is spoken, is no business of mine 5 I mean 
 only to show the misapplication of the passage, and that it has no 
 more reference to Christ and his mother than it has to me and my 
 mother. The story is simply this : 
 
 The king of Syria and the king of Israel (I have already men- 
 tioned that the Jews were split into two nations, one of which was 
 called Judah, the capital of which was Jerusalem, and the other 
 Israel) made war jointly against Ahaz, king of Judah, and marched 
 their armies towards Jerusalem. Ahaz and his people became 
 alarmed, and the account says, ver. 2, " Their hearts were moved 
 as the trees. of the wood are moved loith the wind." 
 
 In this situation of things, Isaiah addresses himself to Ahaz, and 
 assures him in the name of the Lord (the cant phrase of all the 
 prophets) that these two kings should not succeed against him ; 
 and to satisfy Ahaz that this should be the case, tells him to ask a 
 sign. This, the account says, Ahaz declined doing ; giving as a 
 reason that he would not tempt the Lord ; upon which Isaiah, who 
 is the speaker, says, ver. 14, " Therefore the Lord himself shall 
 give you a sign ; behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son ;" 
 and the 16th verse says, " And before this child shall know to 
 refuse the evil, and chuse the good, the land which thou abhorrest 
 or dreadest (meaning Syria and the kingdom of Israel) shall be 
 forsaken of both ber kings.'' Here then was the sign,and the 
 time limited . for the completion of the assurance or promise ; 
 namely, before this child should know to refuse the evil and chuse 
 the good. 
 
 Isaiah having committed himself thus far, it became necessary 
 to him, in order to avoid the imputation of being a false prophet, 
 and the consequence thereof, to take measures to make this sign 
 appear. It certainly was not a difficult thing, in any time of the 
 world, to. find a girl with child, or to make her so ; and perhaps 
 Isaiah knew of one before-hand ; fori do not suppose 'hat the 
 
108 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II 
 
 prophets of that day were any more to be trusted than the priests 
 of this : be that, however, as it may, he says in the next chapter, 
 ver. 2, " And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah 
 the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah, and J went uiito 
 the prophetess, and she conceived and bare a son." 
 
 Here then is the whole story, foolish as it is, of this child and 
 this virgin ; and it is upon the bare-faced perversion of this story, 
 that the book of Matthew, and the impudence and sordid interests 
 of priests in latter times, have founded a theory which they call the 
 gospel ; and have applied this story to signify the person they call 
 lesus' Christ ; begotten, they say, by a ghost, whom jliey call 
 holy, on the body of a woman, engaged in marriage, and -after- 
 wards married, whom they call a virgin, 700 years after this fool- 
 ish story was told ; a theory which f speaking for myself, I 
 hesitate not to believe, and to say, is as fabulous and false as God 
 is true.* 
 
 But to show the imposition and falsehood of Isaiah, , we have 
 only to attend to the sequel of this story ; which, though it is 
 passed over in silence in the book of Isaiah, is related in the 28th 
 chapter of the second Chronicles ; and which is, that instead ef 
 these two kings failing in their attempt against Ahaz, king of 
 Judah, as Isaiah had pretended to foretel in the name of the Lord, 
 they succeeded ; Ahaz was defeated and destroyed ; an hundred 
 and twenty thousand of his people were slaughtered; Jerusalem 
 was plundered, and two hundred thousand women, and sons and 
 daughters, carried into captivity. Thus much for this lying pro- 
 phet and imposter Isaiah, and the book of falsehoods that bears 
 his name. I pass on to the book of 
 
 Jeremiah. This prophet, as he is called, lived in the time that 
 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, in the -reign of Zedekiah, 
 the last king of Judah ; and the suspicion was strong against him* 
 that he was a traitor in the interest of Nebuchadnezzar. Every 
 thing relating to Jeremiah shows him to have been a man of an 
 equivocal character : in his metaphor of the potter and the clay, 
 c. xviii. he guards his prognostications in such a crafty manner, as 
 always to leave himself a door to escape by, in case the event 
 should be contrary to what he had predicted. 
 
 * In the 14th verse of the viith chapter, it is said, that the child should be 
 called Immanuel ; but this name was not given to either of the children, other- 
 wise than as a character which the word signifies. That of the prophetess 
 was called Mahej>8halal-liasJ>Uu, and that of Mary was called Jesus. 
 
PART, II.] THE AOE OF REASON. 109 
 
 In the 7th and 8th verses of that chapter, he makes the Al- 
 mighty, to say, ■" At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, 
 and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and 
 destroy' it : if that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn 
 from their evil, I will repent me of the evil that I thought to do 
 unto them." Here was a proviso against one side of the case : 
 now for the other side. 
 
 Verses 9 and 10, " At what instant I shall speak concerning- a 
 natiop, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it do 
 evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice : then I will repent me 
 of the good wherewith I said I would benefit thejm." Here is a 
 proviso against the other side ; and, according to this plan of pro- 
 phesying, a prophet could never be wrong, however mistaken the 
 Almighty might be. This sort of absurd subterfuge, and this 
 manner of speaking of the Almighty, as one would speak of a 
 man, is consistent with nothing but the stupidity of the Bible. 
 
 As to the authenticity of the book, it is only necessary to read 
 it in order to deeide positively, that, though some passages record- ' 
 ed therein may have been spoken by Jeremiah, he is. not the au- 
 thor of the book. The historical parts, if they can Be called by that 
 n&me, are in the most confused condition ; the same events are 
 several times repeated, and that in a manner different, and some- 
 times in contradiction to each other ; and this disorder runs even 
 to the last chapter, 'where the history, upon which the greater part 
 of the book has been employed, begins a-new, and ends abruptly. 
 The book has all the appearance of being a medley of unconnect- 
 ed anecdotes, respecting persons and things of that time, collected 
 together in the same rude manner as if the various and contradic- 
 tory accounts, that are to be found in a bundle of newspapers, re- 
 specting persons and things of the present day, were put together 
 without date, order or explanation. I will give two or three ex- 
 amples of this kind. 
 
 It appears, from the account of the 37th chapter, that the army 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, which is called the army of the Chaldeans, 
 had besieged Jerusalem sometime; and on their hearing that 
 the army of Pharaoh, of Egypt, was marching against them, they 
 raised the seige, and retreated for a time. It may here be proper 
 to mention, in order to understand this confused history, that Ne- 
 buchadnezzar had besieged and taken Jerusalem, during the reign 
 of Jchoakitn, the predecessor of Zedekiah ; and that it was Nebu- 
 
110 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART H. 
 
 chadnezzar who had made Zedekiah king, or rather viceroy ; and 
 that this second siege, of which the book of Jeremiah treats, was 
 in consequence of the revolt of Zedekiah against Nebuchadnez- 
 zar. This will in some measure account for the suspicion that 
 affixes itself to Jeremiah, of being a traitor, and in the interest of 
 Nebuchadnezzar ; whom Jeremiah calls, in the 43rd chap. ver. 
 10, the servant of God. 
 
 The 11th verse of this chapter, (the 37th,) says, " And it came 
 td pass, that, when the army of the Chaldeans was broken up from 
 Jerusalem, for fear of Pharaoh's army, that Jeremiah went forth 
 out of Jerusalem, to go (as this account states) into the land of 
 Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst of the people ; 
 and when he was in the gate of Benjamin a captain of the ward 
 was there, whose name was Irijah ; and he took Jeremiah the 
 prophet, saying, Thou fallest away .to the Chaldeans ; then Jere- 
 miah said, It is false, I fall not away to the Chaldeans." Jeremiah 
 being thus stopped and accused, was, after being examined, com- 
 mitted to prison, on suspicion of being a traitor, where he re- 
 mained, as is stated in the last verse of this chapter. 
 
 But the next chapter gives an account of the, imprisonment of 
 Jeremiah, which has no connexion with this account, but ascribes 
 his imprisonment to another circumstance, and for which we must 
 go back to the 21st chapter. It is there stated, ver. 1, that Zede- 
 kiah sent Pashur, the son of Malchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of 
 Maaseiah the priest, to Jeremiah, to enquire of him concerning 
 Nebuchadnezzar, whose army was then before Jerusalem ; and 
 Jeremiah said to them, ver. 8, " Thus saith the Lord, Behold I set 
 before you the way of life, arid the way of death ; he that abideth 
 in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine, and by the 
 pestilence ; but he that goeth out and falleth to the Chaldeans that 
 besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a 
 prey." 
 
 This interview and conference breaks off abruptly at the end of 
 the 10th verse of the 21st chapter ; and such is the disorder of 
 this book, that we have to pass-over sixteen chapters, upon various 
 subjects, in order to come at the continuation and event of this 
 conference ; and this brings us to the first verse of the 38th chap- 
 ter, as I have just mentioned. 
 
 The 38th chapter opens with saying, " Then Shapatiah, the son 
 of Mattan ; Gedaliah, the son of Pashur ; and Jucal, the son of 
 
PAR* II.] THE AGE OP REASON. Ill 
 
 Shelemiah ; and Pashur, the son of Malchiah ; (here are more 
 persons mentioned than in the 21st chapter,) heard the words that 
 Jeremiah-spoke unto the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, He 
 that remaineth in this cityj shall die by the sword, by the famine, 
 and by the pestilence ; but he that goeth forth to the Chaldeans 
 shall live ; for he shall have his life for a prey, and shall live ; 
 (which are the words of the conference,) therefore, (say they to 
 Zedekiah,) We beseech thee, let us put this man to death, for thus 
 he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, 
 and the hands of all the people in speaking such words unto them; 
 for this man seeketh not the welfare of the people, but the hurt :" 
 and at the 6th verse it is said, " Then they took Jeremiah, and put 
 him into a dungeon of Malchiah." 
 
 These two accounts are different and contradictory. The one 
 ascribes his imprisonment to his attempt to escape out of the city ; 
 the other to his preaching and prophesying in the city ; the one to 
 his being seized by the guard at the gate ; the other to his being 
 accused before Zedekiah, by the conferees.* 
 
 In the next chapter (the 39th) we have another instance of the 
 disordered state of this book : for notwithstanding the siege of the 
 
 * I observed two chapters, 16th and 17th, in the first book of Samuel, that 
 contradict each other with respect to David, and the manner he became ac- 
 quainted with Saul ; as the 37th and 38th chapters of the book of Jeremiah 
 contradict each other with respect to the cause of Jeremiah's imprisonment. 
 
 In the 16th chapter of Samuel, it is said, that an evil spirit of God" troubled 
 Saul, and that his servants advised him (as a remedy) " to seek out a man who 
 was a cunning player upon the harp." And Saul said, ver. 17, "Provide now 
 a man thatcan play well,- and bring himunto me." Tben-answered one of his 
 servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Bethlemite, that is 
 cunning in placing, and a' mighty man, and a man of war, and prudent in mat- 
 ters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him ; wherefore Saul sent 
 messengers unto Jesse, and said, " Send me David, thy son."^ And [verse 21] 
 David came to Saul, and stood before him, and he loved him greatly, and he 
 became his armour-bearer j and when the evil spirit of God was upon Saul, 
 [verse 23] David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was re 
 freshed, and was well. 
 
 But the next chapter [17] gives an account, all different to this, of the man- 
 ner that Saul and David became acquainted. Here it is ascribed to David's 
 encounter with Goliah, when David was sent by his father to carry provision 
 to his brethren in .thecanip. In the 55th verse of this chapter it is said, " And 
 when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine [Goliah] he said to Abner, 
 the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth ? And Abner said, 
 As thy soul liveth, king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou 
 whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from the' slaughter of the 
 Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head x>f the 
 Philistine in his hand ; and Saul said unto him, Whose son art thou, thou 
 young man ? And David answered, " I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the 
 Bethlemite." These two accounts belie each other, because each of them 
 supposes Saul and" David not to have known- each other before. This book, 
 the Bible, is too ridiculous even for criticism. 
 
112 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 city, by Nebuchadnezzar, has been the subject of several of the 
 preceding chapters, particularly the 37th and 38th, the 39 chap- 
 ter begins as if not a word had been said upon the subject ; and as 
 if the reader was to be informed of every particular respecting it ; 
 for it begins with saying, ver. 1, " In the ninth year of Zedekiah, 
 king of Judah, in the tenth month, came Nebuchadnezzar, Icing oj 
 Babylon, and all his army, against Jerusalem, and besieged it, ij-c. 
 #c." 
 
 But the instance in the last chapter (the 52d) is still more glar- 
 ing ; for though the story has been told over and over again, this 
 chapter still supposes the reader not to know any thing of it, for 
 it begins by saying, ver. 1 , " Zedekiah was one and twenty years old 
 when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem, 
 and his mother's name was Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of 
 Libnah r (ver. 4.) and it came to pass in the ninth year of his 
 reign, in the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, 
 came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, and pitched against 
 it, and built forts against it, fyc. eye." 
 
 It is not possible that any one man, and more particularly Jere- 
 miah, could have been the writer of this book. The errors are 
 such as could not have been committed by any person sitting 
 down to compose a work. Were I, or any other man, to write in 
 such a disordered manner, nobody would read what was written ; 
 and every body would suppose that the writer was in a state of 
 insanity. The only way, therefore, to account for this disorder, is, 
 that the book is a medley of detached unautheriticated anecdotes, 
 put together by some stupid book-maker, under the name of Jere- 
 miah ; because many of them refer to him, and to the circum- 
 stances of the times he lived in. 
 
 Of the duplicity, and of the false predictions of Jeremiah, I shall 
 mention two instances, and then proceed to review the remainder 
 of the Bible. 
 
 It appears from the 3Sth chapter, that when Jeremiah was in 
 prison, Zedekiah sent for him, and at this interview, which was 
 private, Jeremiah pressed it strongly on Zedekiah to surrender 
 himself to the enemy. " If," says he, (ver.17,) " ■ thouwilt assuredly 
 go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, 
 fyc." Zedekiah was apprehensive that what passed at this con- 
 ference should be known ; and he said to Jeremiah, (ver. 25,) 
 " If the princes (meaning those of Judah) hear that I have talked 
 
PART II.] THE AGE Of SEASON. 113 
 
 with thee, and they come unto thee, and say unto thee, Declare 
 unto us now what thou hast said unto the king ; hide it not from 
 us, and we will not put thee to death ; and also what the king said 
 unto thee ; then thou shalt say unto them, I presented my suppli- 
 cation before the king ; that he would not cause me to return to 
 Jonathan's house to die. there. Then came all the princes unto 
 Jeremiah, and asked him, and he told them according to all the 
 words the king had commanded." Thus, this man of God, as he 
 is called, could tell a lie, or very strongly prevaricate, when he 
 supposed it would answer his purpose ; for certainly he did not go 
 to Zedekiah to make his supplication, neither did he make it ; he 
 went because h^ was sent -for, and he employed that opportunity 
 to advise Zedekiah to surrender himself to Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 In the 34th chapter,, is a prophecy of Jeremiah to Zedekiah, in 
 these words, (ver. 2,) " Thus saith the Lord, Behold I will give 
 this city into, the hands. of the king of Babylon, and he will burn it 
 with tire ; and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, hut that thou 
 shalt surely be taken, and delivered into his hand ; and thine eyes 
 shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall speak 
 with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon. Yet 
 hear the word of the Lord ; O Zedekiah, king of Judah, .thus 
 saith the Lord, Thou shalt not die by t the sword, but thou shalt die 
 in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings 
 that were before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee, and they 
 will lament thee, saying, Ah, Lord ; for I have pronounced the 
 word, saith the Lord." 
 
 Now, instead of Zedekiah beholding the eyes of the king of 
 Babylon, and speaking with him mouth to mouth, and dying 
 in peace, and with the burning of odours, as at the funeral- of 
 his fathers, (as Jeremiah had declared the Lord himself had 
 pronounced,) the reverse, according to the 52d chapter, was 
 the case ; it is there said, (ver. 10,) " That the king of Babylon 
 slew the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes : then he put out 
 the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and carried him 
 to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death." 
 What then can we say of these prophets, but that they are 
 impostors and liars 1 
 
 As for Jeremiah, he experienced none of those evils. He was 
 taken into favour by Nebuchadnezzar, who gave him in charge to 
 the captain of the' guard, (chap, xxxix. ver. 12,) " Take him (said 
 
 15 
 
114 THE AGE OF REASON. [PAKT ft. 
 
 he) and look ■ well to him, and do "him no harm ; but do unto him 
 even as he shall say unto thee." Jeremiah joined himself afte*- 
 wards to Nebuchadnezzar, and went about prophesying -for him 
 against the Egyptians, who had 1 matched to the relief of Jerusa- 
 lem while it was besieged. Thus much -for another of the tying 
 prophets, and the book that bears his name. 
 
 I have been -the more particular in treating of the books ascribed 
 to Isaiah and Jeremiah,; because thos"e two are spoken of in the 
 books of Kings and of Chronicles, which the others are not. The 
 remainder of the books ascribed to the men called prophets, I shall 
 nottrouble myself much about; but take them, collectively into 
 the observations I shall offer on the character of the men styled 
 prophets. 
 
 In the former part ol the Age of Reason, I have said that the 
 word -prophet was the Bible word for poet, and that the flights 
 and metaphors of Jewish poets have been foolishly erected into 
 what are now called prophecies, I am sufficiently justified in this 
 opinion, not only because the books called the prophecies are 
 written in poetical language, but because there is no word in the 
 Bible, except it be the word prophet, that describes what we mean 
 by a poet. I have also said, that the word signifies a performer 
 upon musical instruments, of which I have given some instances; 
 such as that of a company of prophets prophesying with psalteries, 
 with tabrets, with pipes, with harps, &c. and that Saul prophesied 
 with them, 1 Sam. chap. x. ver. 5. It appears from this passage, 
 and from other parts in the book of Samuel, that the word prophet 
 was confined to signify poetry and music ; for the person who 
 was supposed to have a visionary insight into concealed things, 
 was not a prophet but a seer,* (1 Sam. chap. ix. ver. 9 ;), and it 
 was not till after the word seer went Out of use (which most pro- 
 bably was when Saul banished those he called wizards) that the 
 profession of the seer, or the art of seeing, became incorporated 
 into the word prophet. 
 
 'According- to the modern meaning of the word prophet and pro- 
 phesying, it signifies foretelling events to a great distance of time ; 
 and it became necessary to the inventors of the gospel to give it 
 this latitude of meaning, in order to apply or to stretch what they 
 
 *J know not what is the Hebrew word that corresponds to the word seer 
 in English ; but I observe it is translated into French by La Voyont, from 
 the verb, voir to see ; and which means the person who »ec», or the seer. 
 
fr&RT II.] Tllli AGE OF REASON- 115 
 
 call the prophecies of the Old Testament, to the times of the New; 
 but according to the Old Testament, the prophesying of the seer, 
 andttfterwards of the prophet, so far as the meaning of the word 
 seer was incorporated into that of prophet, had reference only to 
 things of the time then passing, or very closely connected with it ; 
 such as the event of a battle they were going to engage in, or of a 
 journey, or of" any enterprise they were going to undertake, or of 
 any circumstance then pending, or of any difficulty they were then 
 in ; all fef which had immediate reference to themselves (as in the 
 case already mentioned of Ahaz and Isaiah with respect to the 
 expression, Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son,) and 
 not to any-distant future time. It was that kind of. prophesying 
 that corresponds to what we call fortune-telling ; such as casting 
 nativities, predicting riches, fortunate or unfortunate marriages, 
 conjuring for lost goods, &c; and it is .the fraud of the Christian 
 church, not that of the Jews ; and the ignorance and the supersti- 
 tion of modern, not that of ancient times, that elevated those poet- 
 ical — musical — conjuring — dreaming — strolling . gentry, into the 
 rank they have since had. 
 
 But, besides this general character of all the prophets, they had 
 also, a particular character. They were in parties, and they pro- 
 phesied for or against, according to the party they were whh ; as 
 the poetical and political writers of . the present day write in 
 defence of the party they associate with against the other. 
 
 After the Jews were divided into two nations, that of Judah 
 and that of Israel', each party had its prophets, who abused 
 and accused each other of being false prophets, lying prophets, 
 impostors, &c. 
 
 The prophets of the party of Judah prophesied against the pro- 
 phets of the party of Israel ; and those of the party of Israel 
 against those of Judah. This . party prophesying showed itself 
 immediately on the separation under the first two, rival kings, 
 Rehoboam and Jeroboam. The prophet that cursed, or prophesied 
 against the altar that Jeroboam had built in Bethel, was of the 
 party of Judah, where Rehoboam was king ; and he was way-laid, 
 on his return, home, by a prophet of the party of Israel, who said 
 unto him, (1 Kings chap, x.) " Art thou the man of God that came 
 from Judah ? and he said, 1 am." Then the prophet of the 
 party of Israel said to him, "lama prophet also, as thou art, 
 (signifying of Judah)} arid an ungA spalit unW nveby the word of 
 
Jiff TITE AGB of REASON. [PART 1U 
 
 the Lord, saying,' Bring him back with thee unto thine house, that 
 he may eat bread and drink water : but (says the 18th verse) hi 
 lied unto him." This event, however, according to the storf , is, 
 that the prophet of Judah never got back to Judah, for he was 
 found dead on the road, by the contrivance of the prophet of 
 Israel, who, no doubt, was called a true prophet by his own party, 
 and the prophet of Judah a lying prophet. 
 
 In the third chapter of the second of Kings, a story is related of 
 prophesying or conjuring, that shows, in several particulars, the 
 character of a prophet. Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, and Joram, 
 king of Israel, had for a while ceased their party animosity, and 
 entered into an alliance ; and these two, together with the king 
 of Edom, engaged in a war against the king of Moab. After 
 uniting, arid marching their armies, the story says, they were in great 
 distress for- water, upon which Jehoshaphat, said, " Is there' not 
 here a prophet of the Lord, that we may enquire of the Lord by 
 him ? and one of the servants of the king of Israel said here is Eli- 
 sha,. ( El isha was of the party of Judah.) And Jehoshaphat, the 
 king of Judah, said, The word of the Lord is with him." The 
 story then says, that these three kings went down to Elisha ; and 
 when Elisha (who, as I have said, was a Judahmite prophet) saw 
 the king of Israel, he said unto him, " What'have I to do icith 
 thee, get thee to the prophets of thy father and the prophets of 
 tfyy mother. Nay but, said the king of Israel, the Lord hath 
 called these three kings together, to deliver them into the hands of 
 the king of Moab," (meaning because of the distress they were 
 in for water ;) upon whirl) Elisha said, " As the Lard of hosts 
 liveth before whom I stand, surely, voere it not that I regarded Je 
 hoshaphal, king of Judah, I would not look towards thee, nor see 
 
 thee." Here is all the venom and vulgarity of a party prophet 
 
 We have' now to see the performance; or manner of prophesying. 
 Ver. 15. " Bring me," said Elisha; " a minstrel-; and it came 
 to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came 
 upon him.V Here is the farce of the conjuror." Now for the pro- 
 phecy: "And Elisha said, (singing most probably to the tune 
 he was playing,) Thus sailh the Lord, Make this valley full if 
 dlches;" which was just telling them what every country man 
 could have told them, without either fiddle or farce, that the way 
 to get water was to dig for it. 
 
 But as every conjuror is not famous alike fojgtiie same thing 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 117 
 
 so neither were those prophets ; for though all of them, at least 
 those 1 have spoken of, were famous for lying, some of them ex- 
 celled in cursing. Elisha, whom I have just mentioned, was a chief 
 in this branch of prophesying ; it was he that cursed the forty-two 
 children in the name of the Lord, whom the two she-bears came 
 and devoured. We are to suppose that those children were of the 
 " party of Israel ; biit-as those whd will curse will lie, there is just" 
 ' as much credit to be given to this story of Elisha's two she-bears 
 as there is to that of the Dragon-of Wantley, of whom it is said. 
 
 Poor children three devoured he, 
 That could not with him grapple ; 
 And at one sup he eat them ,up, 
 As a man would eat an apple. 
 
 There was another description of men called prophets, that 
 amused themselves with dreams and visions ; but whether by 
 night or by day, we know not; These,. if they were not quite 
 harmless, were but little mischievous. ' Of this class are 
 
 Ezekiel and Daniel ; and the first question upon those books, 
 as upon aU the others, is, are they genuine ? that is, were they 
 written by Ezekiel and Danrel 1 
 
 Of thi3 there is ho proof ; but so far aS my own opinion goes, 
 I am more inclined to believe they were, than thatjthey were not. 
 My "reasons for this opinion are as follow : First, Because those 
 books do riot contain internal evidence to prove they were not writ- 
 ten by Ezekiel and Daniel, as the books ascribed to Moses, 
 Joshua, Samuel, &c. &c. prove they were hot written by Moses, 
 Joshua, Samuel, &c. 
 
 Secondly, Because they were not written till after the Babylonish 
 captivity began"; and there is good reason to believe, that not any 
 book in the Bible was written before that period : at least, itis prove- 
 abfe, from the books themselves, as I have already shown, that they 
 were not written till after the commencement of the Jewish 
 monarchy. 
 
 Thirdly, Because the manner in which the books ascribed to 
 Ezekiel and- Daniel are written, agrees with the condition these 
 men were in at the time of writing them. 
 
 Had the numerous commentators and priests, who have foolish- 
 ly,' employed' or wasted their time in pretending to expound and 
 unriddle those books,'have beertf carried into captivity, as Ezekiel 
 and Daniel were, it would have greatly improved their intellects, 
 in comprehending the reason for this mode of writing, and have 
 
118 THE ACE OF REASON. [PART If- 
 
 saved them the trouble, of. racking their invention, as they have 
 done, to no purpose ; for they., would have found that themselves 
 would be. obliged to write whatever they had to write,^ respecting 
 their own affairs, or those of their friends, or of their country, 
 in a concealed manner, as those men have done.. ' 
 
 These two books differ from all the rest ; for it.is only these 
 that are filled with accounts of dreams and- visions : and this 
 difference arose - from the situation the writers were in as 
 prisoners of war, or prisoners of state, in a foreign country, which 
 obliged them to convey even the most trifling information to each 
 other,' and all their political projects or opinions, in obscure and 
 metaphorical terms. They pretend to have dreamed dreams, and 
 seen visions, because it was unsafe for jjthem to speak facts or 
 plain language. We ought, however, to suppose, that the persons 
 to whom they wrote, understood what they meant, and that it was 
 not intended any. body else should. But these busy commentators 
 and. priests have been puzzling their wits to find out what it was 
 not intended they should know, and with which they have nothing 
 to do. 
 
 Ezekiel and Daniel were carried prisoners to Babylon, under 
 the first captivity, in the time of Jehoiakim, nine years before the 
 second captivity in the time of Zedekiah. The Jews were then 
 still numerous, and had considerable force at Jerusalem ; and as it 
 is natural to suppose that men in the situation of Ezekiel and Dan- 
 iel, would be meditating the recovery of their country, and their 
 own deliverance, it is reasonable to suppose, that; the accounts ot 
 dreams and visions, with which these hooks are filled, are no other 
 than a disguised mode of correspondence, to facilitate those ob- 
 jects : it served them as a cypher, or secret alphabet. If they are 
 not* thiSi they are tales, reveries, and nonsense ; or, at least, a fan- 
 ciful way of iwe^ring off the wearisomeness of captivity ; hut the 
 presumption is, they were the. former, 
 
 Ezekiel begins his books by speaking of-a vision of cAprufenas, 
 and of a wheel within a wheel, which he says he saw by the river 
 Ghebar, in the land of his captivity. Is it not reasonable to sup- 
 pose, that by the eherubims, he meant the temple at Jerusalem, 
 where they had figures of eherubims? and .by a wheel within a 
 wheel (which, as a figure, has always been understood to signify 
 political contrivance) th§ project or means of recovering Jerusa- 
 lem 1 In the latter part of this book, he supposes himself trans- 
 
IMKT It.] THE AGE OF REASON. 119 
 
 ported to Jerusalem, and into the temple; and he refers- back to 
 the vision on -the river Chebar* and says, (chap, xliii. ver. 3,) that 
 this last vision was like the vision on the' river Chebar ; which in- 
 - dicates, that those pretended dreams and visions had for their ob- 
 ject the recovery of Jerusalem, and nothing further. 
 
 As to the romantic interpretations and applications, wild as the 
 dreams and visions they undertake to explain, which commentators 
 and priests have made .of those books, that of converting them 
 into things which they call prophecies, and making them bend to 
 times and circumstances, as far remote even as the present day, 
 it shows the fraud or the extreme folly to which credulity or priest- 
 craft can go. 
 
 Scarcely anything can be more absurd, than to suppose that men 
 situated as Ezekiel and Daniel were, whose country was over-run, 
 and in the possession of the enemy, all their friends, and relations 
 'n captivity abroad,'orin slavery at home, or massacred, or in con- 
 .'muaf danger -of it; scarcely any thing, I say, can be more absurd, 
 ihan to suppose that such men should find nothing to do but that 
 of employing their time and their thoughts. about what was to hap- 
 pen to other nations a thousand or two thousand years after they 
 were dead ; at the same time, nothing is more natural, than that 
 they should meditate the recovery of Jerusalem, and their own 
 deliverance ; and- that this was the sole object of all. the ohscure 
 and apparently frantic writings contained in those books. 
 
 In this sense, the mode of writing used in those two books being 
 forced by necessity, and not adopted by choice, is not irrational ; 
 but if we are to use the books as prophecies, they are false. In 
 the 29th chapter of Ezekiel, speaking of Egypt, it is said, (ver. 11,) 
 " Nafoot of man should pass through it, nor foot of beast should 
 pass through, it ; neither^ shall it- be inhabited for forty years." 
 This is what never came to pass, and consequently it is false, as 
 all the books I have already reviewed are- I here close this part 
 of the subject. 
 
 In the former part of the Age of Reason I have spoken o£ Jonah, 
 and of the story of him and the whale. A fit story for ridicule,, if 
 it was written to be believed ; or of laughter, if it was intended to 
 try what credulity could swallow ; for if it could swallow Jonah 
 and the. whale, it could swallow any thing. 
 
 But, as is already shown in the observations on the book of Job, 
 and of Proverbs, it is not always certain which of the" books in the 
 
120 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART It. 
 
 Bible are originally Hebrew or only translations froth "books of the 
 Gentiles into Hebrew ; and, as the book of Jonah, so far froth 
 treating of the affairs of the Jews, says nothing upon that subject, 
 but 'treats altogether of the Gentiles, it is more probable that it is 
 a book of the Gentiles than of the Jews ; and that it has been 
 written as a fable, to expose the nonsense and satirise the vicious 
 and malignant character of a Eible prophet, or a predicting priest. 
 Jonah iff represented, first, as a disobedient prophet, running 
 away from his mission, and taking shelter aboard a vessel of the 
 Gentiles, bound from Joppa to Tarshish ; as if he ignorantly sup* 
 posed, by such a paltry contrivance, he could hide himself where 
 God could not find him. The vessel is overtaken by a storm at 
 sea ; and the mariners, all of whom are Gentiles, believing it to 
 be a judgment, on account of some one on board who had com- 
 mitted a crime, agreed" to cast lots, to discover the offender ; and 
 the lot fell upon Jonah. But, before this, they had cast all their 
 ware3 and merchandise Overboard, to lighten the - vessel, while 
 Jonah, like a stupid fellow, was fast asleep in the hold. 
 
 After the lot had designated Jonah to be the offender, they ques- 
 tioned him to know who and what he was 1 and lie told them he 
 was an Hebrew ; and the story implies that he confessed himself 
 to be guilty. But these Gentiles instead of sacrificing hihi at 
 once, without pity or mercy, as a company of Bible-prophets or 
 priests would have done by a Gentile in the same case, and as it 
 is related Samuel had done by A gag, and Moses by the women 
 and children, they endeavoured to save him, though at the risk of 
 their own lives ; for the account says, " Nevertheless (that is, 
 though Jonah was a Jew, and a foreigner, and the cause of all their 
 misfortunes, and the loss of their cargo) the men rowed hard to 
 bring the boat to land, but they could not, for ihe sea wrought and 
 was tempestuous against them." Still, however, they were unwill- 
 ing to put the fitte of the lot into execution ; and they cried {sayfe 
 the account) unto the Lord, saying, " We beseech thee, O Lord, 
 let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upifn us innocent 
 blood; for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee." Meaning 
 thereby,' that they did not presume to judge Jonah guilty, since 
 that he might be innocent ; but that they considered the lot that 
 had fallen upon him as a decree of God, or as it phased God. 
 The address of this prayer shows that the Gentiles worshipped one 
 Supreme Being, and that they were not idolators, as the Jews 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 121 
 
 represented them to be. But the storm stil. Continuing, and the 
 danger increasing, they put the fate of the lot into execution, and 
 cast Jonah into the sea ; where, according to the story, a great 
 fish swalUwed him up whole and alive. 
 
 We have now to consider Jonah securely housed from the 
 storm in the fish's belly. Here we are told that he prayed ; but 
 the prayer is a made-up prayer, taken from various parts of the 
 Psalms, without any connexion or consistency, and adapted to the 
 distress, but not at all to the condition, that Jonah was in. It is 
 such a prayer as a Gentile, who might know something of the 
 Psalms, could copy out for him. This circumstance alone, were 
 there no other, is sufficient to indicate that the whole is a made-up 
 story. The prayer, however, is' supposed to have answered the 
 purpose, and the story goes on, (taking up at the same time the 
 cant language of a Bible prophet,) saying, " The Lord spake unto 
 the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land." 
 
 Jonah then received a second mission to Ninevah, with which 
 he seta out ; and we have now to consider him as a preacher, ■ 
 The distress he is represented to have-suffered, the remembrance 
 of his own disobedience as the cause of it, and the miraculous 
 escape he is supposed to have had,, were sufficient, one would con- 
 ceive, to have impressed him with sympathy and benevolence in 
 the execution of his mission ; but, instead of this, he enters the 
 city with denunciation and malediction in his mouth, crying, u . Yet 
 forty days, and Ninevah shall be overthrown." 
 
 We. have now to consider this supposed missionary in the 
 last act of his mission ;' and here it is that the malevolent spirit 
 of a Bible-prophet, or of a predicting priest, appears in all that 
 blackness of character, that men ascribe to the being they call 
 the devil. 
 
 Having published his predictions, he withdrew, sayglhe story, 
 to the cast "side of the city. But for what 1 not to contemplate, in 
 retirement, the mercy of his Creator to himself, or to others, but 
 to. wait with malignant impatience, the destruction of-Ninevah. It 
 came to pass,-'however, as the story relates, that the Ninevites 
 reformed, and that God, according to the Bible phrase, repented 
 him of the evil he had said he would do unto them, and did it not. 
 This, saithflhe -first verse of the last chapter, displeased Jonah 
 exceedingly and he was very angry. His obdurate heart would 
 rather that all Ninevah should be destroyed, and every soul, young 
 
 16 
 
122 T 1[ E A0E OT REASON. [PART II. 
 
 and old, perish in. its ruins, than thaj his prediction should not 
 be fulfilled. To expose the character of a prophet still more, a 
 gourd is made to grow up in the night, that promises him an agree- 
 able shelter from the heat, of the sun, in the place to which he is 
 retired ; and the next morning it dies. 
 
 Here the rage of the prophet becomes excessive, and he is 
 ready to destroy himself. " It is better, said he, far me to die than 
 to live." This brings on a supposed expostulation between the 
 Almighty and the prophet ; in which the former says, " Doesl thou 
 well to be angry for the gourd 1 And Jonah said, I do well to be 
 angry even unto death ; Then said the Lord, Thou hast had pity 
 on the gourd, for which thou hast not laboured, neither modest it 
 to grow, which came up in a night, and perislied in a night ; and 
 should not I spare Ninevah, that great city, in which are mere than 
 threescore thousand persons, that cannot discern between their 
 right hand and their left ?" 
 
 Here is both the winding up of the" satire, and the moral of the 
 fable. As a satire, it strikes against the character of all the Bible- 
 prophets, and against all. the indiscriminate judgments upon men, 
 women, and children, with which this lying book, the Bible, is 
 crowded ; such as Noah's flood, the destruction of the cities of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah, the extirpation of the Canaanites, even to 
 sucking infants, and women with child, because the same reflec- 
 tion, that there-are more than threescore thousand persons that can- 
 not discern between their right hand and their left, meaning young 
 children, applies to all their cases. It satirizes also the supposed 
 partiality of the Creator, for one nation more than for another. 
 
 As a moral, it preaches against the malevolent spirit of predic- 
 tion ; for as certainly as a man predicts ill, he becomes inclined to 
 wish it. The pride of having his judgment right, hardens his 
 heart, till.^tt last- he beholds with satisfaction, or sees with disap- 
 pointment, the accomplishment or the failure of his predictions. 
 This book ends with the same kind of strong and well-directed 
 point against prophets, prophecies, and indiscriminate judgments, 
 as the. chapter that Benjamin Franklin made for the Bible, about 
 Abraham and the stranger, ends against the intolerant spirit ol 
 religious persecution: Thus much for the book Jonah. 
 
 Of the .poetical parts of the Bible, that are called prophecies, I 
 have spoken in the former part of the Age of Reason, and already 
 in this : where I have said that the word prophet is the Bible woaru 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 123 
 
 for poet ; and that the flights and metaphors of those poets, many 
 of which have become obscure by the lapse of time and the 
 change of circumstances, have been ridiculously erected into 
 things called prophecies, and applied to purposes the writers never 
 thought of. When a priest quotes any of those passages, he 
 unriddles it agreeably to his own views, and imposes that expla- 
 nation upon his congregation as the meaning of the writer. The 
 ufhore of Babylon has been the common whore of all the priests, 
 and each has accused the other of keeping the strumpet ; so well 
 do they agree in their explanations. 
 
 There now remain only a few books, which they call the books 
 of the lesser prophets ; and as I have already shown that the 
 greater are impostors, it would be cowardice to disturb the repose 
 of the little ones. Let them sleep, then, in the arms of their 
 nurses, the priests,- and both be forgotten together. 
 
 I have now gone through the Bible, as a man would go through 
 a wood with an axe on his shoulder, and fell trees. Here they lie ; 
 and the priests^ if they can, may replant them. They may, pre- 
 haps, stick them in the ground,'but they will never make them 
 grow. — I pass on to the books of -the New Testament. 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 The New Testament, they tell us, is founded upon the pro- 
 phecies of the Old ; if so, it must follow the fate of its founda- 
 tion. 
 
 As it is nothing extraordinary that a woman should be with child 
 before she was married, and that the son she might bring forth 
 should be executed, even unjustly, I see no reason for not believ- 
 ing that such a wdman as Maryland such a man as Joseph, and 
 Jesus, existed ; their mere existence is a matter of indifference 
 about, which there is no ground either to believe or to disbelieve, 
 and which comes under the common head of, It may be so ; and 
 what then ? The probability, however, is, that there were such 
 persons, or at least such as resembled them in part of the circum- 
 stances, because almost all romantic stories have been suggested 
 by some actual circumstance ; as the adventures of Robinson 
 Crusoe* not a word of which is true, were suggested by the case 
 of Alexander Selkirk. 
 
124 THE A GE OP REASON. [PART II. 
 
 It is not then the existence, or non-existence, of the persons 
 that I trouble myself about ; it is the fable of Jesus Christ, as told 
 in the New Testament, and the wild and visionary doctrine raised 
 thereon against which I contend. The story, taking it as it is told, 
 is blasphemously obscene. It gives an account of a young woman 
 engaged to be married, and while under this engagement, she is, 
 to speak plain language, debauGhedby a ghost, under the- impious 
 pretence, (Luke, chap. i. ver. 35,) ■ that " the Holy Ghost shall 
 come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadoiD 
 thee." Notwithstanding which, Joseph afterwards marries her, 
 cohabits with her as his wife, and in his turn rivals the ghost. 
 This is putting the story into intelligible language, and when told 
 in this manner, there is not a priest but must be ashamed to 
 own it.* 
 
 Obscenity in matters of faith, however wrapped up, is always 
 a token of fable and imposture ; ,for it is necessary to our serious 
 belief in God, that we do not connect it with stories that run, as 
 this does, into ludicrous interpretations. This story is, upon the 
 face of it, the same kind of story as that of Jupiter and Leda, or 
 Jupiter and Europa, or any of the amorous adventures of Jupi- 
 ter ; and shows, as is already stated in the former part of the Age 
 of Reason, that the Christian faith is built upon the heathen my- 
 thology. 
 
 As the historical parts of the New Testament, so far as con- 
 cerns Jesus Christ, are confined to a very short space of time, 
 less than two years, and all within the same country, and nearly 
 to the same spot, the discordance of time, place, and circumstance, 
 which detects the fallacy of the books of the. Old Testament, and 
 proves them to be impositions, cannot be expected to be found 
 here in the same abundance. The New Testament compared 
 with the Old, is like a farce of one act, in which there is not room 
 for very numerous violations of the unities. There are, however, 
 some glaring contradictions, which, exclusive of the fallacy of the 
 pretended prophecies, are sufficient to show the story of Jesus 
 Christ to be false. 
 
 I lay it down as a position which cannot be controverted, first, 
 that the ag^ement of all the parts of a story does not prove that 
 
 * Mary, the supposed virgin mother of Jesus, had several other children, 
 sons and daughters. See Matt. chap. xiii. 55, 56. 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 125 
 
 story to be true, because the parts may agree, and the whole may 
 be false ; secondly, that the disagreement of the parts of a story 
 proves the ivhole cannot be true. The agreement does-not prove 
 truth, but the disagreement pioves falsehood positively 
 
 The history of Jesus Christ is contained in the four books as- 
 cribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The first chapter of 
 Matthew begins with giving a genealogy of Jesus Christ ; and in 
 the third chapter of Luke, there is also given a genealogy of Jesus 
 Christ. Did these two agree, it would not prove the genealogy 
 to be true, because it might, nevertheless, be a fabrication ; but as 
 they contradict each other in- every particular, it proves falsehood 
 absolutely. If Matthew speaks truth, Luke speaks falsehood ; 
 and if Luke speaks truth, Matthew speaks falsehood ;- and as there 
 is no authority for helieving one more than the other, there is no 
 authority for believing either ; and if they cannot be believed even 
 in the very first thing they say, and set out to prove, they are not 
 entitled to be believedun any thing they say afterwardsr Truth is an 
 uniform thing ; and as to inspiration and revelation, were we to 
 admit it, it is impossible to suppose it can be contradictory. 
 Either then the men called apostles were imposters, or the books 
 ascribed to them have been written by other persons, and fathered 
 upon them, as is the case in the Old Testament. 
 
 The book of Matthew gives, chap. i. ver. 6, a genealogy by 
 name from David, up through Joseph, the husband of Mary, to 
 Christ : and makes there to be twenty-eight generations. The 
 book of Luke gives also a genealogy by name from Christ, through 
 Joseph, the husband of Mary, down to David, and makes there to 
 be forty-three generations ; besides which, there are only the two 
 names of David and Joseph that are alike in the two lists. I 
 here insert both genealogical lists, and for the sake of perspicuity 
 and comparison have placed them both in the same direction, that 
 is, from Joseph down to David. 
 
 Genealogy,, according to Genealogy, according to 
 
 Matthew. Luke. 
 
 Christ Christ 
 
 2 Joseph 2 Joseph s 
 
 3 Jacob 3 Heli 
 
 4 Matthan 4 Matthat 
 
 5 Eleazer 5 Levi 
 
126 
 
 THE ACE OP REASON. 
 
 Genealogy, acording to 
 Matthew. 
 
 6 Eliud 
 
 7 Achim 
 S Sadoe 
 9 Azor 
 
 10 Eliakim 
 
 11 Abiud 
 
 12 Zorobabel 
 
 13 Salathiel 
 
 14 Jechonias 
 
 15 Josias 
 
 16 Am on 
 
 17 Manasses 
 
 18 Ezekias 
 
 19 Achaz 
 
 20 Joatham 
 
 21 Ozias 
 
 22 Joram 
 
 23 Josaphat 
 
 24 Asa 
 
 25 Abia 
 
 26 Roboam 
 
 27 Solomon 
 
 28 David* 
 
 [part II. 
 
 Genealogy, according to 
 Luke. 
 
 6 Melchi 
 
 7 Janna 
 
 8 Joseph 
 
 9 Mattathias 
 
 10 Amos 
 
 11 Naum 
 
 12 Esli 
 
 13 Nagge 
 
 14 Maath 
 
 15 Mattathias 
 
 16 Semei '- 
 
 17 Joseph 
 
 18 Juda 
 
 19 Joanna 
 
 20 Rhesa 
 
 21 Zorobabel 
 
 22 Salathiel 
 
 23 Neri 
 
 24 Melchi 
 
 25 Addi 
 
 26 Cosam 
 
 27 Elmodam ■ 
 
 28 Er 
 
 29 Jose 
 
 30 Eliezer 
 
 31 Jo rim 
 
 32 Matthat 
 
 33 Levi 
 
 34 Simeon 
 
 35 Juda 
 
 * From the birth of David to the birth of Christ is upwards of 1080 years, 
 and as the life-time of Christ Is not included, there are but 27 full generations. 
 To Jjnd, therefore, the average age of each person mentioned in the list, at the 
 time his first son was born, it is only necessary to divide 108 by 27, which 
 gives 40 years for each person. As the life»time of man was then but of the 
 same extent it is now, it is an absurdity to suppose, that 27 following genera- 
 tions should all be old bachelors, before they married ; and the more so, when 
 we are told that Solomon, the next in succession to David, had a house full of 
 wives and mistresses before he was twenty-one years of age. So far from 
 this genealogy being a solemn truth, it is not even a reasonable lie. The list of 
 Luke gives about twenty-six years for the average age, and this is too much. 
 
TART II.] THE AGE Or KEASOK. 127 
 
 Genealogy, according to Genealogy, according to 
 
 Matthew. Luke. 
 
 36 Joseph 
 
 37 Jonan 
 
 38 Elakim 
 
 39 Melea 
 
 40 Menan 
 
 41 Mattatha 
 
 42 Nathan 
 
 43 David 
 
 Now, if these men, Matthew and Luke, set out with a falsehood 
 between them (as these two accounts show they do) in - the very 
 commencement of their history of Jesus Christ, and of whom, and 
 of what he was, what authority (as I have before asked) is there 
 left for- believing the strange things they tell us afterwards 1 If 
 they cannot be believed in their account of his natural genealogy^ 
 how are we to believe them, when they tell us, he was the son of 
 God, begotten, by. a ghost ? and that an angel announced this in 
 secret to his mother 1 If they lied in one genealogy, why are we 
 to believe them in the other 1 If his natural be manufactured, 
 which it certainly is, why are not we to -suppose, that his celestial 
 genealogy is manufactured also ; and that the whole is fabulous 1 
 Can any man of serious reflection hazard his future happiness 
 upon the belief of a story naturally impossible ; repugnant to 
 every idea of decency ; and related by persons already detected 
 of falsehood ? Is it not more safe that we stop ourselves at the 
 plain, pure, and unmixed belief of one God,. which is deism, than 
 that we commrLourselves on an ocean of improbable, irrational, 
 indecent and contradictory tales I 
 
 The first question, however, upon the books of the New Testa- 
 ment, as upon those of the Old, is, are they genuine 1 Were they 
 written -by the persons to whom they are ascribed 1 for it is upon 
 this ground only, that the strange things related therein have been 
 credited. Upon this point, there is no direct proof for or against; 
 and all that this state of a case proves, is doubtfulness ; and doubt- 
 fulness ,is the opposite of belief. The state, therefore, that the 
 books are in, proves against themselves, as far as this kind, of 
 proof can go. 
 
 But, exclusive of this, the presumption is, that the books called 
 the Evangelists, and ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 
 
128 THE AGE OF REASON [I'AHT II. 
 
 were not written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John {and that 
 they are impositions. The disordered state of the history in these 
 four books, the silence of one book upon matters related in the 
 other, and the disagreement that is to be found among them, 
 implies, that they are the production of some unconnected indi- 
 viduals, many years after the things they pretend to relate, each 
 of whom made his own legend ; and not the writings of men 
 living intimately together, as the men called apostles are sup- 
 posed to have done : in fine, that they have been manufactured, 
 as the books of the Old Testament have been, by other persons 
 than those whose names they bear. 
 
 The story of the angel announcing, what the church calls, the 
 immaculate conception, is not so much as mentioned in the books 
 ascribed to Mark and John ; and is -differentiy related in Matthew 
 and Luke. The former says, the angel appeared to Joseph ; the 
 latter says, it was to Mary ; but either, Joseph or -Mary, 'was the 
 worst evidence that could have been thought of; for it was others 
 that should have testified for them, and not they for themselves. 
 Were any girhthat is now with child to say, and even to swear it, 
 that she was gotten with child by a ghost, and that an angel told 
 her so, would she be believed ? ■ Certainly she would not. Why 
 then are we to believe the same thing of another girl whom we 
 never saw, told by nobody knows -who, nor when, nor where 1 
 How strange and inconsistent is it, that the same circumstance that 
 would weaken the belief even "of a probable story, should be given 
 as a motive for believing this one, that has upon the face of it 
 every token of absolute impossibility and imposture. 
 
 The story of Herod destroying all the children under two years 
 old, belongs altogether to the book of Matthew : not one of the 
 rest mentions any thing about it. Had such a circumstance been 
 true, the universality of it must have made it known to all the 
 writers ; and the thing would have been too striking to have been 
 omitted by any. This • writer tells us, that Jesus escaped this 
 slaughter, because Joseph and Mary were warned by an angel to 
 flee with- him into Egypt; but he forgot to make any provision 
 for John who was then under two years of age. John, however, 
 who staid behind, fared as well as Jesus, who fled ; and, therefore, 
 the story circumstantially belies itself. 
 
 Not any two of these writers agree in reciting, exactly in the 
 tame words, the written inscription, short as it is, which they (ell 
 
PART II. J THE AGE OP REASON. * 129 
 
 us was put oyer Christ when he was crucified : and besides this, 
 Mark says, He was crucified at the third hour, (nine in the morn 
 ing ;) and John says it was the sixth hour, (twelve at noon.*) 
 The inscription is thus stated in those books. 
 
 Matthew^— This is Jesus the kirig-of the Jews 
 
 Mark The king of the Jews. 
 
 Luke This is the king of the Jews. 
 
 John Jesus of Nazareth king of the Jews. 
 
 We may infer from these circumstances, trivial as they are, that 
 those writers, whoever they were, and in whatever time they lived, 
 were not present at the scene. The only one of the men, called 
 apostles, who appears to have been near the spot, was Peter, and 
 when he was accused of being one of Jesus' followers, it is said, 
 (Matthew, chap. xxvi. ver. 74,) " Then Peter began to curse and 
 to swear, saying, I know not the man :" yet we -are now called 
 upon to believe the same Peter r convicted, by their own account, 
 of perjury. For what reason, or on what authority, shall we do 
 this ?; < 
 
 The accounts that are given of the circumstances, that they tell 
 us attended the crucifixion, are differently related in those four 
 books. 
 
 The book ascribed to Matthew says, " There was darkness over 
 all the land from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour — that the veil 
 of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom-^-that 
 there was an earthquake — that the rocks reht—r-that the graves 
 opened, that the bodies of many of the saints that slept arose and 
 came out of their. gravels after the resurrection-, and went into ihe 
 holy citifand appeared unto many." Such is the account which 
 this dashing writer of the book' of Matthew gives ; but in which he 
 is not supported by the writers of the other books. 
 
 The writer of the book ascribed to Mark, in detailing the cir- 
 cumstances of the crucifixion, makes no mention of any earth- 
 quake, nor of the rocks rending, nor of the graves opening, nor of 
 the dead men walking out. The writer of the book r of Luke is 
 silent also upon.the same points. , And as to the writer of the" 
 book of John, though he details all the circumstances of the cruci- 
 
 .'. * According to John,-the sentence was not passed till about the sixth hour, 
 (noon,) and, consequently, the execution could not be till the afternoon ; but 
 Mark says expressly, that he was crucified at the third hour, (nine in the 
 morniog,) chap. xv. 25; John chap. xix. ver. 14. 
 
 17 
 
130 "the age or Rt\sos- [fart if. 
 
 fixion down to the burial of Christ, he says nothing about either 
 the darkness — the veil of the temple — the" earthquake — the 
 rocks — the graves— nor the dead men. 
 
 Now if it had been true, that those things, had "happened ; and 
 if the writers of these books had lived at the time they did happen, 
 and had been the persons they are said to be,, namely, the four 
 men called apostleVMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John, it was not 
 pu^tble for them, as true historians, even without the aid of 
 inspiration, not to have recorded them. The things, supposing 
 them to have been facts, were of too much notoriety not to have 
 been known, and of too much importance not to have been told. 
 AH these supposed apostles must have been witnesses of the 
 earthquake, if there had been any ; for it was not possible for 
 them to have been absent from it ; the opening of the graves and 
 resurrection of the dead men, and their walking about the city is of 
 greater importance than the earthquake. "An earthquake is 
 always possible, and natural, and proves nothing ; but this open- 
 ing of the graves is supernatural, and directly in point to their 
 doctrine, their cause, and their apostleship. Had it been true, it 
 would have filled up whole chapters of those books, and been the 
 chosentheme and general chorus of all the writers ; but instead of 
 this, little and trivial things, and mere prattling conversations of, 
 he said this, and she said that, are often tediously detailed, while 
 this most important of all, had it been true, is passed off in a slov- 
 enly manner by a single dash of the pen, and that by one writer 
 only, and not so much as hinted at by the rest. 
 
 It is an easy thing to tell a lie, but it is difficult to support the 
 he after it is told. .The writer; of the book of Matthew should 
 have told us who the saints were that came to life again, and 
 Went into the city, and what became of them afterwards, and who 
 it was that saw them ; for he is not hardy enough to say he saw 
 them himself; whether they came out naked, and all in natural 
 buff, he-saints and she-saints ; or whether they came full dressed, 
 and where they got their dresses ; whether they went to their 
 " former habitations, and reclaimed their wives, their husbands, and 
 their property, and how they were received ; whether they entered 
 ejectments for the recovery of their possessions, or brought actions 
 of crim. con. against the rival interlopers ; whether they remained 
 on earth, and followed their former occupation of preaching ox 
 
1PAUT II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 131 
 
 working ; or whether they died again, or went back to their graves 
 alive, and buried themselves. 
 
 Strange indeed, that an army' of saints should return to life, and 
 nobody know who they were,- nor who it was that saw them, and 
 that not a word more should be said upon the subject, nor these 
 saints have any thing to tejl us ! Had it been the prophets who 
 (as we are told) had formerly prophesied of these things, they 
 must have had a. great deal to say. They could have told us 
 every thing, and we should have . ha.d posthumous prophecies, 
 with notes and commentaries upon the first, a little better at least 
 than we have now. Had it been Moses, and Aaron, and Joshua, 
 and Samuel, and David, not an unconverted Jew had remained in 
 all Jerusalem. Had it been John the Baptist, and the saints of 
 the time then present, every body would have known them, and 
 they would have out-preached and out-famed all the other apostles. 
 But, instead of this, these saints are made to pop up, like Jonah's 
 gourd in the night, for no purpose at all but to wither in the 
 morning. Thus much for this part of the story. 
 
 The tale pf the resurrection follows that of the crucifixion ; arid 
 in this as well as m that, the writers, whoever they were, disagree 
 so much, as to make it evident that none of them were there. 
 - The book of Matthew states, that when Christ was put in the 
 sepulchre, the Jews applied to Pilate for a watch or a guard to be 
 placed over the sepulchre, to prevent the body being stolen by the 
 disciples ; and that, in consequence of this request, the sepulchre 
 was made sure,, sealing the stbne that covered the mouth, and 
 setting a watch. But the other .books say nothing about this ap- 
 plication, nor about the sealing, nor the guard, nor the watch ; 
 and. according to their accounts, there were none. Matthew, 
 however, follows up. this part of the story of the guard or. the 
 watch with a second part, that I shall notice in the conclusion, 
 .as it serves to detect the fallacy of those books. 
 
 The book of- Matthew continues its account, and says, (chap. 
 xxviii. ver. 1,) that at the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn, 
 towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene -and the 
 , other Mary, to see the sepulchre. Mark says it was sun-rising, 
 and Johft says;it was dark. Luke says it was Mary Magdalene 
 and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women, 
 that came to the sepulchre ; and John states, that Mary Magda- 
 lene came alone. So well do they agree about their first evi- 
 
132 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART It 
 
 dence! tney all, however, appear to have known most about Mary 
 Magdalene ; she was a woman of a large acquaintance, and it 
 was not an ill conjecture that she might be upon the stroll. 
 
 The book of Matthew goes on to say, (ver. 2,) " And behold 
 there was a great earthquake, for the angel ofthe Lord descended 
 from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, 
 and sat upon it." But the other books say nothing about any 
 earthquake, nor about the angel rolling back the stone, and sitting 
 upon it ; and-, according to their account, there was no angel 
 sitting there. Mark says the angel was within the sepulchre, 
 sitting on the right side. Luke says there were two, and they 
 were both standing up; and John says they were both sitting 
 down, one at .the head and the other at the feet. 
 
 Matthew says, that the angel that was sitting upon the stone on 
 the outside of the sepulchre, told the two Marys that Christ was 
 risen, and that the women went' away quickly. Mark says, that 
 the women, upon seeing the stone rolled away, and wondering at 
 it, went into the sepulchre, and. that it was the angel that was 
 sitting within on the right side, that told them so. Luke says, it 
 was the two angels that were standing up ; and John says, it was 
 Jesus Christ himself that told it to Mary Magdalene 5 and that 
 she did not go into the sepulchre, but only stooped down and 
 looked in. 
 
 Now, if the writers of these four books had gone into a court 
 of Justice to prove an alibi, (for it is ofthe nature of an alibi that 
 is here attempted to be proved, namely, the absence of a dead 
 body by supernatural means,) and had they given their evidence 
 in the same contradictory manner as it is here given, they would 
 have been, in danger of having their ears crppt for perjury, and 
 would have justly deserved it. Yet this is the evidence, and these 
 are the books, that have been imposed upon the world, as being 
 given by divine inspiration, and as the unchangeable word of 
 Gpd. 
 
 The writer "of the book of Matthew, after giving this account, 
 relates a story that is pot to be-found in any of the other books, 
 and which is the same I have just before alluded to. 
 
 " Now," says he, (that is, after the conversation the women had 
 had with the angel sitting upon the stone,) " qehold some of the 
 watch (meaning the watch that he had said had been placed over 
 the sepulchre) came into the city, and showed unto the chief 
 
PART II. J' THE AOE OP REASON. 133 
 
 priests all the things that were done ; and when they were assem- 
 bled with the elders and had taken counsel, they gave large money 
 unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, that his disciples came by night, 
 and stole him away while we slept ; and if this come to the gov- 
 ernor's- ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took 
 the money, and did as they were taught ; and this saying (that his 
 disciples stole him away) is commonly reported among the Jews 
 until this day." 
 
 The expression, until this day, is an evidence that the book 
 ascribed to Matthew was not written by Matthew, and that it has 
 been manufactured long after the times and things of which it pre- 
 tends to treat ; for the expression implies a great length of inters 
 vening time. It would be inconsistent in us to speak in this man- 
 ner of any thing happening in our own time. - To give, therefore, 
 intelligible meaning to the expression, we must suppose a lapse of 
 some generations at least, for this manner of speaking carries the 
 mind back to ancient time. 
 
 The absurdity also of the story is worth noticing ; for it shows 
 the writer of the book of Matthew to have been an exceedingly, 
 weak and foolish man. ' He tells a story that contradicts itself in 
 point of possibility ; for though the guard, if there were any, might 
 be made to say that the body was taken away while they were 
 asleep, and to give that as a reason for their not having prevented 
 itj thijt same sleep must also have prevented their knowing how, 
 and by 'whom it was done ; and yet they are made to say, that it 
 was the disciples who did it. Were a man to tender his evidence 
 of something that he should say was done, and of the manner of 
 doing it, and of the person who did it while he was asleep, and 
 could know nothing of the matter, such evidence could not be re-^ 
 ceived ; it will do well enough for Testament evidence, butnot 
 for any thing where truth is concerned. 
 
 I come now to that part of the evidence in those books, that 
 respects the pretended appearance of Christ after this pretended 
 resurrection. , 
 
 The writer of the book of Matthew relates,4hat the angel" that 
 was sitting on the stone at the mouth of the sepulchre, said to,' the 
 two Marys, chap, xxviii. ver.-7, " Behold Christ is gone before 
 you into Galilee, there ye shall see him ; lo, I have told you." And 
 the same writer at the two next verses, (8, 9,) makes Christ him- 
 self to speak to the same purpose to these women immediately 
 
134 THE AGE OP REASON. [PART II. 
 
 after the angel had told it to them, and that they ran quickly to tell 
 it to the disciples ; and at the 16th verse it is said, "Then the eleven 
 disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain were Jes us had 
 appointed them : and, when they saw him, they worshipped him." 
 But the writer of the hook of John tells us a story very differ- 
 ent to this ; for he says, chap. xx. ver. 19, " Then the tame day 
 it evening, being the first, day of the. week, (that is, the same day 
 Jnat Christ is said to have risen,) when the 'doors were shut, where 
 the disciples were assembled, for fear ofihe Jews, came Jesus and 
 stood in the midst of them. 
 
 According to Matthew the eleven were marching to Galilee, to 
 
 meet Jesus in a mountain, by his own appointment, at the very 
 
 ' time when, according to John, they were assembled in another 
 
 place, and that not by appointment but in secret, for fear of the 
 
 Jews.. 
 
 The writer of the book of Luke contradicts that of Matthew 
 more pointedly than John does ; for he says expressly, that the 
 meeting was in Jerusalem the evening of the same day that he 
 (Christ) rose, and , that the eleven were there. See Luke, chap, 
 xxiv. ver. 13, 33. 
 
 Now, it is riot possible, unless we admit these supposed disci- 
 ples the right of wilful lying, that the writer of these books could 
 be any of the eleven persons called disciples : for if, according to 
 Matthew, the eleven went into Galilee to meet Jesus' in a mountain 
 by his own appointment, on the same day that he is said to have 
 risen, Luke and John must have been two of that eleven ; yet the 
 writer of Luke says expressly, and John implies as much, that the 
 meeting was that same day, in a house in Jerusalem ; and, on the 
 other hand, if, according to Luke and John, the eleven were as- 
 sembled in a house in Jerusalem, Matthew must have been one of 
 that eleven ; yet Matthew says, the meeting was in a mountain in 
 Galilee, and consequently the evidence given in those books de- 
 stroys each other. 
 
 The writer of the book of Mark says nothing about any- meet- 
 ing in Galilee ; but he says, chap. xvi. ver. 12, that Christ, after 
 his resurrection, appeared in another form to two of them, as they 
 walked into the country, and that these two told it to the residue 
 who would not believe them. Luke also tells a story, in which 
 he keeps Christ employed the whole of the day of this pretended 
 resurrection, until the evening, and which totally invalidates the 
 
PAfttf It.J ' *HE AGE OP REASON. 135 
 
 account of going to the mountain in Galilee. He says, that two 
 of them, Without saying which two, went that same day to a village 
 called Eramaug, threescore furlongs (seven miles and a half) from 
 Jerusalem, and that Christ, in disguise, went with them, and staid 
 with them unto the evening,- and supped with them, and then 
 vanished out of their sight, and re-appeared that same evening, at 
 the meeting of the eleven in Jerusalem. 
 
 This is ihe contradictory manner in which the evidence of this 
 pretended re-appearance of Christ is stated ; the only point in 
 which the writers agree, is the skulking privacy of that re-appear- 
 ance ; for whether it was in the recess of a mountain in Galilee, 
 or in a shut-up house in Jerusalem, it was still skulking. To 
 what cause then are we to assign this skulking 1 On the one 
 hand, it is directly repugnant to the supposed or pretended end — 
 that of convincing the world that Christ was risen ; and, on the 
 other hand, to have asserted the publicity of it, would have exposed 
 the writers of those books to public detection, and, therefore^ they 
 haye been under the necessity of making it a private affair. 
 
 As "to the account of Christ being seen by more than five hun- 
 dred at once, it is Paul only who says it, and not the five hundred 
 who say it for themselves. It is, therefore, the testimony of but 
 one man, and that too of a man, who did not, according to the 
 same account, believe a word of the matter himself, .at the time it 
 is said to have happened. His evidence, supposing him to have 
 been the writer of the 15th chapter of Corinthians, where this 
 account is giyen, is like that of a man who comes into a court of 
 justice, to swear, that what he had sworn before is false. , A'man 
 may. often see reason, and he has', too, always the right of chang- 
 ing his opinion; but this liberty does not extend to matters of 
 fact. 
 
 I now come to the last scene, that of the ascension into heaven. 
 Here all fear of the Jews, and of every thing else, must necessa- 
 rily have been out of the question : it was that which, if true, was 
 to seal the whole ; and upon which (he reality of the future mis- 
 sion of the disciples was to rest for proof. Words, whether 
 declarations or promises, that passed in "private, either in the recess 
 of a mountain in Galilee, or in a shut-up house in Jerusalem, even 
 supposing them to have been spoken, could not be evidence in 
 public ; it was therefore necessary that this last scene, should 
 preclude the possibility of denial and dispute ; and that it should 
 
136 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 be, a$I have stated in. the former part of the Age of Reason, as 
 public and as visible as the sun at noon day : at least it ought to 
 have been as„public as .the crucifixion is reported . to have been. 
 But to come to the point. • 
 
 In the first place the writer of the book of Matthew does not 
 say a syllable about it ; neither does the writer of the book of 
 John. This being the case, is it possible to suppose that those 
 writers, who affect to be even minute in other matters, would 
 have been silent upon this, had it been true 1 The writer of the 
 book of Mark passes it off in a careless, slovenly manner, with a 
 single dash of the * pen, as if he was tired of romancing, or 
 ashamed of the story. So also does the writer of Luke. And 
 even between these two, there is not an apparent agreement, as to 
 the place where, this final parting is said, to have been. 
 
 The book of Mark says, that -Christ appeared to the eleven as 
 they sat at meat ; alluding to the meeting of the eleven at Jeru- 
 salem : he then states the conversation that he says passed at that 
 meeting ; and. immediately after says, (as a school-boy would 
 finish a dull story,) " So then, after the Lord had spoken unto 
 them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand 
 of God?" But the" writer" of Luke says, that the ascension was 
 from Bethany ; that he (Christ) led them out as far as Bethany, 
 and was parted from them there, and was carried up into heaven. 
 So also was Mahomet : and, as to Moses, the apostle Jude says, 
 ver. 9, That Michael and the devil disputed about his body. 
 While we -believe such fables as these, or either of' them, we 
 believe unworthily of the Almighty. 
 
 I have now gone through the examination of the four books 
 ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ; and when it is 
 considered that the whole space . of time from the crucifixion to 
 what is called "the ascension, is but a few days, apparently not 
 more than three or four ; and \hat all the circumstances are said 
 to have happened nearly about the' same spot, Jerusalem ; it is, 
 I believe, impossible to find, in, any story upon record, so many 
 and such glaring absurdities, contradictions, and falsehoods, as are 
 *n those hoofcs. They are more numerous and striking than I 
 had- any expectation of finding, when I began this examination, 
 and far more so than I had any idea of when I wrote the former nart 
 of -the Age of Reason. I had then neither Bible nor Testament to 
 refer to, nor could I procure any. My own situation, even as to 
 
TART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 137 
 
 existence, was becoming every day more precarious ; and as I was 
 willing to leave something behind me upon the subject, I was 
 obliged to be quick and concise. The quotations I then made 
 were from memory only, but they are correct ; and the opinions 
 I have advanced in that work are the .effect of the most clear and 
 long-established conviction — that the Bible and the Testament 
 are impositions upon the world — that the fall of man — the account 
 of Jesus Christ being the Son of God, and of his dying to appease 
 the wrath of God, and of salvation by that strange means, are all 
 fabulous inventions, dishonourable to the wisdom and power of 
 the Almighty — that the only true religon is Deism, by which I then 
 meant, and now mean, the belief of one God, and an imitation of 
 his moral character, or the practice of what are called moral 
 virtues — and that it was upon this only (so far as religion is con- 
 cerned) that I rested all my hopes of happiness hereafter. So 
 say I now — and so help me God. 
 
 But to return to the subject.- 1 — Though it is impossible, at this 
 distance of time, to ascertain as a fact who were the writers of 
 those four books (and this alone is sufficient to hold them in doubt, 
 and where we doubt we do not believe) it is not difficult to ascer- 
 tain negatively that they were not written by the persons to whom 
 they are ascribed. The contradictions in those books, demon 
 strate two things :' 
 
 First, that the writers cannot have been eye-witnesses and ear- 
 witnesses of the matters they relate, or they would have related 
 them without those contradictions ; and, consequently, that the 
 books have not been written by the persons called apostles, who 
 are supposed to have been witnesses of this kind. 
 
 Secondly, that the writers, whoever they were, have not acted 
 in concerted imposition, but each writer separately and indi- 
 vidually for himself, and without the knowledge of the other. 
 
 The same evidence that applies to prove the one, applies 
 equally to prove both cases ; that is, that the books were not writ- 
 ten by the men called apostles, and also that they are not a 
 concerted imposition. As to inspiration, it is altogether out of the 
 question ; we may as well attempt to unite truth and falsehood, 
 as inspiration and contradiction. > 
 
 If four men are eye-witnesses and ear-witnesses to a scene, they 
 will,, without any concert between them, agree as to time and 
 place, when and where that scene happened. Their individual 
 
 18 
 
£38 THE. MSK OF RSASOI*- [rAKT JB» 
 
 knowledge of the thing t each, one knowing it /or himself, renders 
 concert totally unnecessary : the one will not say it was in s 
 mountain in the country, and the otfier at a honse- in town :. the 
 one will not say it was at sun-rise, andi the other that it we* dark. 
 For in whatever place it was,, at whatever time it was* they 
 know it equally alike. 
 
 And* on, the other hand, if four men concert a story, they will 
 make their separate jelations of that story agree, and corrobo»- 
 rate with each other to support the whole. Tliat concert supplies, 
 the want of fact in the one case, as the. knowledge of the faeir 
 supersedes, in the other case, the necessity of a concert. The 
 same contradictions, therefore, that prove there has beea n«r con- 
 cert, prove, also, that the reporters had no knowledge of the fact, 
 (or rather of that which ihey relate as a fact,), and detect also the 
 falsehood of their, reports. Thos&booksy therefore, have neither 
 been, written by the men called apostesy nor by impostors in con=- 
 cert. How then have they been, written 1 
 
 I am not one of those who are fond of believing there is mnch 
 ©f that which- is called wilful lying, or lyiag originally j except in 
 the case of men setting up to. be prophets, as in the Old Testa*- 
 ment : for prophesying is lying professionplly. In almost all 
 other cases, it is not difficult to discover the progress, by which. - 
 even simple supposition, with the aid of credulity, will, in time, 
 grow into a lie, and at last be told as a fact ; and whenever we 
 can find a charitable reason,, for a thing of this kind, we ought 
 not to indulge a severe one. 
 
 The story of Jesus Christ appearing after he was dead, is the 
 story of an apparition, siach as timid imaginations can always cre- 
 ate in vision, and credulity believe. Stories of this kind had been 
 told of the assassination of Julius Cresar, not many years before, 
 and they generally have their origin in violent deaths, or in the ex- 
 ecution of innocent persons. In cases of this kind, compassion 
 lends Us aid, and benevolently stretches the story. It goes on a 
 little and a little further, till it becomes a most certain truth. Once 
 start a ghost, and credulity fills up the history of its life and 
 assigns the cause of its appearance 1 one tells it one way, another 
 another way, till there are as many stories ab oat the ghost and 
 about the proprietor of the ghost, as there ore about Jesus Christ 
 in these four books. 
 
•«lfcT U.] ^HF. AGE OP REASO'ff. I'S'gl 
 
 The story of the appearance of Jesus Christ is told with that 
 "atrange mixture of the natural and impossible, that- distinguishes 
 legendary tale from fact. He is represented as suddenly coming 
 ■in and going «irt whe-n -the 4qkks are 'shut, mnd of banishing out of 
 sight, and appearing again, lis 'o'rfe Wblritu c'oitetJive of aft unsub- 
 "statitial vision ; then "again he is hungry, sits down 'to meat, and 
 eats his supper. But as those who tell stories of this kind, never 
 ■provide f6r all the cases, so it is here : 'they have told us, that 
 \vhen he arose he left his grave clothes behind him ; but they have 
 forgotten to provide other clothes for him to appear in afterwards, 
 or tell to us what he did with them when he ascended ; whether he 
 tftrippefi 'rfll off, or went tfp clothes khd all. Ifi the case of Elijah, 
 'they have been (Jarerui enough to make "him throw 'dow'n his Hash- 
 i\e ; how it happened not $6 'be burnt in the chariot of fire, 'they 
 also have nut told us. But as imagination supplies all deficiencies 
 of this kind, we may suppose if we .please, that it was made oT 
 Salamander's wool. 
 
 Those who are not much acquainted with ecclesiastical history, 
 may sfc'ppose that the book called the New Testament has existed 
 ever since the time of Jesus Christ, as they suppose that the 
 books ascribed to Moses have existed ever since the time o'f 
 Mioses. But the fact is historically otherwise ; there was no such 
 hook 'as the New Testament till Wiore than three hundred years 
 'aft** the tirijethas CMsftis said tofeave'uVeck 
 
 At *ha*t \lme trie hooks as'e'Hbe'd t'6 Matthew, Markv fcuke, and 
 John, began to appear, 'fe ^altogether a 'rnattej; of uncertainty. 
 There is not the least shado\V of evidence of who the persons 
 were that wrote them, nor at what time they we're written ; and they 
 might as well have been called by the names of any of the otheV 
 "supposta apostles, as by the naYnes they are now called. The 
 'originals are'fiot in ifee possessibfi of any Christian CWr'ch exist- 
 ing*, a«y more than the two tables of stone written «n, fh'ey ^reWd, 
 h'y the finger of God, upon mount Sinai, arid given to Moses, are 
 in the possession of the Jew*. And even ^f'thcy -were, there is no 
 possibility of proving the hand writing in either case. At the time 
 those books were written there 'was no printing, and consequently 
 there could be no publication, otherwise than by written copies, 
 which any man might make or alter at pleasure-, and call them 
 ■criginals. Can we suppose it is Consistent with the wisdom of the 
 Almighty* tb "fctmuait himself afirj hw will to man, upon s\rch pre* 
 
140 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 carious means as these, or that it is, consistent we should pin our 
 faith upon such uncertainties 1 We cannot make nor alter, nor 
 even . imitate so much as one blade of grass that he has made, 
 and yet we can make or alter words of God as easily as words 
 of man.* 
 
 About three hundred and fifty years after the time that Christ is 
 said to have lived, several writings of the kind I am speaking of, 
 were scattered in the hands of divers individuals ; and as the 
 church had begun to form itself into an hierarchy, or church go- 
 vernment, with temporal powers, it set itself about collecting them 
 into a code, as we now sec them, called The JVeio Testament. 
 They decided by. vote^ as I have before said in the former part of 
 the Age of Reason, which of those writings, out of the, collection 
 they had made* should be the word of God, and which should not 
 The Rabbins of the Jews had decided, by vote, upon the books of 
 the Bible before. 
 
 As the object of the church, as is. the case in all national estab 
 lishments of churches, was power and revenue, and terror .the 
 means it used : it is consistent to suppose, that the most miracu- 
 Jous and wonderful of the writings they had .collected stood the 
 best chance of being voted. And as to the authenticity of the books, 
 the vote stands in the place of it } for it can be traced no higher. 
 
 Pisputes, however, ran high among the people then calling 
 themselves Christians ; not only as to points of doctrine, but as to 
 the authenticity of the books. In the contest between the persons 
 called St. Augustine and Fauste, about the year 400, the latter 
 says, " The books called the Evangelists have been composed 
 long after the - times of the apostles, by some obscure men, who, 
 fearing that the world would not give credit to their relation of 
 matters of which they could not be informed, have published them 
 under the names of the apostles ; and which are so full of 
 
 * The former part of the Jlge of Reason has not been published two jvears, 
 and there is already an expession in it that is not mine. The expression is : 
 The ' book of Luke was carried by, a majority of one voice only. It may be true, 
 but it is not I that have said it. Some person who might know the circum- 
 stance, has added it in a note at the bottom of the page of some of the editions, 
 printed either in England or in America ; and the printers, after that, have 
 erected it into the body of the work, and made me the author of it. If this has 
 happened within such a short space of time, notwithstanding the aid of print- 
 ing, which prevents the alteration of copies individually ; whai may not hare 
 happened in much greater length of time, when there was no printing, and 
 when any man who could write could make a written copy, and call il an 
 original, by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 
 
PART II. J THE AGE OF REASON. 141 
 
 sottishness and discordant relations, that there is neither agree- 
 ment nor connexion between them." 
 
 And in another place, addressing himself to the advocates of 
 those books, as being the word of God, he says, " It is thus that 
 your predecessors have inserted in the scriptures of our Lord, 
 many things, which though they carry his name, agree not with 
 his doctrines. This is not surprising, since that we hane often 
 proved that these things have not been written by himself, nor by 
 his apostles, but that for the greatest part they are founded upon 
 tales, upon vague reports, and put together by I know not what, 
 halt Jews, with but little agreement between them ; and which 
 they have nevertheless published under the names of the Apostles 
 of our Lord, and have thus attributed to them their own errors and 
 their lies."* 
 
 The reader will" see by these extracts, that the authenticity of 
 the books of the New Testament was denied, and the books 
 treated as tales, forgeries, and lies, at the time they were voted to 
 be the word of God. But the interest of the church, with the 
 assistance of the faggot, bore down the opposition, and at last 
 suppressed all investigation. Miracles followed upon miracles, if 
 we will believe them, and men were taught to say they believed 
 whether they believed or not. But (by way of throwing in a 
 thought) the French Revolution has excommunicated the church 
 from the power of working, miracles : she has not been able, with 
 the assistance of all her saints, to work one miracle since the 
 revolution began ; and as she never stood in greater need than 
 now, we may, without the aid of devination, conclude, that all hei 
 former miracles were tricks, and lies.")" 
 
 * I have taken these two extracts from Boulanger's Life of Paul, written m 
 French ; Boulanger has quoted them from the writings of Augustine* against 
 Fauste, to which he refers. 
 
 t Boulanger in his Life of Paul, has collected from the ecclesiastical histories, 
 and the writings of the fathers as they are called, seyeral matters which show 
 the opinions that prevailed among the different seels of Christians, at the time 
 the Testament, as we now see it, was voted to be the word of God. The fol 
 lowing extracts are from the second chapter of that work. 
 
 " The Marchionists, (a Christian sect,) assured that the evangelists were 
 filled with falsities. The Manicheens, who formed a very numerous sect at the 
 commencement of Christianity, rejected as false, all the New Testament; and 
 showed other writings quite different that they gave for authentic. The Co- 
 rinthians, like the Marcion ists, admitted not the Acts of the Apostles. The 
 Encratites, and the Sevenians, adopted neither the acts nor the Epistles of Paul. 
 Chrysostome, in a homily which he made upon the Acts of the Apostles, says, 
 tftat in his time, about the year 400, many people knew nothing either of the 
 
S4& *HE AGE OF kfcASON. |>AJl* ih 
 
 When we consider the lapse of more than three hundred years 
 intervening between the time that Christ is said to have lived and 
 the time the new Testament was formed into a book, we must 
 see, even without the assistance xt£ historical evidence, the exceed* 
 ing uncertainty there is of its authenticity. The authenticity of 
 the book of Homes, so far as regards the authorship*, is much 
 better established than that of the New Testament, though Homer 
 is a thousand years the most ancient. It was only an exceeding 
 good poet that could have written the book Cf Homer, and* there- 
 fore, few men only could have attempted it 5 &nd a man capable 
 of doing it would not have thrown away his ft wn fame by giving it 
 to another. In like manned there wsrs but few that could have 
 composed Euclid's Elements, bec&use none but an exceeding 
 good geometrician could have been the author of that work. 
 
 But with respect to the %ooks of tfie New Testament, particu- 
 larly such parts'; as tell us of the resurrection and ascension of 
 Christ, any person who could tell a story of an apparition, -or of a 
 tnan's inalhing, could have made such books ;, for the story is 
 most wretchedly told. The chance, therefore, of forgery in the 
 Testament, is millions to one greater than in the case of Homer 
 or Euclid. Of the numerous priests or parsons of the present 
 day, bishops and all, every one bfthem can make a sermon, or 
 translate a scrap of Latin, especially if it has been translated a 
 thousand times before; but is there any amongst them that can 
 write poetry like Homer, of science like Eucli'd ; the sum total of 
 a parson's learning, with very few exceptions, is a b ab, and hit, 
 hoic, hoc ; and their knowledge of science is three times one is 
 thrge ; and this is more than sufficient to have enabled them, had 
 they lived at the time, to have written all the books of the New 
 Testament. 
 
 As the opportunities of forgery were greater, S6 also was the 
 inducement. A man could gain no advantage by writing under 
 the name of Homer or Euclid ; jf he could write equal to them, it 
 
 author or of the book. St. Irene, who lived before that time, reports that the 
 Valentinians, like several other sects of the Christians, accused the Scriptures 
 of being filled with imperfections, errors and contrr .dictions. The Ebionites 01 
 Nazareens, who were the first Christians, rejected all the Epistles of Paul, and 
 regarded him as an impostor. They report among other things, that he was 
 originally a- Pagan, that he came to Jerusalem, where he lived some time ; and 
 that' having a mind to marry the daughter of the high priest, he caused him- 
 self to be circumcised ; but that not being able to obtain her, he quarreHcd 
 with die Jews, and wrote against circumcision, and against the observation o^ 
 tbe nbboth, iuul mjuajt ail die legal wuiotkiced. ' ' 
 
JAKT II.} THE AGE OF REASON. 143 
 
 would be better that he. wrote under his own name ; if inferior, h*» 
 could not succeed. Pride would prevent the former, and impos- 
 sibility the latter. But with respect to such books as compose the 
 New Testament, all the inducements were on the side of forgery. 
 The best immagined history that could have been made, at the 
 distance of two or three hundred years after the time,cquldnothave 
 passed for an original under the name of the; real writer^ ; the only 
 chance of success lay in forgery, for the church wasted pretence 
 for its new doctrine, and truth and talents were out of the question. 
 But as it is not uncommon (ias before observed) to relate 
 stories of persons walking after they are dead, and of ghosts and 
 apparitions of such as have fallen by some violent or extraor- 
 dinary means ; and as the people,. of that day were in the habit of 
 believing such things, and of the appearance of angels, and also 
 of devils, and of their getting into people's insides, and shaking 
 them like a fit of an ague, and of their being cast out again as if by 
 an emetic— (MaryiMagdalene, the book of Mark tells us, had 
 brought up, or been brought to bed of seven devils ;) , it was no- 
 thing extraordinary that some story of this kind should get abroad 
 of the person .called Jesus Christ, and become afterwards the 
 foundation of the four books ascribed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, 
 and John. Each writer told the tale as he heard it, or there- 
 abouts, and gave to his book the name of the saint or the apostle 
 whom tradition had given as the eye-witness. It is only upon this 
 ground that the contradictions in those books can be accounted 
 for ; and if this be not the case, they are downright impositions, 
 lies, and forgeries, without even the apology of credulity. 
 
 That they have been written by a sort of half Jews, as the fore- 
 going quotations mention, is discernable enough. The frequent 
 references made to that chief assassin and impostor Moses, and 
 to the men called, prophets, establishes this point ; and, on the 
 other hand, the church has complimented the fraud, by admitting 
 the Bible and the Testament to reply to each other. Between the 
 Christian Jew and the Christian Gentile, the thing called a pro- 
 phecy, and the thing prophesied ; the type and the thing typified ; 
 the sign and the thing signified, have been industriously rum- 
 maged up, and fitted together like old locks and pick-lock keys. 
 The story foolishly enough told of Eve and the serpent, and 
 naturally enough as to the enmity between men and serpents, (for 
 the serpent always bites about the heel, because it cannot reach 
 
144 THE AGE OF IlEASON. [PART II. 
 
 higher; and the man always knocks the serpent about the head, 
 as the most effectual way to prevent its biting ;*) this foolish 
 Story, I say, has beer, made into a prophecy, a type, and a promise 
 to begin with ; and the lying imposition of Isaiah to Ahaz, That 
 a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, as a sign that Ahaz 
 should conquer, when the event was that he was defeated, (as 
 already noticed in the observations on the book of Isaiah,) has 
 been perverted, and made to serve as a winder-up. 
 
 Jonah and the whale are also made into a sign or a type. 
 Jonah is Jesus, and the whale is the grave : for it is said, (and 
 they have made Christ to say it of himself,) Matt. chap. xvii. v. 40, 
 ** For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale'f* 
 belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in 
 the heart of the earth." But it happens, awkwardly enough, that 
 Christ, according to their own account, was but one day and two 
 nights in the grave ; about 36 hours, instead of 72 : that is, the 
 Friday night, the Saturday, and the Saturday night ; for they say- 
 he was up on the Sunday morning by sun-rise, or before. But as 
 this fits quite as well as the bite and the kick in Genesis, or the 
 virgin and her son in Isaiah, it will pass in the lump of orthodox 
 things. Thus much for the historical part of the Testament and 
 its evidences. 
 
 Epistles of Paul — The epistles ascribed to Paul, being four 
 teen in number, almost fill up the remaining part of the Testa- 
 ment. Whether those epistles were written by the person to 
 whom they are ascribed, is a matter of no great importance, since 
 the writer, whoever he was,- attempts to prove his doctrine by 
 argument. He does not pretend to have been witness to any of 
 the scenes told of the resurrection and the ascension ; and he 
 declares that he had not believed them. 
 
 The story of his being struck to the- ground as he was journey* 
 ing to Damascus, has nothing in it miraculous or extraordinary ; 
 he escaped with life, and that is more than many others have 
 done, who have been struck with lightning ;' and that he should 
 loose his sight for three days, and be unable to eat or drink du- 
 ring that time, is nothing more than is common in such con- 
 ditions. His companions that were with him appear not to have 
 suffered in the same manner, for they were well enough to lead 
 
 * "It shall bruise thy head) and thou shalt bruise his hed." Genesis, chap, 
 iii. ver. 15. 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON 145 
 
 him the remainder of the journey ; neither did they pretend to 
 have seen any vision. 
 
 The character of the person called Paul> according to the ac- 
 counts given of him, has in it a great deal of violence and fana- 
 ticism ; he had persecuted with as much heat as he preached 
 afterwards ; the stroke he had received had changed his thinking, 
 without altering his constitution ; and, either as a Jew or a Chris- 
 tian, he was the same zealot. Such men are never good moral 
 evidences of any doctrine they preach. They are always in ex- 
 tremes, as well of actions as of belief. 
 
 The doctrine he sets out to prove by argument, is the resur- 
 rection of the -same body : and he advances this" as an evidence 
 of immortality; But so much will men differ in their manner of 
 thinking, and in- the conclusions they draw from the same pre- 
 mises, that this doctrine of the resurrection of the same body, so 
 far from being an evidence of immortality, appears to me to 'fur- 
 nish an evidence against it ; for if I had already died in this body, 
 and am raised again in the same body in which I have died, it is 
 presumptive evidence that I shall die again. That resurrection 
 no more secures me against the repetition of dying, than an ague 
 fit, when past, secures me against another. To believe, there- 
 fore, in immortality, I must have a more elevated idea than is con- 
 tained in the gloomy doctrine of the resurrection. 
 
 Besides, as a matter of choice, as well as of hope, I had rather 
 have a better body and a more convenient form than the present. 
 Every animal in the creation excels us in something. The wing- 
 ed insects, without mentioning doves or eagles, can pass over 
 more space and with greater ease, in a few minutes,' than man can 
 in an hour. The glide of the smallest fish, in proportion to its 
 bulk, exceeds us in motion, almost beyond comparison, and with- 
 out weariness. Even the sluggish snail can ascend from the bot- 
 tom of a dungeon, where a man, by the want of that ability, 
 would perish ; and a spider can launch itself from the top, as a 
 playful amusement. The personal powers of man are so limited, 
 and his heavy frame so little constructed to extensive enjoyment, 
 that there is nothing to induce us to wish the opinion of Paul 
 to be true. It is too little for the magnitude of the scene — too 
 mean for the sublimity of the subject.. 
 
 But all other arguments apart, the consciousness of existence 
 is the onlv conceiveable idea we can have of another life, and the 
 
 19 
 
146 
 
 THE AGE O* REASON. 
 
 continuance of ,that consciousness is immortality. The eatt- 
 sciousness of existence, or the ^knowing that we exist, is not 
 necessarily confined to the same form, , nor to the same matter, 
 even in this life. :,■'■<. 
 
 We have not in all cases the same form, nor in any case the 
 same matter, that composed our bodies twenty or thirty years 
 ago ; and yet we are conscious of being the same persons. Even 
 legs and arms, which make np almost half the human frame, are 
 not necessary to the , consciousness of existence. These may 
 be lost of taken away, and the full consciousness of existence 
 remain ; and were their place supplied by wings, or other -ap- 
 pendages, we cannot conceive that it could alter our consciousness, 
 of existence. In short, we know not how much, or rather how 
 little, of our composition it is, and how exquisitely fine that little is, 
 that creates in us this, consciousness of existence.; and all be- 
 . yond that is .like the pulp; of: a peach, distinct and separate from, 
 the vegetative speck in the kernel. 
 
 Who can say by what exceeding fine action of fine matter it is 
 that a thought is produced in what we call the mind ? and yet 
 that thought when produced, as I now produce the thought I am 
 writing, is capable of becoming immortal, and is the only pro- 
 duction of man that has that capacity. 
 
 Statues of brass and marble will perish ; and statues made in 
 imitation of them are not the same statues, nor the same work- 
 manship, any more than the copy of a picture is the same picture. 
 But print and reprint a thought a thousand times over, and that 
 with materials of any kind — carve it in wood, or engrave it on 
 stone, the thought is eternally and identically the same thought in 
 every case. It. has a capacity of unimpaired existence, unaffected 
 by change of matter, and is essentially distinct, and of a nature 
 different from every thing else Jhat we know or can conceive. If 
 then the thing produced has in itself a capacity of being immortal 
 it is more than a token that the power that produced it, which is 
 the self-same thing as consciousness of existence, can be immor- 
 tal also ; and that is independently of the matter it was first 
 connected with, as the thought is of the printing or writing it first 
 appeared in. The one idea is not more difficult to believe than the 
 other, and we can see that one is true. 
 
 That the consciousness of existence is not dependent on the 
 same form or the same matter, is demonstrated to our senses in 
 
*»RT II.] THE AGE Ot REASON. 147 
 
 the works of the creation, as far as our senses are capable of re- 
 ceiving that demonstration. A very numerous part of the animal * 
 creation preaches to us, far better than Paul, the belief of a life 
 hereafter. "Their little life resembles an earth and a heaven — a 
 present and a future state: and comprises, if it may be so ex- 
 pressed, immortality in miniature. 
 
 The most beautiful parts'of the creation to our eye are the 
 winged insects, and they are not sp originally. '" They acquire 
 that form, and that inimitable brilliancy by progressive changes. 
 The slow and creeping caterpillar- worm of to day, passes in a 
 few-days' to a -torpid figure, and a state resembhng'death ; and in 
 the next change comes forth in all the miniature magnificence of 
 life, a splendid butterfly, No resemblance of the former creature 
 remains ; every thirig'is changed ; all' his powers are new, and 
 life is to him another thing. We cannot conceive that the con- 
 sciousness of existence is hot the same in this state of the animal 
 as befftre'; why then must I believe that 'the resurrection of the 
 same body is necessary to continue to me the 'consciousness of 
 existence hereafter. 
 
 In the -former part of the Age. of Reasbrt, I have called the 
 creation the only true and real Word of God'; and this instance, of 
 this text, in the book of creation, not only shows to us that this 
 thing may be so, but that it is so ; and that the, belief of a future 
 state is a rational belief, founded upon facts visible in the creation : 
 for it is not more difficult to believe that we shall exist hereafter 
 in a better state and form .than at present, than that a worm 
 •should become a butterfly, and quit the dunghill for the atmos- 
 phere, if we did not know it as a fact. 
 
 As to the doubtful jargon asciibed to Paul in the 15th chapter 
 of 1 Corinthians, which makes part of the burial service of some 
 Christian sectaries, it is as destitute of meaning as the tolling of 
 the bell at the funeral ; it explains nothing to' the understanding — 
 it illustrates nothing to the imagination, but leaves the'reader to 
 find any meaning if he can. " All flesh, (says he,) is not the same 
 flesh. There is one flesh of men ; another of beasts ; another 
 of fishes ; and another of birds." And what then 1 — nothing, A 
 cook could have said as much. " There are also,(says he,) bodies 
 celestial and bodies terrestial ;' the glory of the celestial is one, 
 arid the glory of the terrestial is another." And what then? — 
 nothing. Artd what is the difference ? nothing that he has tokU 
 
148 THB AGE OP REASON. £?4*T '*• 
 
 " There is, (says he,), one glory, of the sun, and -another glory of 
 the moon, and. another glony of the stars.?' And what then %■ — ■ 
 nothing; except that he says that one star difiereth from another 
 .ftar in glory, instead of distance; and he might as well have told 
 us, that the moon did not shine so bright as the. sun. All this is 
 nothing better than the jargon of a conjuror, who picks up phrases 
 he does not understand, to confound the credulous people who 
 come to have their fortunes told. Priests. and conjurors are of 
 the same trade. 
 
 Sometimes Paul affects to be a naturalist and to prove his system 
 of resurrection from the prinpiples-of vegetation. " Thou fool, 
 (says he,) that which thou sowest js not quickened except it die." 
 To which one might reply in his own language, and say, Thou 
 fool, Paul, that which thou sowest is> not quickened except it die 
 not; for the grain that dies in the ground never •does,, nor can 
 vegetate. It is only the living grains that produce the next crop. 
 But the.jnetaphor, in any point of view, is no simile. It is suc- 
 cession, and not resurrection. 
 
 The progress of an animal from one state of being to another, 
 as from a worm to a butterfly, applies to the case ; but this of a 
 grain does not, and shows Paul to have been what he says of 
 others, a fool. 
 
 Whether the fourteen epistles ascribed to Paul were written by 
 him or not, is a matter of indifference ; they are either argumenta- 
 tive or dogmatical; and as the argument is defective, and the 
 dogmatical part is merely presumptive, it signifies not who wrote 
 them. And the same may be sajd for the- remaining parts of the 
 Testament. It is not upon the epistles, but upon what is called 
 the gospel, contained in the four books ascribed to Matthew, 
 Mark, Luke, and John, and upon the pretended prophecies, that 
 the theory of the church, calling itself the Christian church, 
 is founded. The epistles are dependent upon those, and must 
 follow their fate ; for if the story of Jesus Christ be fabulous, all 
 reasoning .founded upon it as a supposed truth, must fall with it. 
 
 We know from history, that one of the principal leaders of this 
 church, Athanasius, lived at the time the New Testament was 
 formed ;* and we know also, from the absurd jargon he has left 
 us under the name of a creed, the character of the men who 
 formed the New Testament ; and we lyiow also from the same 
 
 * Athanasius died, according to the church chronology, in the year 371, 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OP REASON. 149 
 
 history, that the authenticity of the books of which it is composed 
 was denied at . the" time. It was upon the vote of such as 
 Athanasi is, that the Testament was decreed to be the word of 
 God ; and nothing can present to us a more strange idea than 
 that of decreeing the word of God by vote. Those who rest their 
 faith upon such authority, put man in the place of God, and have 
 no foundation Tor future happiness ; credulity, however, is not a 
 crime; but it becomes criminal by resisting conviction. It is 
 strangling in the womb of the conscience the efforts it makes to 
 ascertain truth. We should never force belief upon ourselves in 
 any thing. 
 
 i here sclose the -subject on the Old Testament.and the New. 
 The. evidence I have produced to prove them forgeries, is ex- 
 tracted from the books themselves, and acts, like, a .two edged, 
 sword, either way. If the evidence be denied, the authenticity 
 of the scriptures is denied with it ; for it is.scripture evidence : 
 and if the evidence be admitted,. the authenticity of the books is 
 disproved. The contradictory impossibilities contained in the 
 Old Testament and the New, put them in the case of a man who 
 swears for and against. Either evidence convicts"him. of perjury, 
 and equally destroys reputation. 
 
 Should the Bible and the Testament hereafter fall, it is not I 
 that have been the occasion. I have done no more than extracted 
 the evidence from .that confused mass of matter with which it- is 
 mixed, and arranged thaLevidemoe in a point of light to be clearly, 
 seen and easily comprehended,; and, having done this, I leave the 
 reader to, judge for himself, as I have judged, for myself. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 In the former parf of the Age of Reason, I have spoken of the 
 three frauds, mystery, miracle, and prophecy ,; and as I have seen 
 nothing in any of the answers to that work, that in the least effects 
 what. I Rave there said upon those subjects,*I shall not encumber 
 this Second Part with additions that are not_ necessary. , r 
 
 I have spoken also in the same work upon what is calledVei'eZii- 
 tiort, and have shown the absurd misapplication of that term to the 
 books of the Old Testament and the New ; for certainly revela- 
 
150 T'HE AGE OF REASOX. [PART «t. 
 
 tion is out of the question in reciting any thing of which man ha* 
 been the actor or the witness. That which a man has done or seen, 
 needs Ho revelation to tell him he has done it, or seen it ; fbr'he 
 knows it already ;- nor to enable him to tell it, or to write iit. It is 
 ignorance, or imposition, to apply the term revelation in such 
 cases ; yet the Bible and Testament are classed under this frau- 
 dulent description of being all revelation. 
 
 Revelation then,-so far as the term has' relation between God 
 
 and man, can only be applied to something which God reveals of 
 
 Ms will to man ; but though the power of the Almighty to make 
 
 such a communication, is necessarily admitted, because to that 
 
 power all things are 'possible, yet, the thing" sorevealed (if any 
 
 thing ever was revealed, and which, by the bye, it is .impossible to 
 
 prove) is revelation to^the person only to whom it is made. His 
 
 account of it to another is not revelation; and whoever puts faith 
 
 in that acccount, puts it in the man from whom the accountcomes ; 
 
 and that man may have been deceived, or may have dreamed it ;' 
 
 or he may be an impostors and may lie. There is no possible cri*' 
 
 terion whereby to judge of the truth of what he tells : for even the 
 
 morality of it would be no proof of revelation. In all such cases, 
 
 the proper answer would be, " When it is revealed to me, 1 will 
 
 believe it to be a revelation ; but it is not, and cannot be incumbent 
 
 tipon me to believe it to be revelation before ; neither is it proper 
 
 that T should take the word of a man as the word of God, and put 
 
 man in the place of God." This is the manner in which I have 
 
 spoken of revelation in the former part' of the Age of Reason ; and 
 
 which, while it reverentially admits revelation as a possible thing, 
 
 because, as before said, to the Almighty all things are possible, it 
 
 prevents the imposition of one man upon another, and precludes 
 
 the wicked use of pretended revelation. 
 
 But though, speaking for myself, I thus admit the possibility of 
 revelation, I totally disbelieve that the Almighty ever did com- 
 municate any thing to man, by any mode of speech, in any lan- 
 guage, or hy any kind of vision, or appearance, or by any means 
 which our senses are capable of receiving, otherwise than by the 
 universal display of himself in the works of the creation, and by 
 that repugnance we feel in ourselves to bad actions, and disposi- 
 tion to do good ones. 
 
 The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and 
 the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race, have had 
 
PART IJj.] THE AGE OP reason. 151 
 
 '.heir origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion. It 
 has been the most dishonor-able belief against the character of the 
 Divinity, the-most destructive, to morality, and the peace and hap- 
 piness of man, that ever was propagated -since man began to exist. 
 It is better, far . better, that we admitted,, if it were possible, a 
 thousand devils, to. roam at large, and to preach publicly, the doc- 
 trine of devils, if there were any such, than that we permitted cine 
 such imposter and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the 
 Bible prophets, to come with -the pretended word -of God in his 
 mouth, and have credit among us. 
 
 Whencearose all the horrid assassinations of who-}© nations of 
 men,, women, and infants, with. which the Bible is filled : and the 
 bloody. persecutions, ,;ancl tortures. unto death, and religious wars, 
 thai since that time have laid-. Europe in blood and ashes ; whence 
 arose they, but from this, impious thing called revealed religion* 
 and this monstrous belief, that God has spoken to man,1 ; The lies 
 of the Bible have been, the cause of the one, and the lies of the 
 Testament of the. other. , 
 
 Some Christians pretend, that Christianity was not established 
 by the sword ;, but of what period of time do they speak 1 It was 
 ,imppssible that twelve men could, begin with thS sword ; >-they had 
 not the power ; but no sooner were the professors of Christianity 
 sufficiently powerful to employ the sword, than they did so, and. 
 the stake and the faggot too ; and Mahpmet could not do it sooner. 
 By the same spirit that ; ; Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's 
 servant (if the story be true) he would have cut off his head, and 
 the head of his master, had he been able. Besides this, Chris- 
 tianity grounds itself originally upon the Bible, and the Bible was 
 established altogether by the sword, and that in the worst use of it ;' 
 not to terrify, but to extirpate. The Jews made no converts j they 
 butchered all. The Bible is the sire of the Testament, and. both 
 are called the word of God. The Christians read both books ; the 
 ministers preach from both hooks ; and this thing called Chris- 
 tianity is made up of both.- It is then false to say that Christianity » 
 was not established by the sword. : , 
 
 The only sect that has not persecuted are the Quakers ; and the 
 only reason that can be given for it is, that they are rather Deists 
 than Christians. They do not believe much about Jesus Christ, 
 and they call the Scriptures a dead letter. Had they called them 
 by a worse name, they had been nearer the truth. 
 
152 THE AGE OF REASON. [PART II. 
 
 It is incumbent on every man who' reverences the character oi 
 the Creator, and who wishes to lessen the catalogue of artificial 
 miseries, and removethe cause that has sown persecutions thick 
 among mankind, to expel all ideas of revealed religion as a danger 
 ous heresy, and an impious fratid. What is it that we have learned 
 from this pretended thing called revealed religion 1 — nothing that 
 ts useful to man, and every thing that is dishonourable to his Ma- 
 tter. What is it the Bible teaches us I— -rapine, cruelty, and mur- 
 der. What is it the Testament teaches us 1— to believe that the 
 Almighty committed debauchery .with a woman, engaged to be 
 married ! and the belief of this debauchery is called faith. 
 
 As to the fragments of morality that are irregularly and thinly 
 scattered in thos'e books, they make no part of this pretended thing 
 Tevealed religion. They are the natural dictates of conscience, 
 and the bonds by which society is held together, and without which 
 it cannot exist ; and are nearly the same in all religions; and in all 
 societies. The Testament teaches nothing new upon this subject, 
 and where it attempts to exceed, it becomes mean and ridiculous. 
 The doctrine of not retaliating injuries, is mtichbetter expressed 
 in proverbs, which is a col\ection as well from the Gentiles as the 
 Jews, than it is in 'the Testament. It is there said, Proverbs xxv. 
 ver. 21, " If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat ; and if 
 fye be. thirsty, give himwater to drink :*" but when it is said, as in 
 the Testament, " If a man smite thee on the right cheek, turn to 
 him the other also j" it is assassinating the dignity of forbearance . 
 and sinking man into a spaniel. 
 
 Loving enemies, is another dogma of feigned morality, and iias 
 besides no meaning. It is incumbent on man, as a moralist, that 
 he does not revenge an injury ; and it is equally as good in a po- 
 litical sense, for there is no end to retaliation, each retaliates on 
 
 *. Accordingto what is called Christ's sermon on the mount, in the book of 
 Matthew, where, among some other good things, a great deal of this feigned 
 morality is introduced, it is there expressly said, that the doctrine of forbear- 
 ance^Or of npt retaliating injuries, was not any part of the doctrine of the Jews ; 
 r but as this doctrine is founded in proverbs, it must, according to that state- 
 ment, hare been copied from the Gentiles, from whom Christ hod learned it. 
 Those men, whom Jewish and Christian idolaters have abusively called hea- 
 thens,, had much better and clearer ideas of justice and morality, than are to 
 be found in the Old Testament, so far as it is Jewish ; or in the New. The 
 answer of Solon on the question, " Which is the most perfect popular govern- 
 ment," has never been exceeded by any man since his time, as containing a 
 maxim of political morality. "That," says he, " where the least Injury done 
 to the meanest individual, is considered as an insult on the whole constitution. 1 " 
 Solon lived about 500 years before Christ. 
 
PART -H.J THE AGE OF REASON. 153 
 
 the other, and calls it. justice ;. but to love in proportion to the in- 
 jury, if it could be done, would be to offer a premium for crime. 
 Besides the word enemies is too vague and general to be used in a 
 moral maxim, which ought always to be clear and defined, like a 
 proverb. • If a man be the enemy of another from mistake and 
 prejudice, as in the case of religious opinions, and sometimes in 
 politics, that man is different to an enemy at heart with a criminal 
 intention ; and it is incumbent upon us, and it contributes also to 
 our own tranquillity, that we put the best construction upon a thing 
 that it will bear. But even this erroneous motive in him, makes 
 no motive fo* We on the other part ; and to say that we can love 
 voluntarily, and without a motive, is morally and physically impos- 
 sible. 
 
 Morality is injured ^y prescribing to it duties, that, in the first 
 place, are impossible to be performed ; and, if they could be, 
 would be productive of evil ; or, .as before said, be premiums for 
 crime. The maxim of doing as we would be done unto, does not 
 include this strange doctrine of loving enemies ; for- no man ex- 
 pects to be loved himself for his crime or for his enmity. 
 
 . Those who preach this doctrine of loving their enemies, are in 
 general the greatest persecutors,, and they act consistently by so 
 doing ; for the doctrine is hypocritical, and it is natural that hypo- 
 crisy should act the reverse of what it preaches. For my own 
 part, I disown the doctrine, and consider it as a feigned or fabu- 
 lous morality ; yet the man does not exist that can say I have 
 persecuted him, or any man or any set of men, either in the Ameri- 
 can Revolution, or in the French Revolution ; Or that I have, in 
 any case, returned evil for evil. But it is not incumbent on man 
 to reward a bad action with a good one, or to return good for evil ; 
 and wherever it is done, it is a voluntary act, and not a duty. It 
 is also absurd to suppose that such doctrine can make any part of 
 a revealed religion. We imitate the moral character of the Cre- 
 ator by forbearing with each other, for he forbears with all ; but 
 this doctrine would imply that he loved man, not in proportion as 
 he was good, but as he was bad. 
 
 If we consider the nature of our condition here, we must see 
 there is no occasion for such a thing as revealed religion. What 
 is it we want to know 1 Does not the creation, the universe we be- 
 hold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty power that go- 
 
 erns and regulates the whole? And is not the evidence that 
 
 20 
 
154 THE AGE OP REASOff. [PAKT II 
 
 this creation holds out to our senses infinitely stronger than any 
 tfaiffg we can read in a book, that any iftiposter might make and 
 call the word of God? As for morality, the knowledge of it 
 exists in every man's consciettce. 
 
 'Here we are. The existence of an Almighty power is sufficient 
 ly demonstrated to us, though we cannot conceive, as it is impos- 
 sible we should, the nature and manner of its existence.' We' can- 
 not conceive how we came here ourselves, and yet we know for a 
 fact that we are here. We must know also, that the power that 
 called us into being, can, if he please'v and when he pleases, call 
 us to account for the manner in which we have lived here ; and; 
 therefore, without seeking any other motive for the belief, it is ra- 
 tional to believe that he will, for-we know before-hand that he can. 
 The probability^, or even possibility of the thing is all that we ought 
 to know ; for if we knew it as a fact, we should be the mere slaves 
 of terror : our belief would have no merit ; and our best actions 
 no virtue. 
 
 Deism then teaches us, without the possibility of being deceit 
 ed, all that is necessary or proper to Be known. The creation is 
 the Bible of the Deist. He there reads, in thehand-writing of the 
 Creator himself, the certainty of- his existence^ and the immutabi 
 Kty of his< power, and all other Bibles and Testaments are to him 
 forgeries. The probability that we maybe called to account 
 hereafter, will, to a reflecting mind, have the influence of belief; 
 for it is not our belief or disbelief that can make or unmake the 
 fact. As this is the state we are in, and which it is proper we 
 should ' be in, as free agents, it is the fool only, and not the philo- 
 sopher, or even the prudent man, that would live as if there were 
 no God. 
 
 But the belief o( a God is so weakened by being mixed with' the 
 strange fable of the Christian creed, and with the wild adventures 
 related in the Bible, and of the obscurity and obscene nonsense 
 of the Testament, that the mind of man is bewildered as in a fog. 
 "Viewing all these things in a confused mass, he confounds fact 
 with fable; and as he cannot believe all, he feels a disposition to 
 reject all. But the belief of a God is a belief distinct from all 
 other things, and ought not to be confounded with any. The no- 
 tion of a Trinity of Gods has enfeebled the belief of one God. A 
 multiplication of beliefs acts as a division' of belief : and in pro- 
 portion as any thing is divided it is weakened.' 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 155 
 
 Religion, by such means, becomes a thing of form, instead of 
 fact ; of notion, instead of principles ; morality is banished, to 
 make room for an imaginary thing, called feith, and this faith has 
 its origin in a supposed debauchery ; a man is -preached instead 
 of God; an execution is an object for gratitude; the preachers 
 daub themselves with the blood, like a troop of assassins, and 
 pretend to admire the brilliancy it gives them ; they preach a 
 humdrum sermon on the merits of the execution; then praise 
 Jesus Christ for being executed, and condemn the Jews for - do- 
 ing it. - 
 
 A man, by hearing all this nonsense lumped .and preached toge- 
 ther, confounds the God of the creation -with the imagined God of 
 the Christians, and lives as if there were none. 
 
 Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is 
 none more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, 
 more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory in itself, than 
 this thing called Christianity. Too absurd for belief, too impossi- 
 ble to convince, and too inconsistent for practice, it renders the 
 heart torpid, or produces only atheists and fanatics. As an en- 
 gine of power, it serves the;purpose of despotism ; and as a means 
 of wealth, the avarice of priests ; but so far as respects the good 
 of man in general, it leads to nothing here or hereafter. 
 
 The only religion that has not been invented, and that has in it 
 every evidence of divine originality, is pure and simple Deism. 
 It must have been the first, and will probably be the last that man 
 believes. But pure and simple Deism does not answer the pur- 
 pose of despotic governments. They cannot lay hold of religion ' 
 as an engine, but by mixing it with human inventions, and making 
 their own authority if part ; neither does it answer the avarice of 
 priests but by incorporating themselves and their functions with it, 
 and becoming, like the government, a party in the system. It is 
 this that forms the otherwise mysterious connection of church and 
 state ;. the church humane, and' the state tyrannic. 
 
 Were man impressed as fully and as strongly as he ought to be 
 with the belief of a God, his moral life would be regulated by the 
 force of that belief ; he would stand in awe of God, and of him- 
 self, and would not do the thing that could not be concealed from 
 either. To give this belief the full opportunity of force, it is nq» 
 cessary that it acts alone. This is Deism. 
 
156 THE AGE -OF REASON. [_PART II. 
 
 But when, according to the Christian Trinitarian scheme, one 
 part of God is represented by- a dying man, and another part called 
 the Holy Ghost, by a flying pigeon, it is impossible that belief 
 can attach itself to such wild conceits.* 
 
 It has been the scheme of the Christian church, and of all the 
 other invented systems of religion, to hold man in ignorance of the 
 Creator, as itis of government to hold man in ignorance of his 
 rights. The systems of the one are as false as those of the other, 
 and are calculated for mutual support. The study of theology, 
 as it stands in Christian churches, is the study of nothing ; it is 
 founded on nothing ; it rests on no principles ; it proceeds by no 
 authorities ; it has no data ; it can demonstrate nothing ; and it 
 admits of no conclusion. Not any thing can be studied as, a sci- 
 ence, without our being. in possession of the principles upon 
 which it is founded ; and as this is not the case with Christian 
 theology, it is therefore the study of nothing. 
 
 Instead then of studying theology, as is now done, out of the 
 Bible and Testament, the meanings of which books are. always 
 controverted^ and the authenticity of which is disproved, it is 
 necessary that we refer to the Bible of the creation. The prin- 
 ciples we discover there are eternal, and of divine origin : they 
 are the foundation of all the science that exists in the world, and 
 must be the foundation of theology. 
 
 We can know God only through his works. We cannot have a 
 conception of any one attribute, but by following some principle 
 that leads to it. We have only a confused idea of his power, if 
 we have not the means of comprehending something of its im- 
 mensity. We can have no idea of his wisdom, but by knowing 
 the order and manner in which it acts. The principles of science 
 lead to this knowledge ; for the Creator of man is the Creator of 
 science ; and it is through that medium that man can see God, as 
 it were, face to face. 
 
 ' Could a man be placed in a situation, and endowed with the 
 power of vision, to behold at one view, and to contemplate delibe- 
 rately, the structure of the universe ; to mark the movements of 
 
 * The book called the book of Matthew, says, chap. iii. ver. 16 that the 
 Holy Ghost descended m the shape of -a dove. It might as we'lfhave said a 
 
 goose ; the creatures are equally harmless, and the one is as much a nonsensical 
 e as the other. The second of Acts, ver. 2, 3, says, that it descended in a 
 mighty rushing wind, in the shape of cloven tongues : perhaps it was cloven 
 feet. Such absurd stuff is only fit for tales of witches and wizards. 
 
PA&T II.} THE AGE OF REASON. 157 
 
 the .several planets, the cause of their varying appearances, the 
 unerring order in which they revolve, even to the remotest comet ; 
 their connection and dependence on each other, and to know the 
 system of laws established by the Creator, that governs and regu- 
 lates the whole ; he would then conceive, far ,beyohd what any 
 church theology can teach him, the power, the wisdom, the vast- 
 ness, the munificence of the Creator ; he would then see, that all 
 the knowledge man has of science, and that all the mechanical arts 
 by which he renders his situation comfortable here, are derived 
 from that source : his mind, exalted by the scene, and convinced 
 by the fact, would increase in gratitude as it increased in know- 
 ledge ; his religion or his worship would become united with his 
 improvement as a man ; any employment he followed, that had 
 connection with the piinciples of the creation, as every thing of 
 agriculture, of science, and of the mechanical arts, has, would 
 teach him more of God, and of the gratitude he owes to him, than 
 any theological Christian sermon he now hears. Great objects 
 inspire great thoughts; greatmunificence excites great gratitude ; 
 but the groveling tales and doctrines of the Bible and the Testa- 
 ment are fit only to excite contempt. 
 
 Though man cannot arrive, at least in this life, at the actual 
 scene I have described, he can demonstrate it ; because he has a 
 knowledge of the principles upon which thercreation is constructed. 
 We know that the greatest works can be represented in model, 
 and that the universe can be represented by the same means. 
 The same principles by which we measure an inch, or an acre of 
 ground, will measure to millions in extent. A circle of an inch 
 diameter, has the same geometrical properties as a circle that 
 would Circumscribe the universe. The same properties of a 
 triangle that will demonstrate upon paper the course of a ship, will 
 doit on the ocean ; and when applied to. what are ^called the 
 heavenly bodies, will ascertain to a minute the time of an eclipse, 
 though these bodies are millions of miles distant from us. This 
 knowledge is of divine origin ; and it is from the Bible of the 
 creation that man has learned it, and. not from the stupid Bible of 
 the church, that teacheth man nothing.* 
 
 + The Bible-makers have undertaken, to give us, in the first chapter of 
 Genesis, an account of the creation ; and in doing this theyiiave demonstrated 
 nothing but their ignorance. They make there to have been three days and 
 three nights, evenings and mornings, before there was a sun ; when it is the 
 presence or absence of a sun that is the cause of day and night — and what is 
 
158 THE AGE OF REASON. [I'Aftf II 
 
 All the knowledge man has of science and of machinery, by the 
 aid of which his existence is rendered comfortable upon earth; 
 and without which he would be scarcely distinguishable in appear- 
 ance and condition from a common animal, -comes from the great 
 machine and structure of the universe. The constant and un- 
 wearied observations of our ancestors upon the movements and 
 revolutions of the heavenly bodies, in -what are-supposed to have 
 been the early ages of the world, have brought this knowledge 
 upon earth. It is not Moses and the prophets, nor Jesus Christ, 
 nor his apostles that have done it. The Almighty is -the great 
 mechanic of the creation ; the first philosopher and original 
 teacher of all science ; — Let us then learn to reverence our mas- 
 ter, and not let us forget the labours of our ancestors. 
 
 Had we, at this day, no knowledge of machinery, and were it 
 possible that man could have a view, as 1 have before -described, 
 of the structure and machinery of the universe,'he would soon 
 conceive the idea of constructing some at least of the mechanical 
 works we now have : and the idea so conceived would progres- 
 sively advance in practice. Or could a model of the universe, 
 such as is called an orrery, be presented before him and put in 
 motion, his mind would arrive at the same idea. Such an object 
 and such a subject would, whilst it improved him in knowledge 
 useful to himself as a man and a member of society, as well as 
 entertaining, afford far better matter for impressing him with a 
 knowledge of, and a belief in the Creator, and of the reverence 
 and gratitude that man owes to him, than the stupid texts of the 
 Bible and of the Testament, from which, be the talents of the 
 preacher what they may, only stupid sermons- can be preached. 
 If man must preach, let him preach something that is edifying, 
 and from texts that are known to 'be true. 
 
 The Bible of the creation is inexhaustible in texts. "Every part 
 
 called his rising and setting, that of morning and evening. Besides, it is a pue- 
 rile and pitiful idea, to suppose the Almighty to say, " Let there be light." It 
 is the imperative manner of speaking that a conjurer uses, when he says to his 
 cups and balls, Presto, be gone — and most probably has been taken from it, 
 as Moses and his rod are a conjurer and his wand. Longinus calls this ex- 
 pression the sublime ; and by the same rule the conjurer is sublime too ; for 
 the manner of speaking is expressively and grammatically the same. "When 
 authors and critics talk of the subline, they see not how nearly it borders on 
 the ridiculous. The sublime of the critics, like some parts of Edmund Burke's 
 sublime and beautiful, is like a wind-mill just visible in a fog, which im- 
 magination might distort into a flying mountain, or an archangel, or a 
 flock of wild geese. 
 
PART II.] THE AGE OF REASON. 159 
 
 of science, whether connected with the geometry of the universe, 
 with the. systems of animal and vegetable life, or with the proper- 
 ties of inanimate matter, is a text as well for devotion as for philo- 
 sophy — for gratitude as for human improvement. It will perhaps 
 be said, that if such a revolution in the system of religion takes 
 place, every preacher ought to be a philosopher. — Most certainly > 
 and every house of devotion a school of science. 
 
 It has been by wandering from the immutable, laws of science, 
 and the right use of reason, and setting up an invented thing called 
 revealed religion, that so many wild and blasphemous conceits 
 have been formed of the Almighty. The Jews have made him 
 the assassin of the human species, to make room for the religion of 
 the Jews. The Christians have made him the murderer of him- 
 self, and the founder of a new religion, to supercede and expel the 
 Jewish religion. And to find pretence and admission for these 
 things, they must have supposed his power and his wisdom imper- 
 fect, or his will* changeable ; and the changeableness of the will 
 is the imperfection of the judgment. The philosopher knows that 
 the laws of the Creator have never changed with respect either to 
 the principles of science, or the properties of matter. Why then 
 is it to be supposed they have changed With respect to man ? 
 
 I here close the subject. I have shown in all the foregoing parts 
 of this work that the Bible and Testament are impositions and 
 forgeries ; and I leave the evidence I have produced in proof of it 
 ..o be refuted, if any one can do it : and I leave the ideas that 
 are suggested in the conclusion of the work to rest on the mind 
 of the reader ; certain as I am, that when opinions are free, 
 either in matters of government or -eligion, truth will finally 
 and powerfully prevail. 
 
 THE END. 
 
' LETTER; 
 
 BEING 
 
 AN ANSWER TO A 1 FRIEND, 
 
 ON THE PUBLICATION OF 
 
 THE AGE OF REASON. 
 
 PARIS, MAY 12, 1797. 
 
 its your -letter of the 20th. of March, you gave me several quo- 
 tations from the Bible, which you call the word of God, to show 
 me that my opinions on religion are wrong, and 1 could give you 
 as many, from the same book, to show that yours are not right ; 
 consequently, then, the Bible decides nothing, because it decides 
 anv way,' and every w$y,-one chooses to make it. 
 
 But by what authority do you call the Bible the word of 
 Hod ? for this is the first point to be settled. It is not your calling 
 it so that makes it so, any more than the Mahometans calling the 
 Koran the word of God makes the Koran to be so. The Popish 
 Councils of Nice and Laodicea, about 350 years after the time 
 that the person called Jesus Christ is said to have lived, voted the 
 books, that now compose what is called the New Testament, to 
 be the word of God. This was done by yeas and nays, as we 
 now vote a law. The Pharisees of the second Temple, after the 
 Jews returned from captivity in Babylon, did the same by the 
 books that now compose the Old Testament, and this is all the 
 authority there is, which to me is no authority at all. I am as ca- 
 pable of ' judging for myself as they were, and I think more so, 
 because, as they made a living by their religion, they had a sel£ 
 interest in the vote they gave. 
 
 21 
 
162 „ LETTER TO. A PKIEJlW. 
 
 You may have,an opinion that a man is inspired, but you cam- 
 
 not prove it; nor can you have any proof of it yourself, becaus* 
 
 you cannot see into his mind in order to know how he comes by 
 
 his thoughts, and the same is the case with the -word revelation. — 
 
 There can be no evidence -of such a thins, for vou can no more 
 
 ■r • 
 
 prove revelation, than youjcan prove what another man dreams of r 
 
 neither can he prove it himself. 
 
 "It is often said in the Bible that God spake unto Moses, but 
 how do you.know that Gad -spake unto Moses ? Because, you wilt 
 say, the Bible says so. ' The Koransays, that God spake. unto 
 Mahomet, do you believe that too 1 No. Why not? Because, 
 you will say, you do not believe it- ; and so because you do, and 
 because you don't, is all the reason you ^can grve-forjselieving or 
 disbelieving, except you will say that Mahomet was an imposter. 
 And how do you know Mose3 was npt an imposter? For my own 
 part, I believe that all are Imposters who pretend to hold verbal 
 communication with the Deity. It is the way by which the world 
 has been imposed upon ; but if you think otherwise you have the 
 same right to y oar opinion that I have to mine, and must answer 
 Tor it in the same manner. .But all this doeVnot settle the point, 
 whether the Bible be the word of God, or not. It is, therefore, ne- 
 cessary to go a step further. The case then is :— r- 
 
 You form your opinion of God fromtthe- account given of him 
 in the Bible ; and I form my opinion of the Bible from -the wis- 
 dom and goodness of God, manifested in the structure of the uni- 
 verse, and in all the works of the Creation. The result in these 
 two cases will be, that you, by taking the Bible for your standard, 
 will have a bad Opinion of God ; and I, by taking God for my 
 standard, shall have a bad opinion of the Bible. 
 
 The Bible represents God to be a changeable, passionate, yjjja- 
 dictive being; making a world, and then drowjiing it, afterwards 
 repenting of what he had done, and promising not to dp so again. 
 Setting one nation to cut the throats of- another, and stopping the 
 course of the sun till the butchery should be done. But the works 
 of God, in tfae Creation, preach to us another doctrine. In that 
 vast volume we see nothing to give us the idea of a changeable, 
 passionate, vindictive God, every thing we there behold impresses 
 us with a contrary idea ; that of unchangeableness and of eternal 
 order, harmony, and goodness. The sun and the seasons return 
 at their appointed time, and every thing in the Creation proclaims 
 
LETTER TO A FRIfeNb. 168 
 
 that God .is unchangeable. Now, which am I to believe, a book 
 that any impostor may make, and call the tvord of God, or the 
 Creation itself which none but an Almighty Power could make, for 
 the Bible says one thing, and the Creation says the contrary. 
 The Bible represents God with all the passions of a mortal, ami 
 the Creation proclaims him with all the attributes of a God. 
 
 It is from the B,ible that man has learned cruelty, rapine-, and 
 murder; for the .belief of a cruel God makes a cruel man. That 
 blood-thirsty man, called the prophet Samuel, makes God to say, • 
 (1 -Sam. chap.' "xv. ver. 3,) " Now go and smite Amaleck, and 
 utterly destroy all that they have, and. spare them not, imt slay both 
 man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, -camel and 
 ass." 
 
 That Samuel, -or some other impostor, might say this, is what, 
 at this distance of time, can neither be prQved rior disproved,, but, 
 m my opinion, it is blasphemy to say, or to believe, that God said 
 it. % AH our ideas of the justice and -goodness of God revolt at 
 the impious cruelty of the Bible. It is not a God, just and good, 
 but a devil, under'the name of God, that the Bible describes. '* 
 
 What makes' this pretended order to destroy the Amalekites ap- 
 pear the worse, is the reason given for it. The Amalekites, four 
 hundred years Before," according to the account in Exodus, chap. 
 17, (but which has the appearance of fable from the magical ac- 
 count it gives of Moses holding up his hands,) had opposed the 
 Israelites coming into their country, and this the Amalekites had 
 a right to do, because the. Israelites were the invaders, as the 
 Spaniards were the invaders of Mexico ; and this opposition by 
 the Amalekites, at that time, is given as a reason, that the men, 
 women, infants and sucklings, sheep and oxen, camels and asses, 
 that were born four- hundred years afterwards, should be put to 
 death ; .and to complete the horror, Samuel hewed Agag, the 
 chief of the Amalekites, in pieces, as you would hew a stick 
 of wood, I will bestow a few observations on this case. 
 
 In the first place, nobody knows who the author, or writer, of 
 the. book of Samuel was, and, therefore, the fact itself has no 
 other proof than anonymous or hearsay evidence, which is no 
 evidence at all. In the second place, this anonymous book says, 
 that this slaughter was done by the express command of God : but 
 all our ideas of the justice and goodness of God give the lie to 
 the book, and as 'I never will believe any book that ascribes cruelty 
 
104 LETTER TO A FRIEND. ' 
 
 and injustice to God., I, therefore, reject the Bible as .unworthy 
 of credit. 
 
 As I have now given you my reasons for believing, that the Bible 
 is not the word of God, and that it is a falsehood, I have a right 
 to ask you your reasons for believing the contrary 4 but I know 
 you can give me none, except that you were educated to believe 
 the Bible, and as the Turks give the same reason for believing 
 the Koran, it is evident that education makes all the difference, and 
 that reason and truth hare nothing to do in the case. You be- 
 lieve in the Bible from the accident of birth, and the Turks believe 
 in the Koran from the same accident, and each calls the other in- 
 fidel.— Hut leaving the prejudice of education out of the case, 
 the unprejudiced truth is, that all are infidels who believe false- 
 ly of God, whether they draw their creed from the Bible, or 
 from the Koran, from the Old Testament or' from- the New. 
 
 When you have examined the Bible with the attention that I 
 have done, (for I do not think you know much about it,) and per- 
 mit yourself to have just ideas of God, you will most probably 
 believe as I do. But I wish you to know that this answer to your 
 letter is not written' for the purpose of changing your opinion. 
 It is written to satisfy you, and some other friends whom I esteem, 
 that my disbelief of the Bible is founded on a pure and religious 
 belief in God; for, in my opinion, the Bible is a gross libel 
 against the justice and goodness of God, in almost every part of i t. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE * 
 
 Of all the tyrannies that afflict mankind, tyranny in religion is 
 the worst : every other species of tyranny is limited to the world 
 we live in ; but this attempts a stride beyond the grave, and seeks 
 to pursue us into eternity. It is there and not here — it is to God 
 and not to man — it is.to a heavenly and not to an earthly tribunal 
 that we are to accojint/or our belief; if then we believe falsely 
 and dishonourably of the Creator, and that belief is> forced upon 
 uSj as far as force can operate by human laws and human ^tribu- 
 nals, — on whom is the criminality of that belief to fall ? on those 
 who impose it, or on those'on whom it is iifiposed ? 
 
 A "bookseller j>f the name of Williams has been prosecuted in 
 London oh a charge of blasphemy, for publishing £t book entitled 
 the Age of Reasdn. Blasphemy . is a^ word of vast sound, but 
 equivocal "and almost indefinite signification, unless we confine it 
 to the simple idea of hurting or injuring the reputation of any one, 
 which was its original meaning. As a word, it existed before 
 Christianity existed? being a "Grefek word, or Greek anglofied, as 
 all the etymological dictionaries will show. 
 
 But behold how various and contradictory has been the signifi- 
 cation and application of this equivocal word. Socrates, who 
 lived more than four hundred years before the Christian era, was 
 
 » Mr." Paine has evidently incorporated into this Letter a portion of hjs an- 
 swer to Bishop Watson's " Apology for the Bible ;" as in a chapter ofnhat 
 work, treating of the Book of Genesis, he expressly refers to his remarks, in a? 
 preceding part of the same, on- the two accounts of the creation contained in 
 that book j which is included in this letter. 
 
166 LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 4 
 
 convicted of blasphemyyfor preaching against the belief of a plu- 
 rality of gods, and for preaching the belief of one god, and was 
 condemned to suffer death by poison. Jesus Christ'was convict- 
 ed of blasphemy under the Jewish law, and was crucified. Callr 
 ing Mahomet an impostor would be blasphemy in Turkey ; and 
 denying the infallibility of the Pope, and the Church, would be 
 blasphemy at Rome. What then is to be understood by this word 
 blasphemy? We see that in the case of Socrates truth was con- 
 demned as blasphemy^ Are we sure that truth is not blasphemy 
 in the present day ? Woe, however, be to those who make it so, 
 whoever they may be. 
 
 A book called the. Bible has been voted by men, and decreed by 
 human laws to be the word of God ; and the disbelief of this is 
 called blasphemy. But if the Bible be not the word of God, it is 
 the laws and the execution of them that is blasphemy, and not the 
 disbelief. Strange stories are told of the Creator in that book. 
 He is represented as acting under the influence of every human 
 passion, even of the most malignant kind. If these stories are 
 false, we err in believing them to be true, and ought not to believe 
 them. It is, therefore," a duty which every man owes to himself; 
 and leverentially to his Maker, to ascertain*, by every possible, in- 
 quiry, whether there be sufficient -evidence to believe them or not. 
 
 My own opinion is, decidedly, that the evidence does not warrant 
 the belief, and that we sin in forcing that belief upon ourselves and 
 upon others. In saying this, I have no other object in view than 
 truth. But that. I may not be accused of resting upon bare asser- 
 tion with respect to the equivocal state of the Bible, I will produce 
 an example, and I will nobpick and cull The Bible for the purpose. 
 I will go fairly to the case : I will take the two first chapters of 
 Genesis as they stand, and show from thence the truth of what I 
 say, that is, that the evidence does not warrantjhe belief that the 
 Bible is the word of God. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 
 
 2. And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was 
 upon the face of the deep ; and the spirit of God moved upon the 
 face of the waters. 
 
LETTER TO Hit. EUSKINE. 167 
 
 3. And God said, Let there be light ; and there was light. 
 
 4. And God saw the light, that it was good : and God divided 
 the light from darkness. 
 
 5. And God called the light day, and the darkness he called 
 night r and the evening' and the morning were the first day. 
 
 6. IT And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of 
 the waters, and let it divide the waters from*he waters.- 
 
 7. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which 
 were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the 
 firmament : and it was so. 
 
 8. And God called the firmament heaven ; and the evening and 
 the morning were the second day, 
 
 9. 1T And God' said,- Let the waters under the heaven be gather- 
 ed together unto one place, and let the -dry land appear : and it 
 was so. 
 
 10. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering to- 
 " gether of -the waters called he seas, and God saw that it was good. 
 
 11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb, 
 yielding seed, arid the.fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose 
 seed is in itself, upon the earth, and it was so. 
 
 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed 
 after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, 
 after his kind : and God saw that it was good. 
 
 13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.- 
 
 14. 1T> And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of 
 the heaven, toi^ivide the day from the night : and let. them be for 
 signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. 
 
 15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, 
 .to give light upon the earth : and it was so, 
 
 16. And God made two great lights ; the greater light to rule 
 the day, and the lesser light to rule the night : he made the stars 
 also. 
 
 17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give 
 light upon the earth, 
 
 19. And to rule oyer the day and over the night, and to divide 
 the light from the darkness ; and God saw that it was good. 
 
 19, And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 
 
 20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the 
 nMving creature that hath life, and^fpwl that may fly above the 
 earth in the open firmament of heaven. 
 
168 
 
 LETTER TO MR. EltSKINE. 
 
 21. And God created great whales, and every living creature 
 that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly after their 
 kind, and every winged fowl after his kind : and God saw that it 
 was good. 
 
 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, 
 and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 
 
 23. And. the evening and the'moming were -the, fifth day. 
 
 24. U And God said,' Let the earth bring forth the living crea- 
 ture after his kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth 
 after his kind : and it was so. 
 
 25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and 
 cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth 
 after his kind : and God saw that it was good. 
 
 26. IT And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our 
 likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and 
 over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 
 
 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 
 created he him : male and female created he them. 
 
 23. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruit- 
 ful, and multiply, and rephnish the earth, and subdue it ; and 
 have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, 
 and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 
 
 29; 1T And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb 
 bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every 
 tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed : to you it shall 
 be for meat. 
 
 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the 
 air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there 
 is life, I have given every green herb for meat ; and it was so. 
 
 31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and behold it 
 was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth 
 day. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 1. Thus the heavens and the earth wer« finished, and all the 
 host of them. 
 
LETTEH TO MR. EKSKINB. IflJ 
 
 2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had 
 made, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he 
 had made. 
 
 3. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it : because 
 mat in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and 
 made. 
 
 4. IT These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth, 
 when they were created ; . in the day that the Lord God made the 
 earth and the heavens. 
 
 5. And every plant of the field, before it was in the earth, and 
 every herb of .the field, before it grew ; for the Lord God had n($ 
 caused it to rain upon the earth, and therewas not a man to till the 
 ground. 
 
 6. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the 
 whole face, of the ground. 
 
 7. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 
 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became 
 a living .soul. 
 
 8. And the Lord God planted a garden eastward of Eden ; and 
 there he put the man whom he had formed. 
 
 9. And out of the. ground made the Lord God to grow eve,ry 
 tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food ; the tree of . 
 life also in -the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of 
 good and evil.. 
 
 1-0. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden : and 
 from thence it. was parted, and became into four heads. 
 
 1 1 . The name of the first is Pison : that is it which compasseth 
 the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 
 
 12. And the gold of that land is good : there is bdellium and 
 the onyx-stone. 
 
 1 3. And the name of the second river is Gibon : the same is 
 it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 
 
 14. And the name of the third river is Heddekel : that is it 
 which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is 
 
 ^Euphrates. 
 
 15. And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the gar 
 den of Eden, to dress it and to keep it 
 
 22 
 
l70 Lt'tTKH TO MK. EHBKMTfi. 
 
 16. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, o{ every 
 tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat : 
 
 17. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thon 
 shalt not eat of it ; for in the day that tboo eatest thereof, thou 
 shalt surely die. 
 
 18. % And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should 
 be alone : I will make him an help meet for' him. 
 
 19. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of 
 the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, 
 to see what he would call them ; and whatsoever Adam called 
 every living creature, that was the name thereof. 
 
 20. And Adam gave names to all Cattle, and to the fowl of the 
 air, and to every beast of the field ; but for Adam there was not 
 found an help meet for him. 
 
 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, 
 and he slept ; and he took one of his ribs, and' closed up the 
 flesh instead thereof. 
 
 22. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made 
 he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 
 
 23. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of 
 my flesh ; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out 
 of man. 
 
 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and 
 shall cleave unto his wife ; and they shall be one flesh. 
 
 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were 
 not ashamed. 
 
 These two chapters are called the -Mosaic account of the crea 
 tion ; and we are told, nobody knows by whom, that Moses was 
 instructed, by God to write that account. 
 
 It has happened that every, nation of people has been world 
 makers ; and each makes the world to begin his own way, as if 
 they had all been brought up, as Hudibras says, to the trade. There 
 are hundreds of different Opinions and traditions how the world 
 began.* My business, however, in this place, is only with those 
 two chapters. 
 
 * In this world-making trade, man, of course, has held a conspicuous placa ; 
 and, for the gratification of the curious enquirer, the editor subjoins two spa- 
 
LETTER TO- Mil. ERSKINE. 171 
 
 I begin then by saying, that those two chapters, instead of 
 containing, as has been believed, one continued account of the 
 creation, written by Moses, contain two different and con- 
 
 cimens of the- opinions of learned men, in regard to the manner of his forma- 
 tion, and of his subsequent fall. The first he extracts from the Talmud, a work 
 containing the Jewish traditions, the rabbinical constitutions, and explication 
 of the law ; and is of great authority among the Jews. It was- composed by 
 certain learned rabbins, comprehends twelve bulky folios, and forty years are 
 said to have been consumed in its compilation. In fact, it is deemed to con- 
 tain the whole body of divinity for the Jewish nation. Although the Scrip- 
 tures tell us that the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, they do 
 not explain- the manner in which it was done, and these doctors supply the 
 deficiency as follows : — 
 
 " Adam's body was made of the earth of Babylon, his head of the land of 
 Israel, his other members of other parts of the world. R. Meir thought he 
 was compact of the earth, gathered out of the whole earth ; as it is written, 
 thine eyes did see my Substance. Now it is elsewhere written, the eyes of the Lord 
 ure over all the earth, R. Aha expressly marks the twelve hours in which his 
 various parts were formed. His stature was from one end of the world to the 
 other ; and it was for his transgression that the Creator, laying his hand in 
 anger on him, lessened him; ibrlefore, says R. Eleazer, with nis hand he 
 reached the firmament. R. Jehuda thinks his sin was heresy; but R. Isaac 
 thinks it was, nourishing his foreskin." 
 
 The Mahometan savans give the following account of the same transae 
 tion : — 
 
 " When God wished to create man, he sent the angel Gabriel to take a 
 handfull of each of the seven beds which composed the earth. But when 
 the latter heard the order of God, she felt much alarmed, and requested the 
 heavenly messenger torepresent to God, that as the creature he was about 
 to form might chance to rebel one day against him, this would be the means 
 of bringing upon herself the divine malediction. God, however, far from 
 listening to this request, despatched two other angels, Michael and Azrael, 
 to execute his will ; but they, moved with compassion, were prevaiWd upon 
 again to lay the complaints of the earth at the feet of her author. Then * 
 God confined the execution of his commands t» the formidable Azrael 
 alone, who, regardless of all the earth might say, violently tore from her 
 bosom seven handfuls from her various strata, and carried them into Arabia, 
 where the work of creation was to be completed. As to Azrael, God was so 
 well pleased with -the decisive manner in which he had acted, that he gave 
 him the office of separating the soul from the body, whence he is called the 
 Angel of Death. .... 
 
 " Meanwhile, the angels having kneaded this earth, God moulded it with his 
 own hands, and left it some time that it might get dry. The angels de 
 lighted to gaze upon the lifeless, but beautiful mass, with the exception of 
 Eblis, or Lucifer, who, bent upon evil, struck it upon the stomach, which 
 giving a hollow sound, he said, since this creature will be hollow, it will 
 often need being filled, and will be, therefore, exposed to pregnant tempta- 
 tions. Upon this, he asked the angels how they would act if God wished to 
 render them dependent upon this sovereign which he was about to give to the 
 earth. Theyireadily answered that they would obey ; but though Eblis did 
 not openly dissent, he resolved within himself that he would not follow their 
 example. 
 
 " After the body of-the first man had been properly prepared, God animated 
 it with an intelligent soul, and clad him in splendid and marvellous garments, 
 suited to the dignity of this favoured being. He now commanded his angels 
 to fall prostrate before Adam. All of them obeyed, with the exception of 
 Eblis, who was in consequence immediately expelled from heaven, and his 
 place given to Adam. 
 
 " The formation of Eve from one of the ribs of the first man, is the same as 
 that recorded in the Bible, as is also the order given to the father of mankind, 
 not to taste the fruit of a particular tree. Eblis seized this opportunity of re- 
 
1W LETTER TO MB. ER8KIME. 
 
 tradictory stories of a creation, made by two different persons, 
 and written in two different styles of expression. The evidence 
 that shows this is so clew, when attended to without prejudice, 
 that, did we meet with the same evidence in any Arabic or Chi- 
 nese account of a creation, we should not hesitate in pronouncing 
 it a forgery. 
 
 I proceed to distinguish the two stories from each other. 
 
 The first story begins at the first verse of the first chapter, and 
 ends at the end of the third verse of the.second chapter; for the 
 adverbial conjunction, THUS, with which the second chapter 
 begins, (as the reader will see,) connects itself to the last verse of 
 the first chapter, and those three verses belong to, and make the 
 conclusion of the first story. 
 
 The second story begins at the fourth verse of the second 
 chapter, and ends with that chapter. Those .two stories have been 
 confused into one, by cutting off the three last verses of the first 
 story, and throwing them to the second chapter. 
 
 I go now to show that those stories have been written by two 
 different persons. 
 
 From the first verse of the first chapter to the end of the third 
 verse of the second chapter, which makes the. whole of the first 
 story)-, the word GOD is used without .any epithet or additional 
 word conjoined with it, as the reader will see: and this style of 
 expression is invariably used throughout the whole of this'stoty, 
 and is repeated no less than thirty-five times, viz. *' In the begin- 
 ning Gob created the heavens and the earth, arid the spirit o'f God 
 
 venge. Having associated the peacock and the serpent in the enterprise, 
 they by their wily speeches at length persuaded Adam to become guilty of dis- 
 obedience. But no sooner had they touched the forbidden fruit, than their 
 garments dropped on the ground, and the sight of their nakedness covered 
 them both with- shame and with confusion. They made a covering for their 
 body with fig leaves ; but they were both immediately condemned to labour, 
 and to die, and hurled down from Paradise. 
 
 " Adam fell upon the mountain of Sarendip, in the island of Ceylon, where a 
 mountain is called by his name to the present day. Eve, beings separated 
 from her spouse in her fall, alighted on the spot where China now stands, and 
 Eblis fell not far from the same spot. As to the peacock and the snake, the 
 former dropped in Hindostan and the latter in Arabia. Adam soon feeling 
 the enormity of his fault, implored the mercy of God, "who relenting, sent 
 down his angels from heaven with a tabernacle, which they placed on the 
 spot where Abraham, at a subsequent period, built the temple of Mecca. 
 Gabriel instructed him in the rites and ceremonies performed about the sane 
 tuary, in order that he might obtain the forgiveness of his offence, and after- 
 wards led him to the mountain of Ararat, where he met Eve, from whom ha 
 had been now separated above two hundred years." 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINB. 173 
 
 moved on the face of the waters-, and God said, let there be lighg 
 arid God saw the light," &c; &c. 
 
 -But immediately from the beginning of the fourth verse of the 
 second chapter, where the second story begins, the style of 
 expression is always the LdrdGodi, and this style of expression is 
 invariably used to the end of the- chapter, and is repeated, eleven 
 times ; in the one it is always God, and never the Lord God, 
 in the other it is always the Lord God and never God. The first 
 story contains thirty-four verses, and repeats the single word God 
 thirty-five times. The second "story contains twenty-two verses 
 and repeats the compound word Lord- God eleven times ; this 
 difference of style, so often repeated, and - so uniforrnly continued, 
 shows, that those two chapters, containing two different stories, 
 are written by different persons ; it is the same in all the different 
 editions of the Bible, in all the languages I have seen. 
 
 Having thus shown, from the difference of style, that those two 
 chapters divided, as they properly divide themselves, at the end of 
 the third verse of the second chapter, are the work of -two differ- 
 ent persons, I come to show, from the contradictory matters they 
 contain, that they cannot be the work of one person, and are two 
 different stories. 
 
 It'is impossible, unless the writer was a lunatic, without memory, 
 that one and : the same person could say, as is said in the 27th and 
 28th verses of the first" chapter-'- ■" So God created man in his own 
 image, in the image of God created he him; male and female 
 created he- them : and God blessed them, and God said unto them, be 
 fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and 
 hate dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the air, 
 and every living thing that moveth on the face cfthe eavth.' : It is, I 
 say, impossible that the same' person who said this, could afterwards 
 say, as is said in the secohd chapter, ver. 5, and there was not a 
 man to till the ground ; and then proceed in the 7th verse to give 
 another account of the making a man for the first time, and after- 
 wards of the making a woman out of his rib. 
 
 Again, one and the same person could not write, as is written in 
 the 29th verse of the first chapter : " Behold I (God) have given 
 you every herb bearing seed, which is on the face of the earth; 
 and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree bearing seed, to 
 you it shall be for meat," and afterwards sav, as is said in the 
 
 # 
 
174 
 
 LETTER TO MR..ERSKINE. 
 
 second chapter, that the Lord-God planted a .tree in the midst of 
 a garden, and forbad man to eat thereof. 
 
 Again, one and the same person could not say, " Thus the 
 heavens and the. earth were finished,, and all the host of them, and 
 on the seventh- day God ended his wovk which he had made ;" and' 
 shortly after set the Creator to work again, to plant a garden, to 
 make a man and a woman, &c. as is done in the second chapter. 
 Here ."are evidently two different stories ~ contradicting each 
 other 1 . — According to the -first, the two sexes, the male and the 
 female, were made at thesame time. According to the second, 
 they were made at different times ; the man first, the woman after- 
 wards. — According to the first story, they were to have dominion 
 over all the earth. Accprding to, the second, their dominion was 
 limited to a garden. How large a garden it could be, that one 
 man and one woman could dress .and keep in order, I leave to the 
 prosecutor, the judge, the jury, and Mr. Erskine to determine. 
 
 The story of the talking serpent, and its tete-a-tete with Eve ^ the 
 doleful adventure called the Fall of Man; and how he was turned 
 out of this fine garden, and how the garden was afterwards locked 
 up and guarded by- a flaming sword, (if any one can tell what a 
 flaming sword is,) belonging altogether to the second story. They 
 have no 'Connexion with the first story. According to the first 
 there Was no garden of Eden ; no forbidden tree : the scene was 
 the whole earth, and the fruit of all the trees was allowed to be 
 eaten. 
 
 In giving this example of the strange state of the Bible, it can- 
 not be said I have gone out of my way to seek it, for I have taken 
 the beginning of the, book ; npr can it be said I have made more 
 of it, than it makes of itself. That there are two stories is as visible 
 to the eye, when attended to, as that there are two chapters, and 
 that they have been written by different persons, nobody knows by 
 whom. If this then re the strange condition the beginning of the 
 Bible is in, it leads, to a just suspicion, that the other parts are no 
 better, and consequently it becomes every man's duty to examine 
 the case. I haye done it for myself, and am satisfied that the 
 Bible is fabulous. * 
 
 Perhaps I shall be told in the pant-language of the tlay, as I 
 have often been told by the Bishop of Llandaff and others of the 
 great and laudable pains, that many pious and learned men have 
 taken to explain the obscure, and reconcile the contradictory, or 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 175 
 
 as they say, the seeminglycontradictory passages of the Bible. It 
 is"because the Bible needs such an undertaking, that is one of the 
 first causes to suspect it is not the word of God : this single 
 reflection, when- carried home to the- mind, is iti itself a volume. 
 
 What ! does not the Creator of the Universe, the Fountain of 
 all Wisdom, the Origin of all Science, the Author of all know- 
 ledge, the God of Order, and of Harmony, know how to write ? 
 When we contemplate the vast economy of the creation ; when 
 we behold the unerring regularity of the. visible solar system, the 
 perfection with which all its several partsrevolve, and by corres 
 , ponding assemblage, form a whole ; — when we launch our eye 
 into the boundless ocean of space, and see ourselves surrounded 
 by innumerable worlds, not one of which varies from its appointed 
 place-^when . we trace the, power of the Creator, from a mite to 
 an elephant — from an atom to an universe — can we suppose that 
 . the mind that could conceive such-a desigp, and the power that 
 executed it with incomparable perfection, cannot- write without 
 inconsistency j or, that a book so written, can be the work of such 
 a power ? The writiflgs of Thomas Paine, even ofThomas Paine, 
 need no commentator to explain, expound, arrange, and re-arrange 
 their several parts, to render them intelligible — he can relate a 
 fact, or write an essay,jwithout forgetting in one page what he has 
 written in an other — 'certainly then* did- the God of all perfec- 
 tion condescend to write or dictate a book, that book would be as 
 perfect as himself is perfect : the Bible is not so, and it-is con 
 fessedly not so, by the attempts to amend it. 
 
 Perhaps I shall be told, that, though I have produced one in- 
 stance, I cannot pfoduce another .of equal-force. One is sufficient 
 to call in. question the genuineness or authenticity of any book that 
 pretends to be the word of God ', for such a book would, as before 
 said, be as perfect'as its author is perfect. 
 
 I will, however, advance only four chapters- further into' the 
 book of Genesis, and produce another example that is sufficient to 
 invalidate the story to which it belongs. 
 
 We have all heard of Noah's Floqd ; and it is impossible to 
 think 1 of the whole human race, men, women, children, and infants 
 (except one family,) deliberately drowning, without feeling a pain- 
 ful sensation ; that heart must be a heart of flint that can contem- 
 plate such a scene with tranquillity. There is nothing in the 
 ancient mythology, nor in the religion of any people; we know of 
 
176 
 
 LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 
 
 upon the globe, that records a sentence of their God, or of 
 their Gods, so tremendously severe and merciless. If the story 
 be not true, we blasphemously dishonor God by believing it, 
 and still more so, in forcing, by "laws and penalties, that belief 
 upon others. I go now to show from the face of the story,'that it 
 carries the evidence of not being true. 
 
 I know not if the judge, the jury, and Mr. Erskine, who tried 
 and convicted Williams, ever read the Bible, or know any thing 
 of its contents, and, therefore, I will state the case precisely. 
 
 There was no such people as Jews or Israelites, in the time 
 that Noah is said to have lived, and consequently there was no 
 such law as that which is called the Jewish or Mosaic Law. It is 
 according to the Bible, more than six hundred years from the time 
 the flood is said to have happened, to the time of Moses, and con- 
 sequently the time the flood is said to have happened, was more 
 than six hundred years prior to the law, called the law of Moses, 
 even admitting Moses to have been the giver of that law, of which 
 there is great cause to doubt. 
 
 "We have here two different epochs, or points o.f time ; that ol 
 the flood, and that of the law of Moses ; the former more than six 
 hundred years prior to the latter. But the maker of the story of 
 the flood, whoever he was, has betrayed himself by blundering, for 
 he has reversed the order of the times. He has told the story, as 
 if the law of Moses was prior to the flood; for he has made God to 
 say to Noah, Genesis, chap. vii. ver. % " Of every clean- beast, 
 thou shalt take unto thee by sevens, male and his female, and of 
 beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female." This 
 is the Mosaic law, and could- only be . said' after that law was 
 given, not before. There was no such things as beasts clean 
 and unclean in the time of Noah — It is no where said they were 
 created so.— They were only declared to be'50, as meals, by the 
 Mosaic law, and that to the Jews only, and there was no such 
 people as Jews in the time of Noah. This is the blundering 
 condition in which this strange story stands. 
 
 When we reflect on a sentence so tremendously severe, as that 
 of consigning the whole human race, eight persons excepted,- to 
 deliberate drowning ;' a sentence, which represents the Creator in 
 a more merciless character than any of those whom we call Pa- 
 - gans, ever represented the Creator to be, under the figure of any 
 of their deities, we ought at least to suspend our belief of it, on a 
 
LETTER TO MR. BUSKINS. \yf 
 
 comparison of the beneficent character of the Creator, with the 
 tremendous severity of the sentence ; but when we see the story 
 told with such an evident contradiction of circumstances, we 
 ought to set it down for nothing better than a Jewish fable, told 
 by nobody knows whom, and nobody knows when. 
 
 It is a relief to the genuine and sensible soul of man to find 
 the story unfounded. It frees us from two painful sensations 
 at once ; that of having hard thoughts of the Creator, on ac- 
 count of the severity of the sentence ; and that of sympathising 
 in the horrid tragedy of a drowning world." He who cannot 
 feel the force of what I mean, is not, in my .estimation of cha- 
 racter, worthy the name of a human being. 
 
 I hare just said there is great cause to doubt, if the law, called 
 the law of Moses, was given by Moses; the books called the 
 books of Moses, which contain, among other things, what is 
 called the Mosaic law, are put in front of the Bible, in the man- 
 ner of a constitution, with a history annexed to it. Had these 
 books been written by Moses, they would undoubtedly have 
 been the oldest books in the Bible, and entitled to be placed 
 first, and the law and the history they contain, would be fre- 
 - quently referred to in the books that follow ; but this is not the 
 case. From the time of Othniel, the first of the judges, (Judges, 
 chap. iii. ver. 9,) to the end of the bopk of Judges, which con- 
 tains a period of four hundred and ten years, this law, and those 
 books, were not in practice, nor known among the Jews, nor 
 are they so much as alluded to throughout the whole of that 
 period. -AncLif the. reader will examine the 22d and 23d chap- 
 ters of the 3d book of Kings, and 34th chapter 2d Chron. he 
 will find that no such, law, nor any such books, were known in 
 the time of the Jewish monarchy, and that the Jews were Pa- 
 gans during the whole of that time, and of their judges. 
 
 The first time the law, called the law of Moses, made its ap- 
 pearance, was in the time of Josiah, about a thousand years after 
 Moses was dead ; it is then said to have been found by accident. 
 The account of this finding, or pretended finding, is given 2d 
 Chron. chap, xxxiv. ver. 14, 15, 16, 18: "Hilkiah the priest- 
 found the book of the irw of the Lord, given by Moses, and 
 Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found 
 the book of the law in the house of the Lord, and Hilkiah de- 
 livered the book to Shaphan, and Shaphan carried the book to 
 
 38 
 
178 LETTER TO MR. ER8KINE. 
 
 the king, and Shaphan told the king, (Josiah,) saying, Hilkiah 
 the.priest hath given me a book.'* 
 
 In consequence of this finding, which much resembles that of 
 potoT Cbatterton finding manuscript poems of Rowley, the monk, 
 in the cathedral church at Bristol, or the fete finding of manu- 
 scripts Of Shakspeare in an old chest, (two wellknown frauds,} 
 Josiah abolished the Pagan religiowof the Jews, massacred all the 
 Pagan priests, though he himself had been a Pagan, as the rea Ser 
 will see in the 23d chap. 2d Kings, and thus established in Mood, 
 the law that is there called the law of Moses, and instituted* pass 
 over in commemoration thereof. The 22d verse, sp^akisg of this 
 passover, sayii " Sorely there was not held s-aeti a passover from 
 the days of the judges, that judged Israel, nor in all the days of 
 the kings of Israel, nor the kings of Judah;" and the 25th ver. in 
 speaking of this priest-kilEng Josiafe,says, "Likeunto him, there 
 was no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, 
 and with all his soul,' and with al! his might, accerdrngtoaH the 
 law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like Mm.** This 
 verse, like the former one, is a general declaration against all the 
 preceding kings without exceptiow. It is also a declaration against 
 all that reigned after Rim, of which there were four, tie whole fSme 
 of whose reigning makes but twenty*two years and six months* 
 before the Jews were entirely broken up as a nation a»d theiT 
 monarchy destroyed. ItSs, therefore, evident that the law, called 
 the law of Moses, of whicti the Jews talk so much, was promul- 
 gated and established onlyin the latter time of the Jewisfe monar- 
 chy ; and it is very remarkable, that no sooner had they establish- 
 ed it than they were a destroyed people; as if they were punished 
 for acting an imposition and affixing the name of the Lord to 
 it, and massacreing their former priests under the pretence of 
 religion. The sum of the history of the Jews is this- — they con- 
 tinued tobe a nation about a thousand years, they then established 
 a law, which they called the daw of the Lord given by Moses, and 
 were destroyed. This is not opinion, but historical evidence. 
 
 Levi the Jeiv, who has written an answer to the Age of Rea- 
 son, gives a strange account of the low called the law of Moses. 
 In speaking of the story of the sun and moon standing still, that 
 the Israelites might cut the throats of all their enemies, and hang- 
 all their kings, as told in Joshua, chap, x^hesays, "There is also 
 another proof of the reality of this miracle, which ia» the appeal 
 
LETTBR TO MR. ERSKINB. 17j> 
 
 that the author of the book of Joshua makes to the book of Jasher, 
 " Is not this writtim in the-boak of Jasher ? Hence," .continues 
 Levi, " It is manifest that the book commonly called the book of 
 Jasher, existed, and was well known at the time the book of 
 Joshua was Written ; and pray, Sir," continues Levi, *' what book 
 do you think this was ? why, no other than the law tf Moses .'" 
 Levi, like the Bishop of Llandaff, and many other guess-work 
 commentators, either forgets or does not know, what there is in 
 sue-part of the Bible, when he is giving his opinion upon another 
 part. - - 
 
 I did not, however, expect to find so much ignorance in a Jew, 
 with respept to the history of his nation, though I might not be 
 surprised' at it in a bishop. If Levi will look into the account 
 given in the first chap. 2d book of Sam. of the Amalakite slaying 
 Saul, and bringing the crown and bracelets to David, he will find 
 the following recital, ver. 15, 17, 18 : " And David called one of 
 the young men, and said, go near -gnd fall upon him, (the Amala- 
 kite,) and he smote him that he died : and David lamented with 
 this 'lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son ; also he 
 bade them teach the children the use of the how; — -behold it is 
 written in the book -.vf Jasher." If the book of Jasher were what 
 Levi calls it, the law of Moses, written by Moses, it is not pos- 
 sible that any 'thing that David said or did could be written in 'that 
 law, since Moses died more than five hundred years before David 
 was born ; and, on the Other hand, admitting the book of Jasher 
 to be the law called the<law of Moses ; that law must have been 
 written more than five-hundred years after Moses was dead, or it 
 could not relate any thing said or 'done by David. - Levi may take 
 which of these cases he pleases, for both are against 'him. 
 
 "Iam.not going in the; course of this letter to write a commentary. 
 On the Bible. The two instances I have produced, and which 
 are taken from the beginning of the Bible, show the necessity of 
 examining it. It-is a book that has been read more, and examined 
 less, than aiiybook that ever existed. -Had it come to us an 
 Arabic or Chinese book, and said to have ,been a sacred bookby 
 the people fro'm whom it came, no apology would have been made 
 for the confused and disorderly state it is in. The tales it relates 
 of the Creator would have Seen censured, and our pity excited for 
 those who believed them. We should have vindicated the good' 
 neas of God against such a book, and preached up the disbelief of 
 
ISO LBtTEB TO MR. BKBKI1TB. 
 
 it out of reverence to him. Why then do vre not act as honourably 
 by the Creator in the one case as we would do in the other. As 
 a Chinese book we would have examined it ; — ought we not then 
 to examine it as a Jewish book t The Chinese are a people who 
 have all the appearance of far greater antiquity than the Jews, and 
 in point of permanency, there is no comparison. They are also a 
 people of mild manners and good morals, except where they have 
 been corrupted by European commerce. Yet we take the word 
 of a restless*; bloody-minded people, as the Jews of Palestine 
 were, when we would reject the same authority from a better 
 people. We ought to see it is habit and prejudice that have pre- 
 vented people from examining the Bible. Those of the church of 
 England call it holy, because the Jews called it so, and because 
 custom and certain acts of parliament call it so, and they read it 
 from custom. Dissenters read it for the purpose of doctrinal 
 controversy, and, are very fertile in discoveries and inventions. 
 But none of them read it for the pure purpose of information, and 
 of rendering justice to the Creator, by examining if the evidence it 
 contains warrants the belief of its being- what it is called. Instead 
 of doing this, they take it blindfolded, and will have it to be the 
 word of God whether it be so or not. For my own part, my belief 
 in the perfection of the Deity will not permit me to believe, that a 
 book so manifestly obscure, ciisorder-ly, and contradictory, can be 
 his work. I can write a better book myself. This disbelief in 
 me proceeds from my belief in the Creator. I cannot pin my faith 
 upon the say so of Hilkiah, the priest, who said he found it, or any 
 part of it, nor upon Shaphan the scribe, nor upon any priests, nor 
 any scribe or man of, the law of the present day. 
 
 As to acts of parliament, there are some that say there are 
 witches and wizards ; and the persons who made those acts, (it 
 was in the time of James the First,} made also some acts which 
 call the Bible the Holy Scriptures, or Word of God. But acts of 
 parliament decide nothing with respect .to God ; and as these acts 
 of parliament making were wrong with respect to witches and 
 wizards, they may also be wrong with respect to the book in 
 question.* It is, therefore, necessary that the book be examined ; 
 
 * It is afflicting to humanity to reflect that, after the blood shed to estab 
 lish the divinity of the Jewish scriptures, it should have become necessary 
 to gram a new dispensation, which, through unbelief and conflicting opin 
 ions respecting its true construction, has cost as great or greater sacrifices 
 than the former. Catholics, when they had the ascendancy, burnt Frotcs 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 181 
 
 it is our duty to examine it ; and to suppress the right of examina- 
 tion is sinful in any government, or in any judge or jury. The 
 Bible makes God to say to Moses, Deut. chap. vii. ver. 2, " And 
 
 tants, who, in turn, led Catholics to the stake, and both united in extermina- 
 ting Dissenters. The Dissenters, when they had the power, pursued the 
 same course. The diabolical act of Calvin, in the burning of Dr. Sfervetus, 
 is an awful witness of this fact. Servetus suffered two hours in a slow fire 
 before life was extinct. The Dissenters, who' escaped from England, had 
 scarcely seated themselves in the wilds of America, before they began to 
 exterminate from the territory they had seized upon, all those wlio did' not 
 profess what -they called the orthodox faith. Priests, Quakers,, and Adam- 
 ites, were prohibited from entering the territory, on pain of death. ' By 
 priests r they meant clergymen of the Roman Catholic, if not also of the 
 Protestan,t or Episcopal persuasion. Their own priests they denominated 
 ministers- rThese puritans also, particularly in the province of Massachu- 
 setts-Bay, put manypersons to death on the charge of witchcraft. There 
 is no account, however, of their having" burned any alive r as was done in 
 Scotland, about the same period in which the executions took place in Mas- 
 sachusetts-Bay. In England, Sir Matthew Hale, a judge eminent for ex- 
 traordinary piety, condemned two women to death on the same charge.- „ 
 I< doubt; however,- if there be any acts of the parliament now in force for 
 inflicting pains and penalties for denying, the scriptures to be the word of 
 God, as our upright judges seem to rely at this time wholly upon what they 
 call, the common law, to justify the horrid persecutions which are now car- 
 ried on in England, to the disgrace of a country that boasts so much of its 
 tolerant spirit. r 
 
 As the common law is derived from the customs of. our ancestors, when 
 m a rude and barbarous condition, it is not. surprising that many of its in- 
 junctions should be opposed to the ideas, .which a societyin a civilized, and 
 refined state, should deem compatible with justice and right. Accordingly 
 we find that government has from time to time annulled some of. its most' 
 prominent absurdities; such as the trials by ordeal; the wager of battle in 
 case of appeal for murder, under a belief that a- supernatural power would 
 interfere to save the innocent and destroy the guilty in such a combat, &c. 
 Yet much remains nearly as ridiculous,, that requires a .further and more 
 liberal use of the pruning knife^ , . . 
 
 . " In the days of the Stuarts, [A. D..1670, 22d year of Charles II. Seethe 
 Republican, yol. 5, p. 22.] "William. Penn was indicted at Common Law for 
 a riot and breach of the peace oniaving delivered his, sentiments to a con- 
 gregation of people in Grace-church-street : he- told the judge and the jury 
 that Common Law was an abuse r and no law at all; and in spite of the 
 threats, the- fines and imprisonments inflicted on his jury, they acquitted him 
 on this plea. William Penn found'an honest jory." ,'.>-•- n. 
 
 The introduction,.; however, of Christianity, -as composing a part of this 
 Common Law, (bad as. much of it is,) is proved to be a frautf or misconcep- 
 . tion of the. old Nof man French; as I shall show by an extract of a letter 
 from Thomas Jefferson to Major Cattwright, bearing date 5th June, 1824. 
 For a more full developement of this subject, see Sampson's Anniversary 
 Discourse, before the Historical Society of -New- York. • " Editor.. 
 .-Extract from Jefferson's Letter. 
 "I am glad to find in your book [The English Constitution, produced and 
 illustrated] a formal contradiction, at length, of the judiciary usurpation of 
 legislative power; for such the judges 'have usurped in their' repeateddeci- 
 siotts, that Christianity ds a part of the common law. The proof of the contrary, 
 which you have adduced, is incontrovertible: to wit, that the common- Jaw 
 existed while the Anglo-Saxons were yet Pagans ; at a time when they had 
 never yet heard the name of Christ pronounced, or knew that such a character 
 had ever existed. But it may amuse you to show when; and by what means, 
 iheysiole this.law in upon us. In a case of (Xuare Impedit, in the Year Book, 
 'M r 'enry VI. fo. 28, [Anno 1458,] a question was made how far the eccle- 
 siastical law was to be respected-in a common law court. And Prisot,^Chief 
 
**7 LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 
 
 when the I/ord thy God shall deliver them before thee, thou shalt 
 smite them, and utterly destroy them, thou shalt make no cove- 
 nant with them, nor show mercy unto them." Not all the~priests T 
 nor scribes, nor tribunals in the world, nor all the authority of 
 roan, shall make me believe thatGod ever gave such aRobesperi- 
 an precept as that of showing no mercy; and consequently it is 
 impossible that I, or any person who believes as reverentially of 
 the Creator as I do, can believe such a book tohe the word of God. 
 
 Justice,, gave his opinion in these -words : — ' A tiel lets, que ils de saint eglise' 
 oat sa.anc.ien scripture, covient'a nous a donner credence: cal^eo Conimen 
 Ley sur qrols touts manners leis sont foddes. Et auxy, Sir, nous sumus 
 obliges de con ustre lour ley de saint eglise: et semWablement ilssont obliges 
 de conustre nostre ley — Et, Sir, si poit apperer or a nous que l'evesque adlait 
 come uu ordinary fera en tiel cas, adong nous devons ceo adjuger bon, ou 
 auterment nemy,' " &c. [" To such laws as theyof holy church have in an- 
 cient writing, it behoves us to give credence : for it is that common law upon 
 which all kinds of law are- founded ; and therefore,. Sir, are we bound te 
 know their law of holy church, and in like manner are they obliged to know 
 our laws. And, Sir, if it should appearnow to us, that the bishop had done 
 what an ordinary ought to do in like case, then we should adjudge it good, 
 and not otherwise,"] — The eanons.of the church anciently were incorpbrated 
 with the laws of the land,- and of the same authority. See Dr.- Henry's 
 Hist. G. Britain. - - ■ - • Editor.. 
 
 See S. C. Fitzh. abr. qu. imp. 89. Bro. abr. qu-imp. 12. Finch in his 1st Book, 
 c. 3, is the first afterwards who quotes the. case, and mis-states it thusj " ' To 
 such laws of the church as have warrant in Holy Scripture, our law gi velh cre- 
 dence, 1 and citesPrisot; mistranslating ' ancient Scripture' into 'Koly Scrips 
 tnre ;' whereas Prisot palpably says, ' so sueh laws as those of holy church 
 have in ancient writing, it is proper for us to give credence ;' to wit — to their 
 ancUntwrUten laws. This was in 1613, a century and a half after the dictum 
 of Prisot. Wingate, in 1658, erects this false' translation into a maxim of 
 the common law/copying- the words of Finch, but citing Prisot. Wingate, 
 max. 3, and SKeppard; title '.Religion,' in 1675, copies the same mistransla- 
 tion, quoting the Y; B. Finch and Wingate. Hale expresses it in these 
 words; ' Christianity is parcel of the law of England' — 1 Ventris 293. 3 Keb. 
 607, but quotes no authority. By these echoingsand re-echoings from one to 
 another, it hadoecome so established in 1728, that in the case of the King vs. 
 Woolston, 2 Stra. 834, the court would not suffer it to be debated, whether 
 to write against Christianity was punishable in the temporal court at com- 
 mon law. Wood, therefore,, 409, ventures still to vary the phrase, and say, 
 ' that.all blasphemy arid profaneness are offences by the common law;' and 
 cites 2 Stra.— Then Blackstone, in 1763, iv. 59, repeats the words of Hale, 
 that ' Christianity is part of the law of England;' citing Ventris and Strange- 
 Arid finally, Lord Mansfield, with a little qualification, in Evan's case in 
 1767; SEtys, that ' thfe essential principles of revealed, religion are part of the 
 common law'-^thns ingulfing Bible,- Testament, and all into the common 
 la w7 without citing any authority. And thus we find this chain of authorities 
 Ranging, link by 4 n k, one upon another, and all ultimately on one and the 
 same hook, aad?Aa< a mistranslation of the words 'ancient scripture,' used by 
 Prisot. Finch quotes Prisot; Wingate does the same ; Sheppard quotes Prisot, 
 Finch, and Wingate. Hale cites nobody. The court, on Woolston's case, 
 cites Hale ; Wood cites Woolston's case fBlackstorte quotes Wool st<jn's case 
 and Hale; and Lord "Mansfield, like"Hale, ventures it on his own authority. 
 Here I mi<*ht defy the best read lawyer to produce another scrip of author- 
 ity "for this judiciary forgery ; and I might go on farther to show how some 
 of the Anglo-Saxon priests, interpolated into the text of Alfred's laws the 
 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d chapters of Exodus, and the 15th of the Acts of the 
 Apostles, from the 23d tothe 29th verses; but this would lead my pen, and 
 your patience too far. What a conspiracy this, between church and state !' " 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 183 
 
 There have been, and still are, those, who, whilst they profess 
 to believe the Bible to be the word of God, affect to turn it into 
 ridicule. Taking their profession and conduct together, they act 
 blasphemously ; because they act as if God himself was not to be 
 believed. The case is exceedingly different with respect to the 
 Age of Reason. That book is written to show from the Bible it- 
 self, that there is abundant matter to suspect it is not the "word of 
 God, and that we have been imposed upon, first by Jews, and af- 
 terwards by priests and commentators.-' 
 
 Not one of those who have attempted to write answers to the 
 Age ofReasofi, have taken the ground upon which only an answer 
 could bewritten. The case in question is not "upon any point of 
 doctrine, but altogether upon a matter of fact. Is the book call- 
 ed the Bible the word of God, or is it not 1 Ifit can be. proved 
 to.be so,nt,otight to be believed as such j if not, it ought not to 
 be believed as such,. This is the true state of the case. "The 
 Age of Reason produces evidence" to show, and I have in this let- 
 ter produced additional evidence, that it is not the word of God. 
 Those who take the contrary side, should prove that it is. But 
 this they have not done, nor attempted to do, and consequently 
 they have done nothing to the purpose. 
 
 The prosecutors of Williams haye shrunk from the point, as the 
 answerers have done. They have availed themselves of prejudice 
 instead of proof. If a writing was produced in a court of judica- 
 ture, said to be the writing of a certain person, and upon the rea- 
 lity or non-reality of which, some matter at issue depended, the 
 point to be proved would be, that such writing was the writing of 
 such person. Or if the issue depended upon certain words, which 
 some certain person was said to have spoken, the point to be pro- 
 ved would be, that such words were spoken by such person ; and 
 Mr. Erskine would contend the case upon this ground. A certain 
 book is said to be the word of God. What is the proof that it is 
 so ? for upon this the whole depends ; and if it cannot be proved 
 to be so, the prosecution fails for want of evidence. 
 
 The prosecution against Williams charges him with publishing 
 a book, entitled The Age of Reason, which it says, is an impious 
 blasphemous pamphlet, tending to ridicule and bring into contempt 
 the Holy Scriptures. Nothing is more easy than to find abusive 
 words, and English prosecutions are famous for this species of 
 vulgarity. The charge however, is sophistical ; for 1he charge. 
 
184 LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 
 
 as. growing out of the pamphlet, should hav-e stated, pot as it now 
 states, to ridicule and bring into contempt the Holy Scriptures, 
 but to show, that the book called the Holy Scriptures are not 
 the Holy Scriptures. It 'is one thing if I ridicule, a work as 
 being written by a certain person ; but it is quite a different 
 thing, if I write to prove that such work -was not written by 
 such person. In the first case,' I attack "the person through 
 the work ; in the other case, I defend the honor of the^person 
 against the work. This is what the Age of Reason does, and 
 consequently the charge in the indictment is sophistically stated. 
 Everyone will admit, that if the Bible be raof.the word of God, 
 we err in believing it to be his word, and ought not to believe 
 it. Certainly, then, the ground the prosecution should take, 
 would be to prove that the Bible is in fact what it is called. 
 But this the prosecution' has not done, and cannot do. 
 
 In all cases the prior' fact must be proved, before the subse- 
 quent facts can be admitted in evidence. In a prosecution for 
 adultery, the fact of marriage, which is the prior fact, must be 
 proved, before the facts to prove adultery can be received. If 
 the fact of marriage cannot be proved, adultery cannot be proved; 
 and if the prosecution cannot prove the Bible to be the word of 
 God, the charge of blasphemy is visionary and groundless. 
 
 In Turkey they might" prove, if the case Tiappened, that a 
 certain book was bought of a certain bookseller, and that the 
 said book was written-against the Koran. In Spain and Por- 
 tugal they might prove, that a certain book .was bought of a 
 certain bookseller, and that the said book was written against 
 the infallibility of the Pope. Under the ancient mythology they 
 might have proved, that a certain writing was bought of a cer- 
 tain person, and> that the said .writing was written against the 
 belief of a plurality of gods, and in the support of the belief of 
 one God. Socrates was condemned for a work of this kind. N '^ 
 
 All these are but subsequent facts, and amount to nothing, un- 
 less the prior factslje proved. The prior fact, with respect to the 
 first case, is, Is the Koran the word" of God? Withrespect to the 
 second, Is the infallibility of the Pope a trath ? With respect to 
 the third, Is the belief of a plurality of gods a true belief? and in 
 like'mannerwith respect to the present prosecution, Is the book 
 called the Bible the word of God? If the prasent prosecution 
 prove no more than could be proved in any or all of these cases. 
 
LITTBft TO MS. EBSK1H1. 188 
 
 it proves only as they do, or as an inquisition would "prove ; and 
 in this view of the' case, the prosecutors ought at least to leave 
 off reviling that infernal institution, the inquisition. The prosecu- 
 tion, however, though it mayinjure the individual, may promote 
 the cause of truth ; because the manner in which it has been con- 
 ducted, appears a confession to the world, that there is no evi- 
 dence to prove that the Bible is the word of God. On what au- 
 thority then do we believe the many strange stories that the Bibk 
 tells of God 
 
 This prosecution has been carried on through the medium of 
 what is called a special .jury, and the whole of a special jury is 
 nominated by the master of the crown office. Mr. Erskine vaunts 
 himself upon the bill he brought into parliament with respect to 
 trials, for what the government' party calls libels. But if in crown 
 prosecutions, the master of the crown office is to continue to ap- 
 point the whole, special jury, which he does by nominating the for- 
 ty-eight persons from which the solicitor of each party is to strike 
 out twelve, Mr. Erskine's bill is only vapour arid smoke. The 
 root of the grievance lies in the manner of forming the jury, and 
 to this Mr. Erskine's bill applies no remedy. 
 
 When the trial of Williams came on, only eleven of the special 
 jurymen appeared, and the trial was adjourned. In cases where 
 the whole number do not appear, it is customary to make up .the 
 deficiency by taking jurymen from persons present in court. This, 
 in the law term, Is called a Tales. Why was not this done in "this 
 case 1 Reason will suggest, that they did not choose to depend on 
 a man accidentally taken. When the trial re-commenced, the 
 whole of the special jury appeared, -and Williams was convicted ; 
 it is folly to contend a cause where the^ whole jury is nominated by 
 one of the parties. I will relate a recent case that explains a great 
 deal with respect to special juries in crown prosecutions. 
 
 On the trial of Lambert and others; printers and proprietors of 
 the Morning Chronicle, for a libel, a special jury was struck, on 
 the prayer of the Attorney-General, who used to be called Diabo- 
 lus Regis, or King's Devil. 
 
 Only seven or eight of the special jury appeared, and the Attor- 
 ney General not praying a Tales, the trial stood over to a future 
 day ; when it was to be brought on a second time, the Attorney- 
 General prayed for a new special jury, but as thi» was not admis- 
 sible, the original special jury was summoned. Only eight of them 
 
 34 
 
1S« 
 
 LETTER TO MR. EHSKINE. 
 
 appeared, on which the Attorney-General said, " As I cannot, oh 
 a second trial, have a special jury, I will pray a Tales." Four 
 persons were then taken from .the persons present in court, and 
 added to the eight special jurymen- The jury went out at two 
 o'clock to consult on their verdict, and the judge (Kenyon) un- 
 derstanding they were divided, and likely to be some time in mak- 
 ing up their minds, retired from the bench, and went home. At 
 seven, the jury went, attended by an officer of the court, to the 
 Judge's house, and delivered a verdict, " Guilty of publishing, bnl 
 wiih no malicious intention." The Judge said, " J can/not record 
 this verdict : it is no verdict at all." The jury withdrew, and af- 
 ter sitting in consultation till five in the morning, brought in a ver- 
 dict, Not Guilty. Would this have been the case, had they been 
 all special jurymen nominated by the Master of the Crown-office \ 
 This is one of the cases that ought to open the eyes of people with 
 respect to the manner of forming special juries. 
 
 On the trial of Williams, the Judge prevented the counsel for 
 the defendant proceeding in the defence. The prosecution had 
 selected a number of passages from the Age of Reason, and in- 
 serted them in the indictment. The defending counsel was se- 
 lecting other passages to show, that the passages in the indictment 
 were conclusions drawn from premises, and unfairly separated 
 therefrom in the indictment. The Judge said, he did not know 
 how to act ; meaning thereby whether to let the counsel proceed 
 in the defence or not, and asked the jury if they wished to" hear the 
 passages read which the defending counsel had selected. The ju- 
 ry said no, and the defending counsel was in consequence silent. 
 Mr. Ej-skine then, Falstaff like, having all the field to himself, and 
 no enemy at hand, laid about him most heroically, and the jury 
 found the defendant guilty. I know not if Mr. Erskine ran out 
 of court and hallooed, huzza for the; Bible and the trial by jury. 
 
 Robespierre caused a decree to be passed during the trial of 
 Brissot and others, that after a trial had lasted three days, (the 
 whole of which time, in the case "of Brissot, was taken up by the 
 prosecuting party,) the judge should ask the jury (who were then 
 .a packed jury) if they were satisfied? If the jury said yes, the 
 trial ended, and the jury proceeded to give their verdict, without 
 hearing the defence of the accused party. It needs no depth of 
 wisdom to make an application of this case. 
 
TETTER TO HR. feUSKlNE. 187 
 
 I will now state a case to show that the trial of Williams is not a 
 trial, according to Kenyon's own explanation of law. 
 
 On a late trial in London (Selthens versus Hoossman) on a pol- 
 icy of insurance, one of the jurymen, Mr. Dunnage, after hearing 
 one aide of the^case, and without hearing the other side, got up and 
 said, 4t was as hgal a policy of insurance as ever was written. The 
 Judge, who was the same as presided on the trial of Williams, re- 
 plied, lliat it was a great misfortune when any gentleman of the ju? 
 ry makes up lf.is mind on a cause before it was finished. Mr. Era* 
 June, who in that cause was counsel for the defendant, (in this.he 
 was against the defendant,) cried out, it is worse ihm a misfortune, 
 il is a fault. The Judge, in his address to the jury in summing 
 up the evidence, expatiated upon, and explained the parts which 
 the law assigned to the counsel on each side, to the witnesses,. and 
 to -the Judge, and said, "When all this was done, and not until then, 
 it teas the business of the jury to declare what the justice of the case 
 was ; and that it was extremely rash, and imprudent in any man to 
 draw a conclusion before all the premises- Were laid before them, 
 upon which that conclusion was to be grounded." According then 
 to Kenyon's own doctrine, the trial of Williams, is an irregular tri- 
 al, the verdict an irregular" verdict, and as such is not recordable. 
 
 As to special juries, they are but modern.; and were instituted 
 far the purpose of determining cases at lavi "between merchants ; 
 because, as the method of keeping merchants' accounts differs from 
 that of common tradesmen, and their business, by lying much in 
 foreign bills of exchange, insurance, &c, is of a different descrip- 
 tion to that of common tradesmen, it might happen that a common 
 jury might not he competent to form a judgment. The law that 
 instituted special juries, makes it necessary that the jurors be 
 merchants, or of the degree of squires. A special jury in London 
 is generally composed of merchants ; and in the country, of men 
 called country squires, that is, fox-hunters, or men qualified to 
 hunt foxes. The one may decide very well upon a case of pounds, 
 shillings, and pence, or of the counting-house : and the other ot 
 the-jockey-club or the chase. But who would not laugh, that be- 
 cause such men can decide such cases, they can also be jurors 
 upon theology. Talk with some London merchants about scrip- 
 ture, and they will understand you mean scrip, and tell you how 
 much it is worth at the Stock Exchange. Ask them about theolo- 
 gy, and they will say, they know of no such gentleman jpon 
 
189 LHT**R TO KK. ERSKINE. 
 
 Change. Tell some country squires of the sun and moon stand- 
 ing stjllj the one on the top of a hill and the other in a valley, and 
 they will swear it is a lie of one's own making. Tell them that 
 God Almighty ordered a man to niake a cake and bake it with a 
 t — d and eat it, and they will say it is one of Dean Swift's black- 
 guard stories. Tell them it is in the Bible, and they will lay a 
 bowl of punch it is not, and leave it to the parson of the parish to 
 decide.- Ask th em also about theology, and they will say, they 
 know of no such an one on the turf. An appeal to such juries 
 serves toTmngthe Bible into more ridicule than, any thing the au- 
 thor of the Age of Reason has written; and -the manner in which 
 the trial has been conducted shows, that the prosecutor dares not 
 come to the point, nor meet the defence of the defendant. But all 
 other cases apart, on what ground of right, otherwise- than on the 
 right assumed by an inquisition, do such prosecutions stand ? Re- 
 ligion is a private affair between every man and his Maker, and no 
 tribunal or third party has a right to interfere between them. It is 
 not properly a thing of this world ; it is only practised in this world ; 
 but its object- is in a future world ; and it is no otherwise an ob- 
 ject of just laws, than for the purpose of protecting the equal rights 
 of all, however various their beliefs may be. If one man choose to 
 believe the book called the Bible to be the word of God, and another, 
 from the convinced idea of the purity and perfection of God, com- 
 pared with the contradictions the book contains — from the lascivi- 
 ousness of some of its stories, like that of Lot getting drunk and de- 
 bauching his two daughters, which is not spoken of as a crime, 
 and for which the most absurd apologies are made — from the im- 
 morality of some of its precepts, like that of showing no mercy — 
 and from the total want of evidence on the case, thinks he ought 
 not to believe it to be the word of God, each of them has an equal 
 right ; and if the one has the right to give his reasons for believing 
 it to be so, the other has an equal right to give his reasons for be- 
 lieving the contrary. Any thing that goes beyond this rule is an 
 inquisition. Mr. Erskine talks of his moral education ; Mr. 
 Erskine is very little acquainted with theological- subjects, if he 
 does not know there is such a thing as a sincere and religious be- 
 lief that the Bible is not the word of God. This is my belief; it 
 is the belief of thousands far more learned than Mr. Erskine ; and 
 it is a belief that is every day increasing. It is not infidelity, as 
 Mr. Erskine prophanely and abusively calls it ; it is the direct rw 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSK1NE. 189 
 
 verse of infidelity. It is a pure religious belief, founded on the 
 idea of the perfection of the. Creator. If the Bible be the word of 
 God, At needs not the wretched aid of prosecutions to support it ; 
 and you might with as much propriety make a law to, protect the 
 sunshine, as to protect the Bible, if the Bible, like the sun, be the 
 work of God. We see that God takes good, care of the Creation 
 he' has made. He suffers no part of it to be .extinguished : and 
 he will take the sa^me care of his word, if he ever gave one. But 
 men ought to be reverentially careful and suspicious how they as- 
 cribe books to him as his v>ord, which from this confused condi- 
 tion Would dishonor a common scribbler, and against which there 
 is abundant evidence, and every cause to suspect imposition. 
 Leave then the Bible to itself. God" will take care of it if he has 
 any thing to do with it, as he takes care of-the sun aijd, the -moon, 
 which need not your laws for their better protection. As the two 
 instances I have produced, in the beginning of this letter, from the 
 Dook Of Genesis, throne fespecting the account called the Mo- 
 saic account of the Creation, the other of the Flood, sufficiently 
 show the necessity of examining the Bible,'- in order to ascertain 
 what degree of evidence there is for receiving or rejecting it as a 
 sacred book ; I shall not add nioreaipon that subject ; but in order 
 to show Mr. Erskine that there are religious establishments f6r 
 public worship which make no profession of faith of the books 
 called holy scriptures,, nor admilof priests, I will conclude with an 
 account of a society lately began in I?aris, and which is very rapid- 
 ly extending itself. ■ 
 
 The society takes the name of f heophiiantropes, which- would 
 be rendered in English by the word Theophilanthropists, a word 
 compounded of three Greek words, signifying Gody Love, and 
 Man. The explanation given to. this w6rd is, Lovers of Gvd and 
 Man, or Movers of God and Friends of Man, adorateurs de 
 Dieu et amis des hommes. The society proposes to publish each 
 year.a volume, the first volume is just' published, entitled 
 
 RELIGIOUS YEAR OF 'THE THEOPHILANTHROPISTS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 ADORERS OF GOD, AND FRIENDS OF MAN. 
 * Being a collection of the discourses, lectures, hymns, and can- 
 ticles, for all the religious and moral festivals of the Theophilan- 
 thropists during the coi> r sr of the year, whetherin their public tem- 
 
190 
 
 LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 
 
 pies or in their private families, published by the author of the 
 Manuel of the Th'eophilanthropists. 
 
 The volume of this year, which is the- first, contains 214 pages 
 duodecimo. 
 
 The following is the table "of contents : — 
 
 1. Precise history of the Theophilanthropists. 
 
 2. Exercises common to all the festivals. 
 
 3. Hymn, No. I, God of whom the universe speaks. 
 
 4. Discourse upon the existence of God. 
 
 5. Ode II. The heavens instruct the earth. 
 
 6. Precepts of wisdom, extracted from the book of the Ado 
 
 Tateurs. 
 
 7. Canticle, No. III. God Creator, soul of nature. 
 
 8. Extracts from divers moralists, upon the nature of God, and 
 
 upon the physical proofs of bis existence. 
 
 9. Canticle, No. IV. Let us bless at our waking the God who 
 
 gives His light. - 
 
 10. Moral thoughts extracted from the Bible. 
 
 11. Hytrin, No. V. Father of the universe. 
 
 12. Contemplation of nature on the first days of the spring. 
 
 13. Ode, No TI: - Lord-in thy glory adorable. 
 
 14. Extracts from the moral thoughts of Confucius. 
 
 15. Canticle in praise of actions, and thanks for the works of the 
 
 creation. 
 
 16. Continuation from the moral thoughts of Confucius. 
 
 17. Hymn, No. VII. All foe universe is full of thy magnificence. 
 
 18. Extracts from an ancient sage of India upon the duties of 
 
 families. 
 
 19. Upon foe spring. - 
 
 20. Moral thoughts of divers Chinese authors. 
 
 21. Canticle, No. VHL Every thing celebrates the glory of the 
 
 • eternal.' 
 
 22. Continuation of foe moral thoughts of Chinese authors. 
 
 23. Invocation for the country. 
 
 24. ExtractsTrom foe moral thoughts of Theogriis. 
 
 25. Invocation, Creator of man. 
 
 26. Ode, No. IX. Upon Death. 
 
 27. Extracts from the book of foe Moral Universal, upon happi- 
 
 ness. 
 36 Ode, No. X. Suprem "* Author of Nature, 
 
LETTER TO MR. ERSKINE. 191 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ENTITLED 
 
 PRECISE HISTORY OF THE THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. 
 
 " Towards the month of Yendimiaire, of the year 5, (Sept. 
 1796,-) there appeared at Paris, a small work, entitled, Manuel of 
 >he . Theoantropophiles, since called,, for the sake of easier pro- 
 nunciation. Theophilantropes, (Theophilanthi'Qpists,) published 
 by C— . 
 
 '^The worship set forth in this Manuel, of which the origin is 
 from the beginning-of the world, was then professed by some fami-- 
 lies in the silence of domestic life. But no sooner was the 
 Manuel published, than some persons, respectable for their know 
 ledge and their mariners, saw, in \h.e formation of a society open 
 to the public, an easy method of spreading moral religion, and of 
 leading -by degrees great numbers to the knowledge thereof, who 
 appear to have .forgotten it. This consideration ought of itself 
 not to leave indifferent those persons who know that morality and 
 religion, which is the most solid' supporfthereof, are necessary to 
 the maintenance of society, as well as to the happiness of the 
 individual. These considerations determined the families of the 
 Theophilanthropists to unite .publicly for .the exercise . of their 
 worship. 
 
 " The first "society of this kind opened in the month of Nivose, 
 year 5, (Jan. 1797,) in the street Dennis, No. 34, corner of Lom- 
 bard-street. The care of conducting this society was. under- 
 taken by five fathers of families. They adopted the Manuel of 
 the Theophilanthropists. They agreed to hold their days of pub- 
 lic worship on the days corresponding to Sundays, but without 
 making this a hindrance to_ other societies'to choose such other 
 day as they thought- more convenient. Soon after this, more so- 
 cieties were opened, of which some celebrate on the decadi, (tenth 
 day,) and others on the Sunday :' it was also resolved that the com- 
 mittee should meet one hour each week for the purpose of pre- 
 paring or examining the discourses and 'lectures proposed for the 
 next general assembly. That the general assemblies should be 
 called Fetes (festivals) religious and moral. " That those festivals 
 should be conducted in principle and form, in a manner, as not to 
 be considered as the festivals of an exclusive worship ; and that 
 
192 LgTTER TO MB. ERSKINE. 
 
 in recalling those whxfmight not be attached to any particular wor- 
 ship, those festivals might also be attended as moral exercises by 
 disciples of every sect, and consequently avoid, by scrupulous 
 care, every thing that might make the society appear under the 
 name of a sect. The society adopts neither rites nor priesthood, 
 and it will never loose sight of the resolution not to advance any 
 thing as a society, inconvenient to any sect or sects, in any time 
 or country, and under any government. 
 
 " It will be seen, that it is so much, the more easy for the society 
 to keep within this circle, because, that the dogmas of the Theo- 
 philanthropists are those upon which all the sects have agreed, 
 that their moral is that upon which there has never been the least 
 dissent ; and that the name they have taken, .expresses the double 
 end of all the sects, that of leading to the adoration of God and 
 love of man. 
 
 " The Theophilanthropists ' do not call thernseives-the disciples 
 of such or such a man. They avail themselves of the wise pre- 
 cepts tha : t have been transmitted by writers of all countries and 
 in all ages. The reader will find in the discourses, lectures, 
 hymns, and canticles, which the Theophilanthropists have adopted 
 for their religious and moral festivals, and which they present 
 under the title of Annee Religieuse, extracts from moralists, 
 ancient and 'modern, divested of maxims too.severe, or too loosely 
 eonceived, or contrary to piety, whether towards God or towards 
 
 Next follow -the dogmas of the Theophilanthropists, or things 
 they profess to believe. These are but two, and are thus expres- 
 sed; les Tlveopivilantropes aroient a Pexistence de Dien, et a Pim- 
 morlalite de Pame. -The Theophilanthropists believe in the ex- 
 istence of God, and the 'immortality of -the soul. 
 
 The JVfanuel of the Theophilanthropists, a small volume of sixty 
 pages, duodecimo, is published separately, as is also their ca- 
 techism, which is of the same size. . The principles of the Theo- 
 philanthropists are the same as , those published in the first part 
 of the Age of Reason in 1793, and in- the second part, in 1795. 
 The Theophilanthropists, as a society, are silent upon all the 
 things they- do not profess to believe, as the sacredness of the 
 books called the Bible* &c. &c. They profess the immortality 
 of the soul, but tiiey are silent on the immortality of the body, or 
 
LETTBR TO ME. KRSKINK. 193 
 
 that which the church calls the resurrection. The author of the 
 Age of Reason gives reasons for every thing he disbelieves, as well 
 as for those he believes ; and where this cannot be done with safety, 
 the government is a despotism, and the church an inquisition. 
 
 It is more than three years since the first part of the Age of 
 Reason was published, and more than a year and a half since the 
 publication of the second part : the bishop of Llandaff undertook to 
 write an answer to the second part ; and it was not until after 
 it was known that the author of the Age of Reason would reply 
 to the bishop, that the prosecution against the book was set on 
 foot; and which is. said to be carried on by some clergy of the 
 English church. If the bishop is one of them, and the object be 
 to prevent an exposure of the numerous and gross errors he has 
 committed in his work, (and which he wrote when report said that 
 Thomas Paine was dead,) it is a confession that he feels the weak- 
 ness of his cause, and finds himself unable to maintain it. In 
 this case he has given me a triumph I did not seek, -and Mr. 
 Erskine, the herald of the prosecution, has proclaimed it. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 25 
 
DISCOURSE 
 
 DELIVERED TO THE SOCIETY OF THEOPHILAN- 
 THROPISTS AT PARIS. 
 
 Religion has two principal enemies, Fanaticism and Infidelity 
 or that which is called atheism. The first requires to be 
 combated by reason and morality, the other by natural philoso- 
 phy. 
 
 The existence of a God is the first dogma of the Theophilan- 
 thropists. It is upon this subject that I solicit your attention ; for 
 though it has been often treated of, and that most sublimely, the 
 subject is inexhaustible ; and there will always remain something 
 to be said that has not been before advanced. I go, therefore, to 
 open the subject, and to crave your attention to the end. 
 
 The universe is the Bible of a true Theophilanthropist. It is 
 there that he reads of God. It is there that the proofs of his ex- 
 istence are to be sought and to be found. As to written or print- 
 ed books, by whatever name they are called, they are the works of 
 man's hands, and carry no evidence in themselves that God is the 
 author of any of them. It must be in something that man could 
 not make, that we must seek evidence for our belief, and that 
 something is the universe ; the true Bible; the inimitable work of 
 God. 
 
 Contemplating the universe, the whole system of creation, in 
 this point of light, we shall discover, that all that which is called 
 natural philosophy is properly a divine study. It is the study of 
 God through his works'. It is the best study by which we can 
 arrive at a knowledge of his existence, and the only one by which 
 we can gain a glimpse of his perfection. 
 Do we want to contemplate his power f We tee it in the 
 
196 DISCOURSE TO THB MOCStTt 
 
 immensity of the Creation. Do we want to contemplate his wis- 
 dom 1 We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incom- 
 prehensible Whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate 
 his munificence 1 We see i.t iri the abundance with which he fills 
 the earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy? We see it 
 in his not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful. 
 In fine, do we want to know what God is? Search not written 
 or printed books, but the scripture called the Creation. 
 
 It has been the error of the schools to teach astronomy, and ml 
 the other sciences, and subjects of natural philosophyyas accom- 
 plishments only ; where'as they should be taught theologically, or 
 with reference to the Being who is the author of them : for all the 
 principles of science are of divine origin. Man cannot make, or 
 invent, or contrive principles, fle can only discover them ; and 
 he ought to look through the discovery to the author. 
 
 When we examine an extraordinary piece of machinery, an 
 astonishing pile of architecture, a well executed statue, or an 
 -highly finished painting, where life and action are imitated, and 
 habit only prevents our mistaking a surface of -light and shade for 
 cubical solidity, our ideas are naturally led to think of the exten- 
 sive genius and talents of the artist. When we study the elements 
 of geometry, we think of Euclid. When we speak of gravitation, 
 we think of Newton.' How then is it, that when we study the 
 works of God in, the Creation, we stop short, and do not think of 
 God 1 It is from the error of the schools in having taught those 
 subjects as accomplishments only, and thereby separated the study 
 of them from the being who is the author of them. 
 
 The schools have made the study of theology to consist in the 
 study of opinions in written, or printed books ; whereas theology 
 should be studied in the works or books of the Creation. The 
 study of theology in books of opinions has often produced fana- 
 ticism, rancour, and cruelty of temper ; and from hence have pro- 
 ceeded the numerous persecutions, the fanatical quarrels, the- re- 
 ligious burnings and massacres, that have desolated Europe. But 
 the study of theology in the works of the Creation produces a di- 
 rect contrary effect. The mind becomes at once enlightened and 
 serene ; a copy of the scene it beholds : information and adora- 
 tion go hand in hand.; and all the social faculties become en 
 larged. 
 
OF THEOPHILANTHROPISTS. 197 
 
 The evil that has resulted from the error of the schools, in teach- 
 ing natural philosophy as an accomplishment only, has been that of 
 generating in the pupils a species of atheism. Instead of looking 
 through the works of the Creation to the Creator himself, they 
 stop short, and employ the knowledge they acquire to create 
 doubts of his existence. They labour with studied ingenuity to 
 ascribe every thing they behold to innate properties of matter ; 
 and jump over all the rest, by saying, that matter is eternal. 
 
 Let us examine this subject ; it is worth examining ; for if we 
 examine it through all its cases, the result will be, that the exist- 
 ence of a superior cause, or that which man calls God, will be 
 discoverable by philosophical principles. 
 
 In the first place, admitting matter to have properties, as we see 
 it has, the question still remains, how came matter by those pro- 
 perties 1 -To this they will ,answer, that matter possessed those 
 properties eternally. This is not solution, but assertion.: and to 
 deny it is equally impossible, of proof as to' assert it. • Jt is then 
 necessary to go further ; and; therefore, I say, if there exist a cir- 
 cumstance that is nota. property of matter, and without which the 
 universe, or, to speak in a limited degree, the .solar system, com 
 posed of planets and a sun, could not exist a moment ; all the 
 arguments of atheism, drawn from properties of matter, and 
 applied to account for the universe, will be overthrown, and the 
 existence of a superior cause, or that which man calls God, be- 
 comes discoverable,, as is before said, by natural philosophy. 
 
 I go now to show that such a. circumstance exists, and what 
 it is : - ■ - 
 
 The universe: is composed of matter, and, as a system, is sus- 
 tained by motion. Motion is not a property of matter, and with- 
 out this motion,' the solar system could not exist. Were motion 
 a property of matter, that undiscovered and undiscoverable thing 
 called perpetual motion would establish itself. It is because 
 motion is nota property of matter that "perpetual motion is an 
 impossibility in the hand of every being but that of the Creator of 
 motion. When the pretenders to atheism can produce perpetual 
 motion, and not till then, they may expect to be credited. 
 
 The natural state of matter, as to place, is a state of rest. Mo- 
 tion, or change of place, is the efiect of an external cause acting 
 upon matter. As to that faculty of matter that is called gravita- 
 tion, it-is the influence which two or more bodies have reciprocally 
 
198 
 
 DISCOURSE TO THE SOCIETr 
 
 on each other to unite and to be at rest. Every thing which ha* 
 hitherto been discovered, with respect to the motion of the planets 
 in- the system, relates only to the laws by which motion acts, and 
 not to the cause of motion. Gravitation, so far from being the 
 cause of motion to the planets that compose the solar system, 
 would be the destruction of the solar system, were revolutionary 
 motion to cease ; for as the action of spinning upholds a top, the 
 revolutionary motion- upholds the planets in their orbits, and pre- 
 vents them from gravitating and forming one mass with the sun. 
 In one sense of the word, philosophy knows, and atheism says, 
 that matter is in perpetual motion. But motion here refers to the 
 ttate of matter, and that only on the surface of the earth. It is 
 either decomposition, which is continually destroying the form of 
 bodies, of matter, or re-composition, which renews that matter in 
 the same or another form, as the decomposition of animal or vege- 
 table substances enter into the composition of other bodies. But 
 the motion that upholds the solar system is of an entire different 
 kind, and is not a property of matter. It operates also to an entire 
 different effect It operates to perpetual preservation, and to 
 prevent any change in the state of the system. 
 
 Giving then to matter all the properties which philosophy knows 
 it has, or all mat atheism ascribes to it, and can prove, and even 
 supposing matter to be eternal, it will not account for the system 
 of the universe, or of the solar system, because it will not account 
 for motion, and it is motion that preserves it. When, therefore, 
 we discover a circumstance of such immense importance, that 
 without it the universe could not exist, and for which neither mat- 
 ter, nor any, nor all the properties of matter can account ; we are 
 by necessity forced into the rational and comfortable belief of the 
 existence of a cause superior to matter, and that cause man calls 
 God. 
 
 As to that which is oalled nature, it is no other than the laws by 
 which motion and action of every kind, with respect to unintel- 
 ligible matter is regulated. And when we speak of looking 
 through nature up to nature's God, we speak philosophically the 
 same rational language as when we speak of looking through 
 human laws up to the power that ordained them. 
 
 God is the power or first cause, nature is the law, and matter ia 
 the subject acted upon. 
 
OP THEOPHILANTHROFISTS. 199 
 
 But infidelity, by ascribing every phenomenon to properties of 
 matter, conceives a system for which it cannot account, and yet 
 it pretends to demonstration. It reasons from what it sees on the 
 surface of the earth, but it does not carry itself to the solar sys- 
 tem existing by motion. It sees upon the "surface a perpetual 
 decomposition and re-composition of matter. It sees that an oak 
 produces an acorn, an acorn an oak, a bird an egg, an egg a bird, 
 and so on.' In things of this kind it sees something which it calls 
 natural cause, but none of the causes it sees is the cause of 
 that motion which preserves the solar system. 
 
 Let us contemplate this wonderful and stupendous system con- 
 sisting of matter and existing by motion. It is not matter in a 
 state of rest, nor in a state of decomposition or re-composition. 
 It is matter systematized in perpetual orbicular or circular motion. 
 As a system that motion is the life of it, as animation is life to an 
 animal body ; deprive the system of motion, and, as a system, it 
 must expire. Who then breathed into the system the life of mo- 
 tion ? What power impelled the planets to move, since motion 
 is not a property of the matter of which thfeyare composed? If 
 we contemplate the immense velocity of this motion, our wonder 
 becomes increased, and our adoration enlarges itself in the same 
 proportion. To instance only one of the planets, that of the earth 
 we inhabit, its distance from the sun, the centre of the orbits of all 
 the planets, is, according to observations of the transit of the 
 planet Venus, about one hundred million miles ; consequently, the 
 diameter of the orbit, or circle in which the earth moves round the 
 sun, is. double that distance; and the measure of the circumfe- 
 rence of the orbit, taken as three times its diameter, is six hundred 
 million miles. The earth performs this voyage in 365 days and 
 some hours, and consequently moves at the rate of more than one 
 million six hundred thousand miles every twenty-four hours. 
 
 Where will infidelity, where- will atheism find cause for this 
 astonishing velocity of motion, never ceasing, never varying, and 
 which is the preservation of the earth in its orbit 1 It is not by 
 reasoning from, an acorn to an oak, or from any change in the state 
 of matter on the surface of the earth, that this can be accounted 
 for. Its cause is not to be found in matter, nor in any thing we 
 call nature. The atheist who affects to reason, and the fanatic 
 who rejects reason, plunge themselves alike into inextricable diffi- 
 culties. The one perverts {the sublime and enlightening study of 
 
300 
 
 DISCOURSE TO THE SOCIETY 
 
 natural philosophy into a deformity of absurdities by not reasoning 
 to the end. The other loses himself in the obscurity of metaphy- 
 sical theories, and dishonours the Creator, by treating the study of 
 his works with contempt. The one is a half-rational of whom 
 there is some hope, the other a visionary to whom we must be 
 charitable. 
 
 When at first thought we think of a CreatoT, our ideas appear 
 to us undefined and confused ; but if we reason philosophically, 
 those ideas can be easily arranged and simplified. It is a Being 
 whose power is equal to his will. Observe the nature of the will of 
 man. Itis of an infinite quality. We cannot conceive the possi- 
 bility of limits to the will. Observe on the other hand,, how ex- 
 ceedingly limited is his power of .acting, compared with the nature 
 of his will. Suppose the power equal to the will, and man would 
 be a God. He would will himself eternal, and be so. He could 
 will a creation, and could make it. In this progressive reasoning, 
 we see in the nature of the will of man, half of that which we con- 
 ceive of thinking of God; add the other half, and we have the 
 whole idea of a being who could make the universe, and sustain it 
 by perpetual motion ; because he could create that motion. 
 
 We know nothing of the capacity of the will of animals, but we 
 know a great deal of the difference of their powers. For example, 
 how numerous are the degrees, and how immense is the difference 
 of power from a mite to a man. - Since then every thing we see 
 below us shows a progression of power, where is the difficulty in 
 supposing that there is, at the summit of all things, a Being in 
 whom an infinity of power unites with the infinity of the will. 
 When this simple idea presents itself to our mind, we have th» 
 idea of a perfect Being that man calls God. 
 
 It is comfortable to live under the belief of the existence of an 
 infinitely protecting power ; and it is an addition to that comfort to 
 know that such a belief is not a mere conceit of the imagination, 
 as many of the theories that are called religious are ; nor a belief 
 founded only on tradition or received opinion, but is a belief dedu- 
 cible by the action of reason upon the things that compose the 
 system of the universe : a belief arising out of visible facts : and 
 so demonstrable is the truth of this belief, that if no such belief 
 had existed, the persons who now controvert it, would have been 
 the persons who would have produced and propagated it, because, 
 by beginning to reason, they would have been led on to reason 
 
,' OF THEOPHIt4JiTHROFISTS. 201 
 
 progressively to the end, andi thereby, have discovered that matter 
 and all the properties it has,_will not account for the' system of the 
 universe, and that there must, necessarily be a superior cause. 
 .-,. It, was. the excess to which imaginary ; systems of religion had 
 been carried, and- the intolerance, persecutions, burnings, and 
 massacres, they occasioned, that first induced: certain persons to 
 propagate infidelity; thinking, that upon the whole it was better 
 ,no_tdto, believe at all, than to believe a multitude of things and com- 
 plicated creeds, that occasioned so much mischief in the world. 
 But those days are past : persecution has ceased, and the antidote 
 then setup against jthas no longer even the shadow of an apology. 
 We profess,, and we proclaim in peace, the pure, unmixed, com- 
 fortable, and rational belief of a God, as manifested to us in the 
 universe. We. do this without any apprehension of that belief be- 
 ing made a cause of persecution as other beliefs have been, orof 
 suffering persecution ourselves. To God, and not to man, are all 
 men to accounfcfor their belief. 
 
 It has been we.ll observed at the first institution of this society 
 that the dogmas it professes to believe, are from the commence- 
 ment of the world ; that they are notnovelties, but are confessedly 
 the basis of all systems of religion, however numerous and con- 
 tradictory they niay be. All' men in the outset of the religion they 
 profess are Theophilanthropists. It is impossible to form any 
 system of religion without building upon those principles, and, 
 therefore, they are not sectarian principles, unless we suppose a 
 sect composed of all the world. 
 
 I have said in the course of this discourse, that the study of na- 
 tural philosophy is a divine study, because it is the study of the 
 works of'God in the Creation. 1 ' If we consider theology upon this 
 ground, what ' an extensive field of. improvement in things both 
 divine , and -human opens itself before us. All the principles of 
 science are of 'divine origin. " It was not man that invented the 
 principles on which astronomy, and every branch of mathematics 
 are founded and studied. It was not man that gave properties of 
 the circle and triangle. Those principles are eternal and immu- 
 table. We see in them the unchangeablenature of the Divinity. 
 We see in them immortality, an immortality, existing after the ma- 
 terial figures that express those propsrties are dissolved in dust. 
 
 The "society is at -present in its infancy, and its means are small ; 
 but I wish to hold in view the subject I allude to, and instead of 
 
 26 
 
202 BISC0UR81 TO TBI iOCIETT, &C. 
 
 teaching the philosophical branches of learning! as ornamental ac- 
 complishments only, as they have hitherto been taught, to teach 
 them in a manner that shall combine -theological knowledge with 
 scientific instruction ; to do this to the best advantage, some in- 
 struments will be necessary for the purpose of explanation, of 
 which the society is not yet possessed. But as the views of the so- 
 ciety extend to public good, as well as to that of the individual, and 
 as its principles can have no enemies, means may be devised to 
 procure~them. 
 
 If we unite to the present instruction, a series of lectures on the 
 ground I have mentioned, we shall, in the first place, render theo- 
 logy the most delightful and entertaining of all studies. In the 
 next place we shall give scientific instruction to those who could 
 not otherwise obtain it. The mechanic of every profession will 
 there be taught the mathematical principles necessary to render 
 him a proficient in his art. The cultivator will there see develop- 
 ed, the principles of vegetation : while, at the same time, they 
 will be led to see the hand of God in all these things. 
 
LETTER TO CAMILLE JORDAN, 
 
 osb or thb council or riTi nmiiD, 
 
 OCCASIONED BY HIS REPORT ON THE PRIESTS 
 PUBLIC WORSHIP, AND THE BELLS. 
 
 Citizen Rbfrbsbntati* b, 
 
 As every thing in your report, relating to what you Call worship, 
 connects itself with the hooks called the Scriptures, I begin with 
 a quotation therefrom. It may serve to give Us some idea of the 
 fanciful origin and fabrication of those books. 2 Chronicles, chap." 
 xxxiv. ver. 14, : &c. " Hilkiah, the priest, found the book of the 
 law of the Lord given by. Moses. And Hilkiah, the priest, said 
 to Shaphan, the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the 
 house of the Lord, and Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan. 
 And Shaphan, the scribe, told the king, (Josiah,) saying, Hilkiah, 
 the priest, hath given me a book." 
 
 This pretended finding was about a thousand years after the. 
 time that Moses is said to have lived. Before this pretended 
 finding, there was no such thing practised or known in the world 
 as that which is called the law of Moses. This being the case, 
 there is every apparent evidence, that the books called the books of 
 Moses (and which make the first part of what are called the Scrip- 
 tures) are forgeries contrived between a priest and a limb of the 
 law,* Hilkiah, and Shaphan, the scribe, a thousand years after 
 Moses is said to have been dead. . 
 
 Thus much for the first part of the Bible. Every other part 
 is marked with circumstances equally as suspicious. We ought, 
 
 • It happen tb&t CtunilU Jordan is » limb of tb« law. 
 
204 LETTER. TO CAMILLE JORDAJf. 
 
 therefore, to be reverentialljreareful" fyow we ascribe books as his 
 word, of which there is bo evidence, and against which there is 
 abundant evidence to the contrary, and every cause to suspect 
 imposition. 
 
 In your report you speak, continually of something by the name 
 of worship^ and you confine yourself to speaji of jane kijid-ioiily. 
 as if there were but one, and that one was unquestionably true. 
 
 The modes of worship are as various as the sects are numer- 
 ous ; and amidst all this variety and multiplicity there is but one 
 article of belief in which every.religion in the world agrees. That 
 article has'universal sanctibn. It is the belief of a God, or wha 
 the Greeks described by the word Theism, and the Latins by that 
 of Deism. Upon this one article have been erected" all the differ- 
 ent super-structures of creeds and ceremonies continually warring 
 with each other that now exists, or ever existed. Uut the mere 
 most and best informed upon the subject-of -theology, rest them- 
 selyes Upon this universal articlej and hoM all the various super- 
 structures erected thereon to be at least doubtful, if not altogether 
 artificial'. 
 
 The intellectual part of religion is a private affair between every 
 man and bis Maker, and in which no third party has any right to 
 interfere. The practical part consists in our doing good to each 
 other. But since religion has been made into a trade, the practi- 
 cal part has been made to consist of ceremonies performed by 
 men called priests ; and the people have been amused with cere- 
 monial shows, processions, and bells.* By devices of this kind 
 true religion has been banished ; and such means have been found 
 out to extract money even from the pockets of the poor, instead 
 of contributing to their relief. ", 
 
 * The precise data of the invention of bells cannot be ; traced. TheancientsV 
 it appears from Martial, Juvenal, Suetonius and others, had an article named. 
 tintmuabula, (usually translated bell,), by which the Romans were summoned 
 to their baths and public places. It seems most probable, that the descriptioji 
 of bells now used in churches, were invented about the year 400, and generally 
 adopted beforethe commencement of the seventh century. Previous to then- 
 invention, however, sounding brass, and sometimes basins, were used,- and to 
 the present day the Greek church haveboards, or .iron plates, full of holes, 
 which they Strike with a hammer, or mallet, to summen trie priests and others 
 to divine service, W" may also remark, that in our own country, it was the 
 custom in monasteries to visit every person's cell early in the morning, and 
 knock or), the door with a similar" instrument, called the wakening maB^fc — 
 doubtless «o very pleasing intrusion on the lumbers of the Monks. 
 
 But, the use of bells having been established, it was found that devils were 
 terrified at the sound,"and slunk in haste away ; in consequence of which it 
 was thought necessary to baptize them, in a solemn manner, which appears t«» 
 
LETTER TO CAMII.I.E JORDAN. 205 
 
 No man ought to make a living by religion. It is dishonest 
 so to do. Religion is not an act that can be performed by proxy. 
 One person cannot act religion for another. Every person must 
 perform it for himself: and all that a priest can do is to take from 
 him, he wants nothing but his money, and then to riot in the spoil 
 and laugh at his credulity. 
 
 The only people, as a professional sect of Christians, who pro- 
 vide for the poor, of their society," are people known by the name 
 of Quakers. Those men have no priests. They ^assemble quietly 
 in their places of meeting, and do not disturb their neighbours with 
 shows and noise of bells. Religion does not unite itself to show 
 and noise. True religion is without either. Where there is 
 both there -is no true religion. ; 
 
 The first object for inquiry in all cases, more especially in mat- 
 ters of religious concern, is TRUTH. We ought to" inquire into 
 the truth of whatever we are taught to believe, and it is certain 
 that the books called the Scriptures stand, in this respect, in 
 more than a doubtful predicament. They have been held in exis- 
 tence, and in a sort of credit among the common class of people, 
 by art, terror, and persecution. They ,have little or no credit 
 among the enlightened part, but they have been made the means 
 
 have beea first done by Pope John XII. A. D. 968. A record of this practice 
 still exists in the Tom of Lincoln; and the great Tom at Oxford, &c. 
 
 Having thus laid the foundation of superstitious veneration, in the hearts of 
 the common people, it cannot be a matter of surprise, that they were soon used 
 at rejoicings, and high festivals in the church (for the purpose-of driving away 
 any. evil spirit which might be in the'meighborhood) as well as on the arrival 
 of any great personage, on which occasion- the usual fee was one penny. 
 , One other custom remains to be explained!" viz. tolling iell on the occasion of 
 any person's death, a custom which, in the, manner now practised, is totally 
 different from its originalinstitution. It appears to have been- used as' early 
 as .the 7th century, when bells, were first generally used and to have been de- 
 nominated the soul bell, (as if signified the departing, Of the soul,) a"s also, the 
 passing bell. ' Thus Wheatly tells us, " Our church, in imitation of .the Saints 
 of former ages, calls in the Minister and others who are at hand, to assist their 
 brother in' his last extremity ; in order to this, she directs a bell should be toll- 
 ed when any one is passing out .of this life." Durand'also says — "When any 
 pne is , 4s!Vtg;,.bell&>nust be tolled, that the people may put up their prayers for 
 him ; let this be done twice for a womanj and thrice for a man. If for a-cler- 
 gyman, as many times as he had orders ; and, aMhe conclusion,,* peal on all 
 the bells, to distinguish the quality Of the person for whom the people are to 
 put up their prayers." — From these passages, it appears evident that Jhe bell 
 was to be tolled before a person's decease rather Oianffl/Jer,' as at the present 
 day ; and that the object-was to obtain the. prayers of all who heard it, for the 
 repose of the soul of their departing neighbour. At first, Vh'en the tolling took 
 
 Slace after the person's decease, it was deemed superstitious, and was partially 
 isused, which was found materially to affect the revenue of the church. 
 The priesthood having removed the. objection, bells were aguin tolled* upon 
 payment of the customary fees. English taper. 
 
206 LETTER TO C AMI LLE JORDAN. 
 
 of encumbering the world with a numerous priesthood, who have 
 fattened on the labour of the people, and consumed the sustenance 
 that ought to- be applied to the widows and the poor. 
 " It is, a want of feeling to talkjof priests and bells whilst so .many 
 infants are perishing in the hospitals, and aged and infirm poor in 
 the streets, from = the. want of necessaries. The abundance that 
 France produces is sufficient for every want, if rightly applied ; 
 but priests and hells, like articles of luxury, ought to be the least 
 articles of consideration. 
 
 We talk of religion. Let us talk of truth ; for that which is not 
 truth, is not worthy the name of religion. 
 
 We see different parts of the world overspread with different 
 books, each of which, though contradictory to the other, is said by 
 its partisans, to be of divine origin, and is-made a rule of faith and 
 -practice. In countries under despotic governments, where in- 
 quiry is always forbidden, the people are condemned to believe 
 as they have been taught toy their priests. This was for many 
 centuries the case in France : but this link in the chain of slavery, 
 is happily broken by the revolution ; and, that it may never toe 
 rivetted again, let us -employ a part of the liberty we enjoy in scru- 
 tinizing into the truth. Let us leave behind us some monument, 
 that we have made the cause and honour of our Creator an object 
 of our -care. If we have been imposed upon by the terrors of 
 government and the artifice of priests in matters of religion, let us 
 do justice to our Creator by examining into the case. His name 
 is too* sacred to be affixed to any thing which is fabulous; and it is 
 our duty to' inquire whether we believe, or encourage the people 
 to believe, in fables or in facts. 
 
 It would be a project worthy the situation we are in, to invite 
 in inquiry of this kind. TVe have committees for various objects ; 
 and, among others, a committee for bells. We have institutions, 
 academies, and societies for various purposes ; but "we have none 
 for inquiring into historical truth in matters of religious concern. 
 
 They show us certain books which they call the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, the word of God, and - other names of that kind ; but we 
 ought to know what evidence there is for our believing them to be 
 so, and at what time they originated and in what manner. We 
 know that men could make books, and we know that artifice and 
 superstition could give them a name ; could call them sacred. 
 But we ought to be careful that the name of our Creator be not 
 
LETTER TO CAMILLE JORDAN. fc07 
 
 abused. Let then all the evidence with respect to those books be 
 made a subject of inquiry. If there be evidence to warrant our 
 belief of them, let us encourage the propagation of it : but if 
 not, let us b£ careful riot to promote the cause of delusion 
 and falsehood. - 
 
 I have already spoken of the Quakers — that they have no priests, 
 no bells — and that they are remarkable for" their care of the poor 
 of their society;- They are equally as remarkable for the educa- 
 tion of their children. I am a descendant of a family of that pro- 
 fession ; my father was a Quaker; and I presume I may be 
 admitted an evidence of what I assert. The seeds of good prin- 
 ciples, and the literary means of advancement in the. world, are 
 laid in early life. Instead, therefore, of consuming the substance 
 of the nation upon priests, whose life at best is alife of idleness, 
 let us think of providing for the education of those who have not 
 the means of doing it themselves. One, good schoolmaster is ot 
 more use than a hundred priests. 
 
 If we look back atTvhat was the condition of France under the 
 ancient regime,, we -cannot acquit the priests of corrupting the mo- 
 rals of the nation. Their pretended celibacy led them to carry de- 
 bauchery and domestic infidelity into every family where they 
 could gain' admission ; and their blasphemous pretensions to for- 
 give sins, encouraged the commission of them. Why has tine 
 Revolution of France been stained withcrimes which the Revo- 
 lution of 4he United States-of America was not? Men are phvsi- 
 cally the same in all countries ; it is education that makes them 
 different. Accustom a people to believe. that priests-, or any other 
 class of men can forgive sins, and you will have sins in abundance. 
 I come now to speak more particularly to the object of 'your 
 report. 
 
 You claim a privilege incompatible with the constitution ana 
 with rights-.' The constitution protects equally, as it ought to do 
 every profession of religion; it gives no exclusive privilege to 
 any. The Qnurches are the common property of all the people ; 
 they are national goods, and cannot be given exclusively to anv 
 one profession, because the-, right does not exist of giving to any 
 one that which appertains to all. It would be consistent with 
 right mat the churches be sold, and the money arising theretrom 
 be invested as a fund for the education of children of poor parents 
 of every profession, and, if more than sufficient for this purpose, 
 
208 
 
 LETTER TO CAMLLIE JORDAN. 
 
 that the surplus ije appropriated to the support of the aged poor. 
 After this, every" profession can erect its own place of worship, if 
 it choose — support its own priests,- if it choose to have any^- or 
 perform its worship without priests, as the Quakers do. 
 
 As to bells, they are a public nuisance. If one profession is 
 to have bells, and another has the right to use the instruments of 
 the same kind, or any other noisy instrument. Some may choose 
 to meet at the sound of cannon, another at the beat of drum, 
 another at the sound of -trumpets, and so on, until the whole be- 
 - <5omes.a scene of general confusion. But if we permit ourselves 
 to think of the state of the sick, and the many sleepless nights 
 and days they undergo, we shall feel the impropriety of increasing 
 their distress by the noise of bells, or any other noisy instruments. 
 Quiet and private domestic devotion neither offends nor incom- 
 ■ modes: any body ; and the constitution has wisely guarded against 
 the use of externals. . Bells come under this description, and 
 public processions still more s»— Streets and highways are for the 
 accommodation of persons following their- several occupations, 
 and no sectary has a right to incommode them — If any one has, 
 every other has the same ; and the meeting of various and con- 
 traditory processions would be tumultuous. Those who formed 
 the constitution had wisely reflected upon these cases ; and, 
 whilst they were careful to" reserve the^ equal right of every one, 
 they restrained every one . from giving offence, or incommoding 
 another. 
 
 Men who, through a long and tumultuous scene, have lived in 
 retirement as you have done, may think, when they arrive at 
 power, that nothing is more easy than to put the world to rights in 
 an 'instant ; they form to themselves gay ideas at the success of 
 their projects ; but they forget to contemplate the difficulties that 
 attend them, and the dangers with which they are pregnant. 
 Alas ! nothing is so easy as to deceive one's self. Did all men 
 think, as you think, or as you say, your plan, would need no ad- 
 vocate, because it would have no opposer ; but there are millions 
 who think differently to you, and who are determined to be neither 
 the dupes nor the slaves of error or design. - 
 
 It is. your gogdibrtune to .arrive at power, when the sunshine of 
 prosperity is breathing forth after a long and stormy night. The 
 firmness of your colleagues, and of those- you have succeeded — 
 the unabated energy of the Directory, and the unequalled braveiy 
 
LITTBR TO CAMILLB JORDAN. 209 
 
 of the armies of the Republic, have made the way smooth and 
 easy to you. If you look back at the difficulties that existed 
 when the constitution commenced, you cannot but be confounded 
 with admiration at tho difference between that time and now. At 
 that moment the Directory were placed like the forlorn hope of an 
 army, but you were in safe retirement. They occupied the post 
 of honourable danger, and they have merited well .of their country. 
 You -talk of justice and^benevolence, but you begin at the 
 wrong end. The defenders of your country, and the deplorable 
 state' of the poor, are objects of prior consideration to priests 
 and bells and gaudy processions. 
 
 You talk of peace, but your manner of talking of it embarrasses 
 the Directory in making it, ;and serves to prevent it. Had you 
 been an actor in all the scenes of government from its commence- 
 ment; you would have been too well informed to haye brought for- 
 ward projects that operate to encourage the enemy. When you 
 arrived at a s.hare in the government, you found every thing tend- 
 ing tq a prosperous issue. A series of victories unequalled fn the 
 world, and in the obtaining of which you had no share, preceded 
 your arrival. Every enemy,' but one was subdued ;. and that, one, 
 (the Hanoverian government of England,) deprived of every 
 hope, and a bankrupt in all its resources, was sueing for peace. 
 In such a state of things, no new question that might tend to agi- 
 tate and anarchize the interior, ought to have had place ; and the 
 project you propose, tends directly to that end. x% . 
 
 Whilst France was- a monarchy, and under the government of 
 those things called kings and priests, England could always defeat 
 her; but since France has RISEN TO BE A REPUBLIC, 
 the Government of England crouches beneath her, so great 
 is the difference- between a government of kings and priests, and 
 that which is founded on the system of representation. But, 
 could the government of England find a way, under the sanction 
 of your report, to inundate France with a flood of emigrant priests, 
 she would find also the way to domineer as before ; she would re- 
 trieve her shattered finances at your expence, and the ringing of 
 bells would be the tocsin of your" downfall. 
 
 Did peace consist in nothing, but the cessation of war, it would 
 Hot be difficult ; but the terms are yet to be arranged ; and those 
 terms will be better or worse, in proportion as France and her 
 councils be united or divided. That the government of England 
 
 S7 
 
210 LETTER TO CAMILLE JORDAW. 
 
 counts much upon /our report, and upon others- of a similar ten* 
 dency, is what the writer of this letter, who knows that govern- 
 ment well, has no doubt Tou are but new on the theatre of go- 
 vernment, and you ought to suspect yourself of misjudging ; the 
 experience of those who have gone before you, should be of some 
 service to you. 
 
 But if, in consequence of such measures as you propose, you 
 put it out of the power -of the Directory to make a good- peace, 
 and to accept of terms you would afterwards reprobate, it is your- 
 selves that must bear the censure. 
 
 Tou conclude your report by the following address to your col- 
 leagues : — 
 
 " Let us hasten, representatives of the people ! to affix to these 
 tutelary laws the seal of our unanimous approbation. All our fel- 
 low-citizens will learn to cherish political liberty from the enjoy- 
 ment of religious liberty : you will have broken the most power- 
 ful arm of your enemies ; you will have surrounded this assembly 
 with the most impregnant rampart^ confidence, and the people's 
 love. ! my colleagues ! how desirable is that popularity which 
 is the offspring of good laws! What a. consolation it will be to us 
 hereafter, when returned to our own fire-sides, to hear from the 
 mouths of our fellow-citizens," these simple expressions^-B/es- 
 sings reward you, men of peace ! you have restored to us our tcm r 
 pies — our ministers — the liberty of adoring the God of our fa- 
 thers : you have recalled harmony to our families — morality to our 
 hearts : you, have made us adore the legislature and respect alt 
 itslaws !" 
 
 Is it possible, citizen representative, that you can be serious in 
 this address ? Were the lives of the priests under the ancient ?-e- 
 gime such as to justify any thing you say of them ? Where not all 
 France convinced pf their immorality 1 Were they not considered 
 as the patrons of debauchery and domestic infidelity, and not as 
 the patrons of morals T What was their pretended celibacy but 
 perpetual adultery 1 What was their blasphemous pretentions to 
 forgive sins, but an encouragement to the commission of them, 
 and a love for their own ? Do you want to lead again into France 
 all the vices of which they have been "the patrons, and to over- 
 spread the republic with English pensioners ! It is cheaper.to cor- 
 rupt than to oonquer ; and the English government, unable to 
 
LETTER TO CiMII.1.1 JORDAN. 211 
 
 conquer ; will stoop to corrupt. Arrogance and meanness, though 
 in appearance opposite, are vices of the same heart. 
 
 Instead of -concluding in the manner you have done, you ought 
 rather to have said, 
 
 " ! my colleagues ! we are arrived at a glorious period — a 
 period that promises more than we could have expected, and aH 
 that we could have wished. Let us hasten to take into consider- 
 ation the honours and rewards due to our brave defenders. Let 
 us hasten to give encouragement to agriculture and- manufactures, 
 that commerce may reinstate itself, and our people have employ- 
 ment. Let us review the condition of the suffering poor, and 
 wipe "from our country the reproach of forgetting them. Let us 
 devise means to establish schools of instruction, that we may 
 banish the ignorance that the ancient regime of kings and priests 
 had spread among the people. — Let us propagate morality, un- 
 fettered by superstition — Let us cultivate justice and benevo- 
 lence, that the God of our fathers may bless us. The helpless 
 infant and the aged poor qry to us to remember them — Let not 
 - wretchedness be seen in our streets — : Let France exhibit to the 
 world the glorious example of expelling ignorance and misery 
 together. 
 
 " Let these, my virtuous colleagues, be the subject of our care, 
 that, when we return among our fellow-citizens, they may say, 
 Worthy representatives ! you have done well. You 'have done jus- 
 tice and honour to our brave- defenders. You have encouraged 
 agriculture — cherished our decayed manufactures^ — given new life 
 to commerce, and employment to our people. You have removed 
 from our country the reproach of forgetting the poor — You have 
 caused the cry ^of the orphan to cease- — You have -wiped the tear 
 from the eye of the suffering mother — You have given comfort to 
 the aged and infirm — You have penetrated into the gloomy recesses 
 of wretchedness, and have banished it. Welcome among us, ye 
 brave qnd±virtuous representatives! and may your example be 
 followed by your successors .'" 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Porta, 1797. 
 
AN 
 
 EXAMINATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
 OUOTED FROM THE OLD, 
 
 AND CALLED 
 
 PROPHECIES CONCERNING JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 tfO ^WHICH IB PREFIXED 
 
 AN ESSAY ON DREAM, 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 &n append):, 
 
 CONTAINING THE ~ 
 
 CONTRADICTORY DOCTRINES BETWEEN MATTHEW AND MARK; 
 
 AND MT 
 
 PRIVATE THOUGHTS ON A FUTURE STATE; 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 TO THE MINISTERS AND PREACHERS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS 
 OF RELIGION. 
 
 It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to de- 
 tect and expose delusion and error. But nature has not given to 
 everyone a talent for the purpose; and among those to whom 
 such a talent is given, there is often a want of disposition or of 
 courage to do it. 
 
 The world, or more properly speaking, that small part of it 
 called Christendom, or the Christian World, has been amused for 
 more than a thousand years with accounts of Prophecies in the 
 Old Testament, about the coming of the person called Jesus Christ, 
 and thousands of sermons have been preached, and volumes writ- 
 ten, to make man believe it. 
 
 In the following treatise I have examined, all the passages in 
 the New Testament, quoted from the Old, and called prophecies 
 concerning Jesus Christ, and I find no such thing as a prophecy of 
 any such person, and I deny there are any. The passages all re- 
 late to Circumstances the Jewish nation was in at the time they 
 were written or spoken, and not to any thing that was or was not 
 to happen in the world several hundred years afterwards ; and I 
 have shown what the circumstances were, to. which the passages 
 apply or refer. I have given chapter and verse for every thing I 
 have said, and have not gone out of the books of the Old and New 
 Testament for evidence that the passages are not prophecies of the 
 person called Jesus Christ. 
 
216 
 
 FREFACE. 
 
 The prejudice of unfounded belief, often degenerates into the 
 prejudice of custom, and becomes, at last, rank hypocrisy. "When 
 men, from custom or fashion, or any worldly motive, profess or 
 pretend to believe what they do not believe, nor can give any jea- 
 son for believing, they unship the helm of their morality, and being 
 no longer honest to their own minds, they feel no moral difficulty 
 in being unjust to others. It is from the influence of this vice, 
 hypocrisy, that we see so many* Church and Meeting-going pro- 
 fessors and pretenders to .religion, so fuH -of trick and deceit in 
 their dealings, and so loose in the performance of their engage- 
 ments, that they are not to be trusted further than the laws of the 
 country will bind them. Morality has no hold on their minds, no 
 restraint on their actions. 
 
 One set of preachers make salvation to consist in believing. 
 They tell their congregations, that if they believe in Christ, their 
 sins shall be forgiven. This, in the first place, is an encourage- 
 ment to sin, in a similar manner as when a prodigal young fellow 
 is told his father will pay all his debts, lie runs into debt the faster, 
 and becomes the more'extravagant : Daddy, says he, pays all, and 
 on he goes. Just so in the other case, Christ pays all, and on 
 goes the sinner. 
 
 In the next place, the doctrine these men preach is not true. 
 The New Testament rests itself for credulity and testimony on 
 what are called, prophecies in the Old Testament, of -the person 
 called Jesus 'Christ ; and if there are no-such thing as prophecies 
 of any such person in the Old ""Testament, the New Testament is 
 a forgery of the councils of "Nice and Laodocia, and tne faith 
 founded thereon, delusion and falsehood.* 
 
 Another set .of preachers tell their congregations that God pre- 
 destinated and selected "from all eternity, a certain number to be 
 saved, and a certain number to be damned eternally. If this were 
 true, the day of Judgment is past : their preaching is in vain, 
 and they had better work at some useful calling for their liveli- 
 hood. 
 
 This doctrine, also, like the-jbrmer, hath a direct tendency to 
 demoralize mankind. Cana bad man be reformed by telling hirn, 
 
 * The councils of Nice and Laodoeia were held about 350 years after the 
 time Christ is said" to have lived ; and_ the books that now compose the New 
 Testament, were then voted for by teas and nats, as we now vote a law. A 
 |peat many that were. offered had a majority of najfs, and were rejected. Thi* 
 is the way the New Testament came into being. 
 
PREFACE 21.7 
 
 that if he is one of those who was decreed to be damned before h« 
 was born, his reformation will do him no good ; and if he was de- 
 creed to be saved, he will be saved whether he believes it or not ; 
 for this is the result of the doctrine. Such preaching, and such 
 preachers, do injury- to the moral world. They had better be at 
 the plough. 
 
 As in my political works , my motive and object have been to 
 give man an elevated sense of his own character, and free him 
 from the slavish and superstitious absurdity of monarchy 3 and 
 hereditary government, so in my publications on religious subjects 
 my endeavours have heeh directed to, bring man to a right use of 
 tne reason that God has given him ; to impress on him the great 
 principles of divine morality, justice,, mercy,, and a benevolent 
 disposition to all men, and to all creatures, and to inspire in him a 
 spirit of trust, confidence and consolation in his Creator, unshack- 
 led by the fables of books pretending to be-the word of God. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 28 
 
AN ESSAY ON DREAMS. 
 
 As a great leal is said in the New Testament about dreams, it 
 is first necessary to explain the nature of dream, and to show by 
 what operation of the mind a dream is produced during sleep. 
 When this is understood we shall be the better enabled to judge 
 whether any reliance can be placed upon them ; and, consequently, 
 whether the ; several matters, in the New Testament related of 
 dreams deserve the credit which the writers of that book and 
 priests, and commentators ascribe to them. 
 
 In order to understand the nature of dreams, or of that which 
 passes in ideal vision during a state of sleep, it is first necessary 
 to understand the composition and decomposition of the human 
 mind. 
 
 Thethree great faculties of the mind are imagination, judge- 
 ment and. memory. Every action of the.mind comes under one 
 or the other of these, faculties. In a state of wakefulness, as in the 
 day-time, these three faculties are all active ; but that is seldom 
 the case in sleep, and never perfectly : and this is the cause that 
 our dreams are not so regular and rational as our waking thoughts. 
 
 The seat of that collection of powers or faculties, that consti- 
 tute what is called the mind, is in the brain. There is not, and 
 cannot be, any visible demonstration of this anatomically, but ac- 
 cidents happening to living persons, show-it .to be so. An injury 
 done to the brain by a fracture of the skull, will sometimes change 
 a wise man into>a childish- idiot : a being without mind. But so 
 careful has nature been of that sanctum sanctorum of man, the 
 brain, that of all the external accidents to which humanity is sub- 
 ject, this happens the most seldom. But we often see it happen 
 ing by long and habitual intemperance 
 
220 A # ES8AT ON DREAM. 
 
 Whether those three faculties occupy distinct apartments of the 
 brain, is known only to that Ar/nighty power that formed and 
 organized it. We can see (he external effects of muscular motion 
 >n all the members of the body, though its prirnnm mobih, or .first 
 moving cause, is unknown to man. Our external motions are 
 sometimes the effect of intention, and sometimes not. If we are 
 sittirtgand intend to rise, or standing and, intend to set, or to walk, 
 the limbs obey that intention as if they heard the order given. But 
 we make a thousand motions every day, and that as well waking 
 as sleeping, that have no prior intention to direct them. Each 
 member'acts as if it had a 'will or mind of its own. Man governs 
 the whole when he pleases to g6vern, but in the interims the sev- 
 eral parts, like little suburbs, govern themselves without consulting 
 the sovereign. 
 
 But all these motions, whatever be the generating cause, axe 
 external and visible. Bat "with respect to the brain, no ocular 
 observation can be made upon it. All is mystery j all is darkness 
 in that womb of thought. 
 
 Whether the brain is a mass of matter in continual rest ; whether 
 it has a vibrating^pulsativs motion, or a heaving and falling mo- 
 tion, like matter in fermentation ; whether different parts of the 
 brain nave different motions according to the faculty that is em-. 
 )>k>yed, be it the imagination, the judgment, or the memory, man 
 knows nothing of- it.- He knows not the cause of his own wit. His 
 own brain conceals it from him. 
 
 Comparing invisible, by visible things, as metaphysical can . 
 .sometimes be compared to physical things, the operations of those 
 distinct and several faculties have some resemblance to the me- 
 chanism of a watch^ The main spring which puts all in motion, 
 corresponds to the imagination : the pendulum or balance, which 
 corrects and regulates that motion, corresponds to the judgment ; 
 and the band and dial, like the memory, record the operations. 
 
 Now in proportion as these several faculties sleep, slumber, 09 
 keep awake, during the continuance of a dream, in that proportion 
 the dream wiM be reasonable or frantic, remembered or forgotten. 
 If there is any faculty in mental man that never sleeps, it is that 
 volatile thing the imagination : the case is different with the judg- 
 ment and memory. The sedate and sober constitution pf the 
 judgment easily disposes it to rest ; and as to the memory,, it 
 records in silence, and is active wily when it is called upon, 
 
AN ESSAY ON DREAM. 221 
 
 That the judgment soon goes to sleep may be perceived by oar 
 sometimes beginning to- dream .before we are fully asleep our- 
 selves. Some trsuiuom thought runs in the mind, and we start, as 
 it were-, into recollection that we are dreamingbetween sleeping 
 and waking. 
 
 If the judgment sleeps whilst the jrnagination keeps awake, the 
 dream will .be a riotous assemblage of mis-shapen images and ran- 
 ting ideas, and the more active the imagination is,.the wilder the 
 dream will be. The most inconsistent and' the most impossible 
 things will appear right ; because that faculty, whose provinceat 
 is to keep order,' is in a state 01 absence. The master of the 
 school is. gone but, and the boys are uVan uproar. 
 
 If the memory sleeps, we shall have no other knowledge of the 
 dream than that we have dreamt, without knowing what it was 
 about. In this case it is sensation, rather than recollection, that 
 acts. The dream has given us some sense of pain or trouble, and 
 we feel it as a hurt, rather than remember it as a vision. 
 
 lf.memory only slumbers, we shall have a., faint remembrance 
 of the dream, and after a few .minutes itwill sometimes happen 
 that the principal 'passages- of the dream will occur to us more 
 fully. The cause of this is, that the memory will sometimes con- 
 tinue slumbering or sleeping after we are awake; ourselves, and 
 that so fully, that it may, and sometimes does happen, that we do 
 not immediately recollect where we are, nor what we have been 
 about, or have to do. But when the memory starts into wakeful- 
 ness, it brings the know-ledge' of these things back upon us, like a 
 flood of light, and sometimes the drearrTwith it. 
 / But the most curious circumstance of the mind in a state of 
 dream, is the power it has to .become the agent of every person, 
 character and thing, of which it dreams. It carries on conversa- 
 tion with several, asks questions, hears answers, giv,es and receives 
 information, and it acts all these parts itself. 
 
 But however various and eccentric the imagination may be in the 
 creation, of images and ideas, it cannot supply the place of memo- 
 ry, with respect to things that are forgotten when we are awake. 
 For example, if we have forgotten thename of a person,, and dream 
 of seeing him and ask-ing"him his name, he cannot tell it ; for it is 
 ourselves asking ourselves the question. 
 
 But though the imagination cannot, supply the- ; place of real 
 memorj, it has the wild faculty of counterfeiting memory. It 
 
222 
 
 AN ESSAY ON DREAM 
 
 dreams of persons it never knew, and talks with them as if it re- 
 membered them as old acquaintances. It relates circumstances 
 thatnevei (happened, and tells them as if they ; .had happened.- It 
 goes to places that never existed, and knows where all the streets 
 and houses are, as if it had been there before. ' The scenes it cre- 
 ates often appear as scenes remembered. It will sometimes act 
 a dream within a dream, and, in the delusion of dreaming, tell a 
 dream it never dreamed, and tell it as if it was from memory. It 
 may also be remarked, that the imagination in a dream, has no idea 
 of time, o» time. St counts only by circumstances ; and if a suc- 
 cession of circumstances pass in a dream that would require a 
 great length of time to accomplish them, it will appear to the 
 dreamer that a length of time- equal thereto has passed also. 
 
 As this is the state of the mind in dream, it may rationally be 
 said -that every person is mad once.in twenty-four hours, for were 
 he to act in the day as he dreams in the night,- he would be con- 
 fined for a lunatic. In a state .of wakefulness, those three facul- 
 ties being all alive, and acting in union, constitute the rational 
 man. In dreams it is otherwise, and, therefore, that state which is 
 called insanity, appears to be no other than a disunion of those 
 faculties, and a cessation of the judgment during wakefulness, that 
 we so often experience during sleep; and idiocity, into which 
 some persons have fallen, is that cessation of all the faculties of 
 which we can be sensible when we happen to wake-before our 
 memory. 
 
 In this'view of the mind, how absurd is it to place reliance upon 
 dreams, and how much- more absurd to make them a foundation 
 for religion ; yet the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, 
 begotten by the Holy Ghost, a being never heard of before, stands 
 on the story of an old man's dream. " And behold the angel of 
 the Lord appeared to Joseph in a-dream, saying, Joseph, Ihou son 
 of Dflvid,fear not thou to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that 
 hich is conceived in her is of the -Holy Ghost." — Matt. chap. i. 
 verse 20; 
 
 After this we have the childish stories of three or four other 
 dreams ? about Josepli going into Egypt ; about his coming back 
 again ; - about this, and about that, and this story of dreams has 
 thrown Europe into a dream for more than a thousand y«ars. All 
 the efforts tfiat nature, reason, and conscience have made to awak- 
 en man from it, have been ascribed by priestcraft and superstition 
 
AN ESSAY ON DREAM. 223 
 
 to the workings of the devil, and had it not been for the American 
 revolution, which, by establishing the universal right of conscience^ 
 first opened the way to free discussion, and for the French revo-, 
 lution which followed, this religion of dreams had continued to be 
 preached, and that after it had ceased to be believed. Those who 
 preached it and did not believe it,-stilLbelievedthe delusion neces- 
 sary. They were not bold enoughto be honest, nor honest enough 
 to be bold. 
 
 [Every new religion, like a hew play, requires a new apparatus 
 of dresses and machinery; to fit the' new characters it creates. 
 The story of. Christ in the New Testament brings a new being 
 upon the stage, which it calls the Holy Ghost ; and "the story of 
 Abraham, the father of the Jews, in the Old Testament, gives ex- 
 istence to a.new order of beings it calls Angels. — There was no 
 Holy Ghost before the time of Christ, nor Angels before the time 
 of Abraham. — We hear nothing of these winged gentlemen, till 
 more than two thousand years, according to the Bible chronology, 
 from the time they say the heavens, the earth," and all therein were 
 made :— After this, they hop about as thick as birds in a grove : — 
 The first we hear of, pays his addresses to Hagar J iri the wilder- 
 ness ; then three of them visit Sarah; another wrestles a fall with 
 Jacob ; and these birds of passage having found their way to 
 earth and back, are continually coming' and going. iTheyeatand 
 drink, and up again to heaven. — What they do with the food they 
 carry away, the Bible does not tell us. — Perhaps they do as the 
 birds do. ■'■* * * 
 
 One would think that a system loaded with such gross and vul- 
 gar absurdities as scripture religion is, couldi never have obtained 
 credit ;', yet we have seen what priestcraft and fanaticism could do, 
 ' and credulity believe. 
 
 From angels in the old Testament we get to prophets,4o 
 witches, to seers of visions, and.dreamers of dreams, and some- 
 times we are. told, as in 2 Sam. chap, ix.-ver: 15, that God whis- 
 pers in the ear-^ At other times we are not told haw the impulse 
 was given, or. whether sleeping or waking — In 2 Sam. chap* xxiv. 
 ver. 1, if is said, " And again the anger of the Lord was kindled 
 against Israel, and he moved David against them to say go number 
 Israel and Judah." — And in 1 Chro. chap; xxi. ver. 1, when the 
 same story is again related, it is said'; . " and Satan stood up 
 against Israel, and moved David to number Israel." 
 
224 AN ESSAY ON DREAM. 
 
 Whether this was done sleeping or waking, we are not told, but 
 it seems that David, whom they call ""a man after -Gad's own 
 heart," did not know by What spirit he was moved ; and, as to the 
 men called inspired penmen, they agree so well about the matter, 
 that in one book they say that it was God,, and in the other that it- 
 was the Devil. ,. 
 
 The idea that writers of the Old Testament had of a God was 
 boisterous, contemptible, arid vulgar. — They make him the Mars 
 of the Jews, the fighting God oflsrael, the conjuring God of their 
 Priests and Prophets.— They tell as many Tables of hun as the 
 Greeks told of Hercules- * * * * 
 
 They make their God to say exultingly, " / will get me honour 
 upon Pharoah and upon his Host, upon, his Chariots and. upon his 
 Horsemen,"-^- And that he may keep his word, they make him set 
 a trap in the Red Sea, in die dead of the night, for Pharoah, his 
 hast, and his horses, and drown" them as a rat-catcher would do 
 so many rats — Great honour indeed ! the story of Jack the.giant- 
 killer is better told ! 
 
 They pit him against the Egyptian magicians to conjure with 
 him, the three first essays are a dead match— Each party turns 
 his rod in to a serpent,, the rivers into blood, and creates frogs; 
 but upon the, fourth, the God oT the Israelites obtains the laurel,, 
 be covers them all over withlice ! — The Egyptian magicians can- 
 not do the same, and this lousy triumph proclaims the victory ! 
 
 They make then; God to rain fire ,and brimstone upon Sodom 
 and Gomorrah, and belch fire and smoke upon mount Sinai, as if 
 ke was the Pluto of, the. lower regions,. They make him salt up 
 Lot's wife like pickled pork ;. they make him pass, like Shalt 
 speare's Queen Mab into, the brain, of their priests, prophets, and 
 prophetesses, and tickle them into dreams, and after making him 
 play all" kind of tricks they confound him with Satan, and leave 
 us at a loss to know what God they meant ! - 
 
 This is the descriptive God of the Old Testament ; and as to 
 the Ne.w, though the authors of it- have varied the scene, they have 
 continued, the vulgarity. 
 
 Is man ever to be the dnpe of .priestcraft, the, slave of supersti 
 tion ? Is he never to have just ideas of his Creator 1 Isitbettei 
 not. to belief there is a God, than to believe of him falsely. When 
 we behold the mighty uniyerse that "surrounds us, and. dart our con- 
 templation into the. eternity of space, filled with, ianwaerablu «jrhs. 
 
AN F.BSAT ON DREAM. 220 
 
 revolving in eternal harmony,' how paltry must the tales of the 
 Old and New Testaments, prophanely called the word of God 
 appear to thoughtful man ! The stupendous wisdom and unerring 
 order, that reign and govern throughout this wondrous whole, and 
 call us to reflection, put to shame the Bible ! — The God of eterni- 
 . ty and of all that is real, is not the God of passing dreams, and 
 shadows of man's imagination ! The God of truth is not the God 
 of fable; the belief of a God begotten and a God crucified, is a 
 God blasphemed It is making a profane use of reason.]* 
 
 I shall conclude this Essay on Dream with the two first verses 
 of the 34th chapter of Ecclesiasticus, one of the- books of the 
 Aprocrypha. 
 
 u The hopes of a man void of understanding are vain and false ; 
 and dreams lift up fools — Whoso regardeth dreams is tike him 
 that eatchelh at a shadow, and follow eth after the wind." 
 
 I now proceed to an examination of the passages in the Bible, 
 called prophecies of the coming of Christ, and tor show there are 
 no prophecies of any such person. That the passages clandes- 
 tinely styled prophecies are not prophecies, and that they refer to 
 circumstances the Jewish nation was in at the time they were 
 written or spoken, and not to any distance of future time or 
 person. 
 
 * Mr. Paine must have been in an ill humour when he wrote the passage 
 inclosed in crotchets, commencing at page 223, and probably on reviewing it, 
 and discovering exceptionable clauses, was induced to reject the whole, as it 
 does not appear in the edition published by himself. But having obtained the 
 original in the hand writing of Mr. P. and deeming some of the remarks wor- 
 thy of being preserved, I have thought proper to restore the passage, with the 
 exception of the- objeetional parts. — -Editor. 
 
 29 
 
AN 
 
 EXAMINATION 
 
 or THE 
 
 PASSAGES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 QUOTED FROM THE OLD, AND CALLED PROPHECIES OF THE COMING OF 
 
 JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 [This work was first published by Mr. Paine, at New- York, 
 in 1807, and was the last of his writings edited by himself. It is 
 evidently extracted from his answer to the bishop of Llandaff, or 
 from his third part of the Age of Reason, both of which it appears 
 by his will, he left in manuscript. The term, " The Bishop," 
 occurs in this examination six times without designating what 
 bishop is meant- Of all the replies to his second part of the Age 
 of Reason, that of bishop Watson was the only one to which he 
 paid particular attention ; and he is, no doubt, the person nere 
 alluded to. Bishop Watson's apology for the Bible had been 
 published some years before Mr. P. left France, and the latter- 
 composed his answer to it, and also his third part of the Age. of 
 Reason, while iti that country. 
 
 When Mr. Paine arrived in America, and found that liberal 
 opinions on religion were in. disrepute, through the influence of 
 hypocrisy and superstition, he declined publishing the entire of the 
 works which he had prepared ; observing that " An author might 
 lose the credit he had acquired by writing too much." He how- 
 ever gave to the public the examination before us, in a pamphlet 
 form: But the apathy which. appeared to prevail at that time in 
 regard to religious inquiry, fully determined him to discontinue 
 the publication of his theological writings. In this case, taking 
 only a portion of one of the works before mentioned, he chose a 
 title adapted to the particular part selected.] 
 
223 EXAMINATION OF , 
 
 The passages called Prophecies of, or concerning, Jesus Christ, 
 in the Old Testament, may be classed under the two following 
 heads : — 
 
 First those referred to in fas. ^vJr books of the New Testa- 
 ment, called the four ^Evangelists, . Matthew, Mark, Luke, and 
 John. 
 
 Secondly, those which translators and commentators have, of 
 their own imagination, erected into prophecies, and dubbed with, 
 that title at the head of the several chapters of the. Old Testament. 
 Of these it is scarcely worth while to waste time, ink, and paper 
 upon ; I shall, therefore, confine myself chiefly to those referred 
 to in the aforesaid four books of the New Testament. If I show 
 that these are not prophecies of the person called Jesus Christ, 
 nor have reference to any such.person, it will be perfectly need- 
 less to combat those which translators, or the Church, have 
 invented, and for which they had no other authority than then- 
 own imagination. 
 
 I begin with the book called the Gospel according to St. 
 Matthew. 
 
 In the first chap. ver. 1 6, it is said, *' Now the birth of Jesus 
 Christ was in this wise ; when his mother JMary was espoused to 
 Joseph, before they came together she was found with child 
 by the holt ghost." — This is going a little too fast ; because 
 to make this verse agree with the. next it should have said no more 
 than that she was found with child ;- for the next verse says-, 
 " Then Joseph her husband being a just man, and not willing to 
 make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily." 
 — Consequently Joseph had found out no more than that she was 
 with child, and he knew it was not by himself. 
 
 V. 20. " And while he thought of these things', (that is whether 
 he should put her away privily, or make a public example of her,) 
 behold the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream (that 
 is, Joseph dreamed that an angel appeared unto him) saying, 
 Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee JWary tkg 
 wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And 
 she shall bring forth a son and call his name Jesus ; for he shall 
 save his people from their sins." 
 
 Now, without entering into any discussion upon the merits or 
 demerits of the . account here given, it is proper to observe, that 
 it has no higher authority than that of a dream ; for it b 
 
oTHE fROPHECIES 229 
 
 impossible for a man to behold any thing in a dream, but that 
 which he dreams of. I ask not, therefore, whether Joseph (if 
 there was such a man) had such a dream or not ; because admit- 
 ting he had, it proves nothing. So wonderful and rational is the 
 faculty of the mind in dreams, that it acts the part of all the cha- 
 racters its imagination creates, and what it thinks it hears from 
 any of them, is no other tjian what the roving rapidity of its own 
 imagination invents. It is, therefore, nothing to me what Joseph 
 dreamed of ; whether of the fidelity or infidelity of his wife. — I 
 pay.no regard to my own dreams, and I should be weak indeed to 
 put faith in the dreams ofanother.' 
 
 The verses that follow those I have quoted, are the words of 
 
 the writer of the book of Matthew. - l JVoio, (says he,) all this 
 
 _ (that is, all this dreaming and this pregnancy) was done that it 
 
 might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the Prophet, 
 
 saying, 
 
 " Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a 
 son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which being in- 
 terpreted, is, God with us." 
 
 This passage is in Isaiah, chap. vii. ver. 14, and the writer of 
 the bpok of Matthew endeavours to make his readers believe that 
 thin passage is a prophecy of the person called Jesus Christ. It 
 »s no such thing — and I go to show it is not. But it is first ne- 
 cessary that I explain the occasion of these words being spoken 
 by Isaiah ; the reader will then easily perceive, that so far from 
 their being a prophecy of Jesus Christ, they have not the least 
 reference to such a person, or any thing that could happen in the 
 time that Christ is said to have lived — which was about seven 
 hundred years after the -time of Isaiah. The case is this ; 
 
 On the death of Solomon the Jewish nation split into two mon- 
 archies : one called the kingdom of Judah, the capita! of which 
 was Jerusalem : the other the kingdom of Israel, the capital of 
 which was Samaria. The kingdom of Judah followed the line of 
 David, and the kingdom of Israel that of Saul ; and these two 
 rival monarchies frequently carried on fierce wars against each 
 other. 
 
 At the time Ahaz was king of Judah, which was in the time of 
 Isaiah, Pekah was king of Israel ; and Pekah joined himself to 
 Rezin, king of Syria, \o make war against Ahaz, king of Judah ; 
 and these two kings marched a confederated and powerful army 
 
230 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 against Jerusalem. Ahaz and his people becajne alarmed at the 
 danger, and " their hearts- were moved as the trees of the wood are 
 tnoved with the wind." Isaiah, chap. vii. ver. 3. 
 
 In. this perilous situation of things, Isaiah addressed himself to 
 Ahaz, and assures him, in the name of the Lord, (the cant phrase, 
 of all the prophets) that these two kings should not suceeed 
 against him ; and, to assure him that this should be the case, (the 
 case was however directly, contrary*) tells Ahaz. to ask a sign of 
 the Lord. This Ahaz declined doing, giving as a reason, that he 
 would not tempt the Lord ; upon which Isaiah who pretends to 
 be sent from God, says, ver. 14, " Therefore the Lord himsejf 
 shall give you a sign, behold a virgin shall conceive and betf,r a 
 son — Butter and honey shall he eat, that.he may know to refuse 
 the evil and choose the .good* — For before the child shall know to 
 refuse the evil and choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest 
 shall be forsaken of both her kings" — meaning the king of Israel 
 and the king of Syria, whp were. marching against him. 
 
 Here then is the sign, which was to be the birth of a child, and 
 that child a son ; and here also is the time limited for the accom- 
 plishment of the sign, namely, before the child should know to re- 
 fuse the evil and choose the good. 
 
 The thing, therefore, to.be a sign of success, to Ahaz," must be 
 something that would take place before the event of the battle 
 then pending between him and the two kings could be known. A 
 thing to be a sign must precede the thing, signified. ' The sign of 
 rain must be before the rain. 
 
 It would have. been mockery and . insulting nonsense for Isaiah 
 to have assured Ahaz as a sign, that these two kings should not 
 prevail against him : that, a child should be born seven hundred 
 years after he was dead ; and that before the child so born should 
 know to refuse the ev.il and. choose the good, he, Ahaz, should 
 be delivered from the danger he was then immediately threatened 
 with. 
 
 * Chron. chap, xxviii. ver. 1st. Ahas was twenty years old when Kt began 
 to reign, and he reigned-:sixteen years m Jerusalem, but -he did- not that which was 
 right in the sight -of the Lord. — ver. 5. Wherefore the Lord his God delivered 
 him into the hand of the Icing of Syria, and they smote him, and carried away 
 a great multitude of them captive and brought them to Damascus ; and he was 
 also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great 
 slaughter. 
 
 Ver. ■ 6. And Pekah (king of Israel) slew in Judah on hundred and twenty 
 thousand in one day.— 1 ver. 8. And the children of Israel carried away captive of 
 their brethren two hundred thousand women, sons, and daughters. , 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 231 
 
 But the case is, that the child of which Isaiah speaks was his 
 own child, with which his wife or his mistress was then pregnant 5 
 for he says in the next chapter, v. 2, " -And 1 took unto me faithful 
 witnesses ta record, Uriah the priest, and' Zechariah the son of 
 Jeberechiah ; and I went unto the prophetess, and she conceived and 
 bear a son ;" and he says, at ver. 18 of -the same chapter, " Be- 
 hold I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for 
 signs and for wonders in Israel." 
 
 It may not be improper here to observe, that the word trans- 
 lated a virgin in Isaiah, does not signify a virgin in Hebrew, but 
 merely a young woman. The tense also is falsified in the trans- 
 lation. Levi gives the Hebrew text of the 14th ver. of the 7th 
 chap, of Isaiah, and the translation in English with' it — " Behold 
 a young woman is with child and beareth a son." The expres- 
 sion, says he, is in the present tense. This translation agieeswith 
 the other circumstances related of the birth of ihis child, which 
 was to be a sign to Ahaz. But as the true translation could not 
 have been imposed upon "the world as a prophecy x>f- a child to be 
 born seven hundred years afterwards, the Christian, translators 
 have falsified the original : and instead of making Isaiah to say, 
 behold a young woman is with child and beareth a son — they make 
 him to say, "behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son. It is, 
 ho"wever, only necessary for a person to read the 7th and 8th chap- 
 ters of Isaiah,. and he will be convinced that the passage in ques- 
 tion is no prophecy of the person called Jesus Christ. ■ I pass on 
 to the second passage quoted from the Old Testament by the New, 
 as a prophecy of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Matthew,- chap. ii. ver. 1. "Now when Jesus was born in 
 Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of .Herod the king, behold there 
 came wise men from the east to Jerusalem — saying, where is he 
 that' is born king of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the 
 east, ; and are come to worship him. When Herod, the king, 
 heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him 
 —and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of 
 thepeople together^ he demanded of thern-where Christ should be 
 Born — and they said unto him in Bethlehem, in the land of Ju- 
 dea : for thus it is written by the prophet — and thou Bethlehem, 
 in the land ofJudea, art not the least among the Princes ofJudea 
 for out of thee shall come a Governor that shall rule my people 
 Israel;" This passage is in Micah, chap. S. ver. 2. , :;" 
 
232 
 
 IXAMINATIPN OF 
 
 I pass over the absurdity ©f seeing and following a star in the 
 dayrtime.as a man would a. Will with the ivisp, or a candle and 
 lantern at night ; and also that of seeing it in the east, when them- 
 selves came from the east ; for could' such a thing be seen at all 
 to serve them for a guide, it must be in the west to them. I con- 
 fine myself solely to the passage called a prophecy of Jesus 
 Christ. . 
 
 The book of Micah, in the passage above quoted, chap. v. ver. 
 2, is speaking of some persoa without mentioning his name from 
 whom some great achievements were expected; but the .descrip- 
 tion he gives of this person at the 5th verse, proves evidently 
 that it is not Jesus Christ,- for be says ; at the 5th ver.. " and this 
 man shall be the peace when the Assyijian , shall come itjto our 
 land, and when he shall tread- in our palaces, then shall we raise 
 up against him (that is, against the Assyrian) seven shepherds 
 and eight principal men — v. 6. And they' shall waste the land of 
 Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrpd on the entrance 
 thereof; thus shall He (the person spoken of at the head of the 
 second verse) deliver us from the Assyrian when he cometh. into 
 our land, and when he treadeth within our borders.!' V 
 
 - This is so evidently descriptive of a military chief, that it can- 
 not be applied to Christ wifliout outraging the character they pie- 
 tend to give us of him. Besides which, the circumstances of the 
 times here spoken of, and those of the times in which Christ is 
 •said to have lived, are in contradiction to each other. , It was the 
 Romans, and not the Assyrians, that had conquered and were in 
 the land of Judea, and trod in their palaces- when Christ was born, 
 and when he died, and so far from his driving them out, it was 
 they who signed the warrant for his execution, and he suffered 
 under it. 
 
 Having thus shown that this is no prophecy of Jesus Christ. I 
 pass on to the third passage quoted from the Old Testament by 
 the New, as a prophecy of him. 
 
 This, like the first I have spoken of, is introduced by a dream. 
 Joseph dreameth another dream, and dreameth that he seeth 
 another angek The account begins at the 13th v. of 2d chap, of 
 Matthew. . 
 
 " The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, say- 
 ing, Arise and take the young child and his mother and flee into 
 Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word : For Herod will 
 
THB rROPHBCIES. 335 
 
 seek the life of the young child to destroy him. When he arose 
 he took the young child and his mother by night and departed into 
 Egypt— and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be 
 fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 
 Out of Egypt I have called my son.'? ' 
 
 This passage is in the book of Hosea, chap. xi. ver. 1. The 
 words are, " When Israel was a child then I loved him and called 
 my son out of Egypt — As they called them, so> they went from them, 
 they sacrificed unto Baalam and burnt incense to graven images.'' 
 
 This passage falsely called a prophecy of Christ, refers to the 
 children of Israel coming out of Egypt in the time of Pharoah, 
 and to the idoktory they committed afterwards. To make it 
 apply to Jesus Christ, he must then be the person who sacrificed 
 unto Baalam and burnt iitcenseJo graven images, for the person 
 called out of Egypt by the collective name, Israel, and the per- 
 sons committing -this idoktory, are the same persons, or the 
 descendants from them. This, then, can be no prophecy of Jesus 
 Christ, unless they are willing to make an idolator of him. I pass 
 on to the .fourth passage, called, a prophecy, by the writer of the 
 book of Matthew. 
 
 This is introduced by a story, told by nobody bat himself, and 
 scarcely believed by any "body, of the slaughter of all the children 
 under two years old, by the command of Herod. A thing which 
 it is not probable, should be done by Herod, as he only held 
 an office under the Roman government, to which appeals could 
 always be had,; as we see in the case of Paul. 
 
 Matthew, however, having made or told his story, says, chap, 
 ii. v^ 17. — ""Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jere- 
 miah, (he prophet, saying,— Jn Ramah was there -a voice heard, 
 lamentation, weeping and great mourning ; Rachael weeping for 
 her children, andwould'not.be comforted because they were not." 
 
 This passage is in Jeremiah, chap. xxxi. ver. 15, and this verse, 
 when separated "from the verses before and after it, and whrch ex- 
 plains its application, might, with equal propriety, be applied to 
 every case of wars, sieges, and.- other violences, such as the 
 Christians themselves have often done to the Jews, where mo- 
 thers have lamented the. loss of their children. There is nothing 
 in the verse, taken singly, that designates or points out any particu 
 lar -application of it, otherwise than it points to some circum- 
 stances which, at the time of writing it, had already happened, 
 
 80 
 
234 examination or 
 
 and not to a thing yet to happen, for the verse Is in the prefer or 
 past tense. I go to explain the "case and show the application 
 of the verse. 
 
 Jeremiah lived in the time that Nebuchadnezzar besieged, took, 
 plundered, and destroyed Jerusalem, and led the Jews captive to 
 Babylon. He carried his violence against the Jews to every ex- 
 treme. He slew the sons of king Zedekiab before his face, he- 
 then put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and kept him in prison till the 
 day of his death. 
 
 It is of this time of sorrow and 'sufferingfto the Jews that Jere- 
 miah is speaking. Their temple was destroyed, their land deso- 
 lated, their nation and government entirely broken up, and them- 
 selves, men, women and children," carried into captivity. They 
 had too many sorrows of their own, immediately before their eyes,, 
 to permit them, or any of their chiefs, to- be employing themselves' 
 on things that might, or might not, happen in the world seven hun- 
 dred years afterwards. 
 
 It is, as already observed', of this time of sorrow and suffering to 
 the Jews that Jeremiah is speaking in the verse m question. la- 
 the two next verses, the 16th and 17th, he endeavours to console 
 the sufferers by giving them hopes, and, according to the fashion 
 of speaking in those days, assurances from the Lord, that their suf- 
 ferings should have an end. and that their children should return 
 again to their own children. But I leave the verses to speak for 
 themselves, and the Old Testament to> testify against the New. 
 
 Jeremiah, chap. xxxi. ver. 15.' — "Thus saith the Lord, a voice 
 was heard in Ramah (it is in the preter tense) lamentation and 
 bitter weeping : Rachael, weeping for her children because they 
 were not." 
 
 Verse 16.—" Thus saith the Lord, refrain ^hy voice from weep 
 ing, and thine eyes from tears ; for thy work shall be rewarded, 
 said the Lord, and they shall come again from the land of the 
 enemy." 
 
 Verse IT 1 .—." And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, 
 that thy children shall come againto their own border." 
 
 By what strange ignorance or imposition is it, that the children 
 of which Jeremiah speaks, (meaning the people of the Jewish na- 
 tion, scripturally called children of Israel, and not mere infants un- 
 der two years old,) and who were to return again from the land of 
 the enemy, and come again into their own borders*- can meaatha 
 
THE t-RfcfHEClES. 235 
 
 ( 
 
 children thai Matthew makes Herod to slaughter? Could those 
 -return again fromth'e land of tjie enemy, or how can the land of (he 
 enemy bq applied to thefn ?. Could they come again to their own 
 borders 1 Good heaveijs ,! 'Sow/ has $e world been imposed upon 
 by Tes^meat-inakers, priestcraft, and. pretended prophecies, I 
 : pass on to the fifth passage called,^ prophecy of Jesus Christ. 
 
 ..This, ljke two of the former, .is, introduced by dream. Joseph 
 breamed another dre.am, and dreameth of another. Angel. And 
 Matthew is again the historian of the dream and the dreamer. If 
 |t were asked how Matthew, could know what Joseph dreamed, 
 neither the Bishop nor all the: Church could answer the question^ 
 Perhaps it was Majthew .that -.dreamed, and not Joseph ; that is, 
 Joseph dreamed by proxy, in "Matthew's brain, as they tell us 
 Dajiiel drearaied for Nebuchadnezzar. Butbe this as it may, I go 
 on with ray subject. -.; 
 
 The account of this dream is in Matthew, chap. ii. verse 19.^- 
 ■".But when Herod was dead', behold an angel of the Lord appear- 
 ed, in a dream to Joseph in Egypt— Saying, arise, and take the 
 young child and its mother and go into the land of Israel, for they 
 . are dead which sought ' the young child's life — and he arose and 
 took the young child and his mother and came into the Jand of 
 Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in 
 the room of his father Herod,, he was afraid to go thither. Not- 
 withstanding being wamecLof God in a dream (here is another 
 dream) he turned aside into the parts of Galilee ; and he came 
 and dwelt in a city called Nazapeth, thai it might be fulfilled which 
 teas spoken by- the prophets. — He shall be called aNazarine." 
 
 HereJs good circumstantial evidence, that Matthew dreamedi 
 for there ij no such passage in all the Old Testament ; and I in- 
 vite the bishop and all the priests in -Christendom, including those 
 of America, to produce it. I pass on to the sixth passage, called 
 a prophecy of Jesus Christ. . ,j 
 
 This,_as Swift says on another occasion, is lugged in head and 
 shoulders ;' itlieed only to be seen in order to be hooted as a forced 
 and.far-fetehed piece of imposition. 
 
 Matthew; chap. iv. v. 12. " Now when Jesus heard -that John 
 was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee — and leaving Naza- 
 reth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea 
 . coast, in the bonders of Zebulon and Nephthalim — That it might 
 be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, say- 
 
286 KXAMIKATIOlt OS 
 
 ing, The land of Zebulon and the land of JVepthdlim, by the way 
 of the sea, beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentile*— the people 
 which sat in darkness saw greatlighti and to them which sat in 
 flie region and shadow of death, light is springing upon them." 
 
 I wonder Matthew has not made the cris : cross-row^or thechrist- 
 cross-row (I know not how the priests spell it) into a prophecy. 
 He might as well have done this as cut out these unconnected 
 and undescriptive sentences from the- place they stand in and 
 .dubbed them with that title. 
 
 The words, however, are in Isaiah, chap. ix. verse 1, 2, as fol- 
 lows ; — 
 
 " Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vex- 
 ation, when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulon 
 and the land of Nephthali, and afterwards did more grievously 
 afflict her by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan in Galilee of the 
 nations." 
 
 All this relates to two circumstances that had already happened, 
 at the time these words in Isaiah were written. The one, where 
 the land of Zebulon and Nephthali had been lightly afflicted, and 
 afterwards more grievously ty the way of the sea. 
 
 But observe, reader, how Matthew has falsified the text. He 
 begins his quotation at a part of the verse where there is not so 
 much as a comma, and thereby cuts off every thing that relates 
 to the first affliction. He then leaves out all that relates to the 
 second affliction, and by this' means leaves out every thing that 
 makes the verse intelligible, and reduces it to a senseless skeleton 
 of names of towns. 
 
 To bring this imposition of Matthew clearly and immediately 
 ^before the eye of the reader, I will repeat the verse, and put be- 
 tween crotchets the words he has left out, and put in Italics those 
 he has preserved. 
 
 [Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vex- 
 ation when at the first he lightly afflicted] the land of Zebulon and 
 the. land of Nephthali, [and did afterwards more grievously afflict 
 her] by the way of the sea beyond Jordan in Galilee of the nations. 
 What gross imposition is it to gut, as the phrase is, a verse in 
 "this manner, render it perfectly senseless, and then puff" it off on a 
 credulous world as a prophecy. I proceed to the next verse. 
 
 "Ver. 2. " The people that walked in darkness have seen a great 
 light ; they that dwell in the land of the shadow, of death, upon 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 237 
 
 them hath the light shined." ■■ All this is historical, and not in the 
 least prophetical. The whole is in the preter tense : it speaks of 
 things that had been accomplished, at the time the words were writ- 
 ten, and not of things to be accomplished afterwards. 
 
 As then the' passage is in no possible sense prophetical, nor in- 
 tended to be so, and that to attempt to make it so, is not only to 
 falsify the original, but to commit a criminal imposition ; it is mat- 
 ter of no concern to us, otherwise than as curiosity, to know who 
 the people were of which the passage speaks, that sat in darkness, 
 and what the light was that shined in upon them. 
 
 If we look into the preceding chapter, the 8th, of which the 9th 
 is only a continuation, we shall find the writer speaking, at the 
 19th verse, of" witches arid wizards who peep about and mutter," 
 and of people who made application to them ; and he preaches and 
 exhorts them against this darksome practice. It is of this people, 
 and of this darksome practice, or walking in darkness, that he is 
 speaking at the 2d verse of the 9th chapter; and with respect to 
 • the light that had shined in upon them, it refers entirely io his own 
 ministry, and to the boldness of it, which opposed itself to that ol 
 the tvitches and wizards who peeped about and muttered. 
 
 Isaiah is, upon the whole,- a wild disorderly, writer, preserving 
 in general no clear chain of perception in the arrangement of his 
 ideas, and consequently producing no defined conclusions from 
 them. It is the wildness" of his style, the confusion of his ideas, 
 and the ranting metaphors he employs, that have afforded so many 
 opportunities to priestcraft in- some " cases, and to superstition in 
 others, to impose those defects upon the world as prophecies ot 
 -Jesus Christ Finding no direct meaning in them, and not know- 
 ing what to make of them, arid supposing at the same time they 
 were intended to have a meaning, they supplied the defect by in- 
 venting^ meaning of their own,, and called it his. I have, how- 
 ever, in this place done Isaiah thejustice to rescue him from the 
 claws of Matthew, who has torn him unmercifully to pieces. ; and 
 from the imposition or ignorance of priests and commentators, by 
 letting Isaiah speak for himself. 
 
 If the words- walking in darkness, andlight breaking in, could 
 in any case be applied prophetically, which they cannot be, they 
 would betterappty to the times we now live in than to any other. 
 The world has " walked' in^darlertessV for eighteen hundred years, 
 both as to religion and government, and it is only since the Ame- 
 
238 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 rican Revolution began that light has broken in. The belief ef 
 
 one God, whose attributes are revealed to us ' in the book or scrip- 
 ture of the -creation, which no human hand can counterfeit or falsi- 
 fy, and not in the written or printed book which, as Matthew has 
 shown, can be altered or falsified by ignorance or design, is. now 
 making its way among us : and as to government, the light is al- 
 ready gone forth, and whilst men ought to be careful not to be 
 blinded by the excess of it, as at a-certain time in France, when 
 every thing was Robespierean violence, they ought to reverence, 
 and even to adore it, with all the firmness and perseverance that 
 true wisdom can inspire. 
 
 I pass on to the seventh passage, called a prophecy' of ; J esiis 
 Christ. 
 
 -Matthew, chap. viii. yer. 16. " When the evening was come, 
 they brought unto him (J«sus) many that were possessed with 
 devils, and he cast out the spirit with his word, and healed all that 
 were sick. — That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias 
 (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, himself took our infirmities, and bare 
 our sicknesses. 
 
 This affair of people being possessed hy devils, and of casting 
 them out, was the fable of the- day when the books of the New 
 Testament were written. It had not existence at any other time. 
 The books of the old Testamentmentian no such thing ; the peo- 
 ple of the present day know of no such thing ; nor does the histo- 
 ry of any people or country speak of such a thing. . It starts upon 
 us all at once in the book of Matthew, and is altogether an inven- 
 tion of the New Testament-makers and 'the Christian church. 
 The book :of Matthew is the first book where -the word Devil is 
 mentioned;* We read in some of the books' oft the Old Testa- 
 ment of things called familiar spirits, the supposed companions ©f 
 people called witches and wizards. It was no other than the trick 
 of pretended- conjurors to obtain money from credulous and ig- 
 norant people, or the fabricated charge of superstitious malignancy 
 against unfortunate and decrepid old age. 
 
 But the idea of a familar spirit,- if we can affix any idea to the 
 term, is exceedingly different to that of being possessed, by a 
 devil. In the one case, the supposed familar spirit is a dexterous 
 agent, that comes and goes and does as he is bidden ; in the 
 
 * The word devil is a personification of toe word eril 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 239 
 
 other, he is a turbulent roaring monster, that tears and tortures 
 the body into convulsions. Reader, whoever thou art, put thy 
 trust in thy Creator, make use of the reason he endowed theie with, 
 and cast from thee all such fables. 
 
 The passage alluded'to by Matthew, for as a quotation it is 
 false, is in- Isaiah, chap. liii. ver, 4, which is as follows : 
 
 "Surely he (the ' peceon of whom Isaiah is speaking of) hath 
 bonie our griefs and carried our sorrows." It is in the preter 
 tense. 
 
 .Here is nothing about casting out devils, nor curing of sick- 
 nesses. The passage^ therefore, so'far frggn being a prophecy of 
 Christ,, is not even applicable as a circumstance. 
 
 Isaiah, or 'at. least the writer of the book that bears Iris name, 
 employs the whole of this chapter, the 53d, in lamenting the suf- 
 ferings of some deceased persons, of whom he speaks very 
 pathetically.- 1 It is "a monody on the death, of a friend; but he 
 mentions not the name of the person, nor gives any circumstance 
 of him by "which he can be personally known ; and it is this silence, 
 which is evidence of nothing, that Matthew has laid hold of to 
 put the name of Christ to it ; as if the chiefs of the Jews, whose 
 sorrows were then great, and the times they lived in big with dan- 
 ger, were never thinking about their own affairs, nor the fete of 
 their own friends^ hut were continually running a wild-goose chase 
 into futurity. 
 
 To make' a monody into a prophecy is an absurdity. The char- 
 acters and circumstances of men, even in different ages of the 
 world, are so much alike, that what is said of one may with pro- 
 priety be said of many; but this fitness does not make the 
 passage into' a prophecy ; and none but an , impostor or a bigot 
 would call it so. 
 
 - Isaiah, in deploring the hard fate and loss of his friend, men- 
 tions nothing of. him but what the human lot of man is subject to; 
 All the cases he states of him, his persecutions, his imprisonment, 
 his patiencein suffering, and' his perseverance in principle, are all 
 within", the line, of nature : they belong exclusively to none f and 
 may with justness be said of many. But if Jesus Christ was the 
 person, the church represents him to be, that which would exclu- 
 sively apply to him, must be something that could not apply to 
 any.o.ther person ; something beyond the line of nature ; some- 
 thing beyond the 'let of mortal man ; and there are no sueh 
 
240 
 
 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 expressions in this chapter, nor any other chapter in the Old 
 Testament. f . 
 
 It is no exclusive description to say of a person, as is said ojT 
 the person Isaiah is lamenting in this chapter. He was oppressed 
 and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth ; he is brought 
 as a- Lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before his shearers is 
 dumb, so he opened not' his mouth.? This may be said _of thou- 
 sands of persons, who have suffered oppressions and.unjust death 
 with patience, silence, and perfect resignation. 
 
 Grotius, whom the bishop esteems a most learned man, and 
 who certainly was so,jmpposes that the. person of whom Isaiah is 
 speaking, is Jeremiah. Grotius is led into this opinion," from the 
 agreement there is between the description' given by Isaiah, and. 
 the case of Jeremiah, as stated in the book that bears his name. 
 If Jeremiah was an innocent man, and not a traitor in .the interest 
 of Nebuchadnezzar, when Jerusalem was besieged, his case was 
 hard"; he was accused by his countrymen,^was persecuted,, op- 
 pressed, and imprisoned, and he says of himself, (see Jeremiah, 
 chap. ii. yer; 19,) " But as for me; I was like a lamb or an ox. that 
 is brought to the slaughter." 
 
 I should be inclined to the same opinion with Grotius, ha*d 
 Isaiah lived at the time when Jeremiah underwent the cruelties of 
 which he speaks ; but Isaiah died about fifty years -before; and it 
 is of a person of his own time, whose case Isaiah is ■ lamenting in 
 the chapter in question, and which imposition and bigotry, more 
 than seven hundred years afterwards, perverted into a prophecy of 
 a person they call Jesus Christ. 
 
 I pals on to the eighth passage called a prophecy of Jesus' 
 Christ. . 
 
 Matthew, chap, xii. ver.' 14. " Then the Pharisees went out 
 and held a council against him, how fheyjnight destroy him — But 
 when Jesus knew it he withdrew himself; and great numbers fol- 
 lowed him and he healed them all— and he charged them that they 
 should not make him known ; That it might be fulfilled which was 
 spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, - 
 
 "Behold my servant wh6m I have chosen ; my beloved in 
 whom my soul is. well pleased,. I will ^put my spirit upon him, and 
 he shall show judgment to the Gentiles— he shall not strive nor 
 cry, neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets— a bruised 
 reed shall he not break, and smoaking flax shall he not quench, til. 
 
THE PnoPHECIE*. 241 
 
 he sends Forth judgment unto victory — and in his name shall the 
 Gentiles trust." 
 
 In the first place, this passage hath not the least- relation to 
 the purpose for which it is quoted. 
 
 Matthew says, that the Pharisees held a council against Jesus 
 to destroy him — that Jesus withdrew himself — that great numbers 
 followed him — that he healed them — and. that he charged them 
 they should not make him known. 
 
 But the passage Matthew has quoted as being fulfilled by these 
 circumstances, does not so much as apply to arfy one of them. It 
 has nothing to do with the Pharisees holding a council to destroy 
 Jesus— with his withdrawing himself — with great numbers follow- 
 ing him — with his healing them — nor with his charging them not 
 to make him known. 
 
 The purpose for which the passage is quoted, and the passage 
 itself, are as remote from each other, as nothing from something. 
 But the case is, that people have been so long in the habit of 
 reading the books, called the Bible and Testament, with their 
 eyes shut, and' their senses locked up, that the most stupid incon- 
 sistencies have passed oh them for truth, and imposition for pro- 
 phecy. The all-wise Creator has been dishonoured by be- 
 ing made the author "of fable, ana the human. mind degraded by 
 believing it. 
 
 In this passage as in- that last mentioned, the name of the per- 
 son of whom the passage speaks is not given, and we are left in 
 the dark respecting him. It is this defect in the history, that 
 bigotry and imposition have laid hold of, to call it prophecy. 
 
 Had Isaiah lived in the time of Cyrus, the passage would 
 descriptively .apply to him. As king of Persia, his authority was 
 great among the Gentiles, and it is of such a character the pas- 
 sage -speaks ; and his friendship for the Jews whom he liberated 
 from captivity, and who might then be compared to a bruised 
 reed, was extensive. But this description- does not apply to 
 Jesus Christ, who had no authority among the Gentiles ; and as 
 to his own countrymen, figuratively described by the bruised 
 reed, it was they who crucified him. Neither can it be said of 
 him that he did not cry, and that his voice was not heard in the 
 street. As a preacher it was his business to be heard, and we 
 are told that he travelled about the country for that purpose. 
 Matthew has given a long sermon, which (if his authority is good, 
 
 31 
 
243 SXAMINATIOK OV 
 
 but which is much to be doubted since he imposes so muchy) 
 Jesus preached to a multitude upon a mountain, and it would be 
 a quibble to say that a mountain h not a street, since it is a place 
 equally as public. 
 
 The last verse in the passage (the 4th) as it stands in Isaiah, 
 and which Matthew has not quoted, says, " He shall not fail nor 
 be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth and the isles 
 shall wait for his law." This also applies to Cyrus. He was not 
 discouraged, he did not fail, he conquered all Babylon, liberated 
 the Jews, and established laws. Bet this cannot be sarid of Jesus 
 Christ, who in the passage before us, according to Matthew, with- 
 drew himself for fear of the Pharisses,. and charged the people 
 that followed him not to make it known where -he was ; and who, 
 according to other parts of the'Testament, was continually mov- 
 ing from place, to place to avoid being apprehended.* 
 
 •% * In the second part of the Jfge 6/ Reason, I have shown that -the book as- 
 cribed to Isaiah is not only miscellane.ous.-as to matter, but as to authorship ; 
 that there are parts in it which could not be written by Isaiah, because they 
 speak of things one hundred* and fifty years after he was Head. The instance 
 I have given of this, in that "work, corresponds with the subject I am: upon, at 
 least a little better than Matthew's introduction and his quotation. 
 
 Isaiah lived, the latter part of his iifc, in the time of Hezekiah, and it was 
 about one hundred and fifty yeajs, from the death of Hezekiah to the first year 
 of the reign of Cyrus, when Cyrus published a proclamation, whiehis given ha 
 the first chapter of the book of Ezra, for the return of the Jews to'Jerusalem. 
 It cannot be doubted, at least it ought not to be doubted, that the Jews woul'd 
 feel an affectionate gratitude for this act of benevolent' Justice, arid-it is natural 
 they would express that gratitude in the customary style, bombastical and hy- 
 perbolical as it was, which they used on extraordinary occasions, arid which 
 was, and still is in practice with all the eastern nations. 
 
 The instance to which I refer, and which is given in the second part of the 
 Age of Reason, is the last verse of the 44th chapter, and the beginning of the 
 45th — in these words : " That saith of Cyrus, he is my shepherd and shall per- 
 form all my pleasure : even saying to Jerusalem: thou slialt be buUt, and to the 
 Temple, thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, Jo 
 Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden to subdue nations befbre'him; and I xoiU 
 loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two-leaved! gates, and the gates 
 shall not be shut." 
 
 This complementary address is in the present tense, which shows*hat the 
 things of which it speaks were in existence at the time t>f writing it; and con- 
 sequently that the author must have been at least one hundred and fifty years 
 later than Isaiah, and that the book which bears his name is a compilation. 
 The Proverbs called Solomon's, and" the Psalms called David's, are of the same 
 kind. The two last verses of the second book of Chronicles, and the three first 
 verses of the first chapter of Ezra, are word for word the same ; which show 
 that the compilers of the Bible mixed the writings of different authors toge- 
 ther, and put them under some common head. 
 
 As we have here an instance in the 44th and 45th chapters of the introdue- 
 tion of the name of Cyrus into a book to which it cannot belong, it affords goad 
 ground to conclude, that the passage in the 42d chapter, in which the character 
 of Cyrus is given without his name, has been introduced in like msnuerjand 
 that the person there spoken of is Cyrus. 
 
THE TROPHECIES. 243 
 
 But it is immaterial to us, at this distance of time, to know 
 who the person was : it is sufficient to the purpose I am upon, 
 that of detecting fraud and falsehood, to know who it was not, 
 and to show it was not the person called Jesus Christ. 
 
 I pass on to the ninth passage called a prophecy of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Matthew, chap. xxi. v. 1. " And when they drew nigh unto 
 Jerusalem, and were come to Bethpage,unto the mount of Olives, 
 • then Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying unto them, go into the 
 village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, 
 and a colt with- her, loose them and bring them unto me — and if 
 any man say ought to you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of 
 them, and straitway he will send them. 
 
 " All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken 
 by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the- daughter of Sion, behold thy 
 king cometh unto thee, meek, and stiting upon an ass, and a colt 
 the foal of an ass." 
 
 Poor ass ! let it he some consolation amidst all thy sufferings, 
 that if the heathen world erected a bear into a constellation, the 
 Christian world has elevated thee into a prophecy. 
 
 This passage is in Zechariah, chap. ix. ver 9, and is one of the 
 whims of friend Zechariah to congratulate his countrymen, who 
 were then returning from captivity in Babylon, and himself with 
 them, to Jerasalem. It has no concern" with any other subject. 
 It la strange that apostles, priests, and commentators, never per- 
 mit, or never suppose, the Jews to be. speaking of their own 
 affairs. Every thing in the Jewish books is perverted and dis- 
 torted into meanings never intended by the writers. Even the 
 poor ass must not be a Jew-ass but a Christian-ass. I wonder 
 they did not make an apostle of him, or a bishop, or at least make 
 him speak and prophecy. He could have lifted up his voice as 
 loud as any of them. 
 
 Zechariah, in the first chapter of his book, indulges himself in 
 several whims on the joy of getting back to Jerusalem. He 
 says. at the 8th verse, " I saw by night (Zechariah was a sharp- 
 sighted seer) and behold a man setting on a red horse, (yes, 
 reader, a red horse,) and he stood among the myrtle trees that were 
 in the bottom, and behind him were red horses speckled and white." 
 He says nothing about green horses, nor blue horses, perhaps be- 
 cause it is difficult to distinguish green from blue by night* but a 
 
244 EXAMINATION OV 
 
 Christian can have no doubt they were there, because "faith it 
 the evidence of things not seen." 
 
 Zechariah then introduces an angel among his horses, but he 
 does not tell us what colour the angel was of, whether black or 
 white, nor whether he came to buy horses, or only to look at them 
 as curiosities, for certainly they were of that kind. Be this how 
 ever as it may, he enters into conversation with this angel, on the 
 ioyful aflair of getting back to Jerusalem, and he saith at the 16th 
 verse, " Therefore, thus saith the Lord, I am returned to Jerusa- 
 lem with mercies ; my house shall be built in it saith the Lord of 
 hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. " An 
 expression signifying the rebuilding the city. 
 
 All this, whimsical and imaginary as it is, sufficiently proves that 
 it was the entry of the Jews into Jerusalem from captivity, and 
 not the entry of Jesus Christ, seven hundred years afterwards, 
 that is the subject upon which Zechariah is always speaking. 
 
 As to the expression of riding upon an ass, which commentators- 
 represent as a sign of humility in Jesus Christ, the case-is, he ne- 
 ver was so well mounted before. The asses of those countries 
 are large and well-proportioned, and were anciently the chief ot 
 riding animals.- Their beasts of burden, and which served also 
 for the conveyance of the poor, were camels and dromedaries. 
 We read in judges, chap. x. ver. 4, that " Jair, (one of the Judges 
 of Israel,) had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass-tolts, -and they 
 had thirty cities." But commentators distort every thing. 
 
 There is besides very-reasonable grounds to conclude that this 
 story of Jesus riding publicly into Jerusalem, accompanied, as it 
 is said at the 8th and 9th verses, by a great multitude, shouting 
 and rejoicing, and spreading their garments by the way, is altoge- 
 ther a story destitute of truth. 
 
 In the last passage called a prophecy that I examined, Jesus is 
 represented as withdrawing, that is, running away, and concealing 
 himself for fear of being apprehended, and charging the people 
 that were with him not to make him known. No new circum- 
 stance had arisen in the interim to change his condition for the 
 better ; yet here he is represented as making his public entry into 
 the same city from which he had fled for safety. The two cases 
 contradict each other so much, that if both are not false, one of 
 them at least can scarcely be true. For my own part, I do not 
 believte there is one word of historical truth ill the whole doo* 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 245 
 
 1 look upon it at best to be a romance : the principal personage of 
 which is an imaginary or allegorical .character founded upon some 
 tale, and in which the moral is in many -parts good, and the narra- 
 tive part very badly and blunderingly written. 
 
 I pass on to the tenth .passage,- called a prophecy of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Matthew, chap. xxvi. ver. 51. " And behold one of them which 
 was with Jesus (meaning Peter) stretched out his hand, and drew 
 his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest, and smote off 
 his ear. Then said Jesus unto him ; Put up again thy sword into 
 its place, for all they that take the sword shall perish with the 
 sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and 
 he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels. 
 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled that thus it must be. 
 In that same hour Jesus said to the multitudes, are ye come out 
 as against a thief, with swords and with staves for to take me ? I 
 sat daily with you teaching in~the temple, and ye laid no hold on 
 me. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets 
 might be fulfilled. 
 
 This loose and general manner of speaking, admits neither of 
 detection nor of proof. Here is no quotation given, iror the name 
 of any Bible author mentioned, to which reference can be had. 
 
 There are, however, some high improbabilities against the truth 
 of the account. 
 
 First — It is not probable that the Jews, who were tnen a con- 
 quered people, and under subjection to the Romans, should be 
 permitted to wear swords. 
 
 "Secondly — If Peter had attacked the servant of the high priest 
 and cut off his ear, he would have been immediately taken up by 
 the guard that took up his master and sent to prison with him. 
 
 Thirdly — What sort* of disciples and preaching apostles must 
 those of Christ have been that wore swords 1 
 
 Fourthly — This scene is represented to have taken place the 
 same evening of what is called the Lord's supper, which makes, 
 according to the ceremony of it, the inconsistency of wearing 
 swords the greater. 
 
 I pass on to the eleventh passage called a prophecy of Jesus 
 Christ- 
 Matthew, chap, xxvii. ver. 3. " Then Judas, which had be- 
 trayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented him- 
 
246 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 self, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief 
 p-^ests and elders, saying, I have sinned in that I have. betrayed 
 the innocent blood. And they said, what is-that to us, see thou to 
 that. And he cast down the thirty, pieces of silver, and departed, 
 and went and hanged himself — And the chief priests took the sil 
 ver pieces and said, it is not lawful to put them in the treasury, 
 because it is the price of blood— - And they took counsel and 
 bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in — Where- 
 fore that field is Called the field of blood unto this day. Then 
 was fulfilled that which was spoken by. Jeremiah the prophet, say- 
 ing, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him 
 that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value, 
 and gave them for the potter's field,- as the Lord appointed me." 
 This is a most barefaced piece of imposition. The passage 
 in Jeremiah which speaks of the purchase of a field, has no mora 
 to do' with the case to which Matthew applies it, than it has to do 
 with the purchase of lands in America. I will recite the whole 
 passage : 
 
 Jeremiah, chap, xxxii. v.' 6. " And Jeremiah said, the word 
 of the Lord came unto me, saying — Behold Hanamiel, the son of 
 Shallum thine uncle, shall come unto thee, saying, buy thee my 
 field that is in Anathpth, for the right of redemption is thine to 
 buy it — So Hanamiel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of 
 the prison, according to the word of the Lord, and said unto me, 
 buy my field I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the coun- 
 try of Benjamin, for the right of inheritance is thine, and the re- 
 demption is thine ; buy it for thyself. Then I knew this was the 
 word of the Lord — And I bought the field of Hanamiel mine 
 uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, 
 even seventeen shekels of silver — and I subscribed the evidence 
 and sealed it, and took witnesses and weighed him the money in 
 balances. So I took the evidence of the purchase, both that 
 which was sealed according to the law and custom, and that whic j 
 was open — and I gave the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch, 
 the son of Neriah, the son of Maasaeiath, in the sight of Hanamiel 
 mine uncle's son, and in the presence of the witnesses that sub- 
 scribed, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison — 
 and I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus saith the Lord 
 of hosts, the God of Israel, Take these evidences, this evidence 
 of the purchase both which is sealed, and this evidence which is 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 247 
 
 open, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue 
 many days— for thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, 
 houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possessed again in this 
 land." 
 
 I forbear making any remark on this abominable imposition of 
 Matthew. The thing glaringly speaks for itself. It is priests 
 and commentators that I rather ought to "censure, for having 
 preached falsehood so long, and. kept people in darkness with re- 
 spect to. those impositions. I am not contending with these men 
 upon points of doctrine, for I know that sophistry has always a city 
 of refuge. I am speaking of facts : for wherever the thing called a 
 fact is a falsehood, the faith founded upon it is delusion, and the 
 doctrine raised upon it not true. Ah, reader, put thy trust in thy 
 Creator, and thou wilt be safe ! but if thou trustest to the book 
 called the'scriptures, thou trustest to the rotten staff of fable and 
 falsehood. But I return to my subject. 
 
 There is among the \vhims and reveries of Zechariah, mention 
 made of thirty pieces of silver given to a potter." They can 
 hardly have been so stupid as to mistake a potter for a field : and 
 if they had, the passage in Zechariah has no more to do with 
 Jesus, Judas, and the field to bury strangers in, than that already 
 quoted. I will recite the passage. 
 
 Zechariah, chap. xi. ver. 7. " And I will feed the flock of 
 slaughter, even you, O poor of the flo9k ; and I took unto me two 
 staves ; the one I called Beauty, and the other J called Bands, and 
 I fed the flock — Three shepherds also, I cut oft' in one month ; 
 and my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. — Then 
 said F, I wilt not feed you ; that which dieth,-Iet it die ; and that 
 which is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every 
 one the flesh of another. — -And I took my staff, even Beauty, and 
 cut it asunder,' that I might break my covenant which I had made 
 with all the .people. — And it was broken in that day ; and so the 
 poor of. the flock who waited upon me, knew that it was the word 
 of the Lord. 
 
 " And I said unto them, if ye think good give me my price, and 
 if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of sil- 
 ver. And the Lord said unto me, cast it unto the potter, a goodly 
 price that I was prized at of them ; and I took the thirty pieces of 
 silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 
 
248 EXAMINATION OP 
 
 " When I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I 
 might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel."* 
 
 There is no making either head or tail of this incoherent gib- 
 berish. His two staves, one called Beauty and the other Bands, 
 is so much like a fairy tale, that I doubt if it had any other origin. 
 — There is, however, no part that has the- least relation to the case 
 stated in Matthew ; on the contrary, it is the reverse of it. Here 
 the thirty pieces of silver, whatever it was for, is called a goodly 
 price, it was as much as the thing was worth, and according to the 
 language of the day, was approved of by the Lord, and the money 
 given to the potter-in the house of the Lord. In the case of Jesus 
 and Judas, as stated in Matthew, the thirty pieces of silver were 
 the price of blood ; the transaction was condemned by the Lord, 
 and the money when refunded, was refused admittance into the. 
 Treasury. Every thing in the two cases is the reverse- of each 
 other. 
 
 Besides this, a very different and direct contrary account to that 
 of Matthew, is given of the affair of Judas, in the book called the 
 Acts of the Apostles ; according to that book, the case is, that so 
 far from Judas repenting and returning the money, and the high 
 priest buying a field with it to bury strangers in, Judas' kept the 
 
 * Whiston, in his Essay on the Old Testament, says, that the passage of 
 Zechariah of which I have spoken, was in the copies of the Bible of the first 
 century, in the book of Jeremiah, from whence, says-he, it was taken and in- 
 serted without coherence, in that of Zechariah — well, let it be so, it does not 
 make the case a whit the better for the New Testament ; but it makes the 
 case a great deal the worse for the Old. Because it shows, as I have mentioned 
 respecting some passages in a book ascribed to Isaiah, that the works of different 
 authors have been so mixed and confounded together, they cannot now be dis- 
 criminated, except where they are historical, chronological, or biographical, as 
 in the interpolation in Isaiah. It is the name of Cyrus inserted where it could not 
 be inserted, as he was not in existence till one hundred and fifty years after the 
 time of Isaiah, that detects the interpolation and the blunder" with it. 
 
 Whiston was a man of great literary learnfng, and what is of much higher 
 degree, of deep scientific learning. He was one of the best and most celebra- 
 ted mathematicians of his time, for which he was made professor of mathema- 
 tics of the University of Cambridge. .He wrote so much in defence of the Old 
 Testament, and of what he calls prophecies of Jesus Christ, that at last he be- 
 gan to suspect the truth of the Scriptures, and wrote against them ; for it is only 
 those who examine them, that see the imposition. Those "who believe them 
 most, are those who know least about them. 
 
 Whiston, after writing so much in defence of the Scriptures, was at last pro- 
 secuted for writing against them. It was this that gave occasion to Swift, in his 
 ludicrous epigram on Ditton and Whiston, each of which set up to find out the 
 longitude, to call the one good master Ditton and the other, Kicked Will Whis- 
 ton, But as Swift was a great associate with the Freethinkers of those days, 
 such as Bolingbroke, Pope, and others, who did not believe the book called the 
 scriptures, there is no certainty whether he wittily called him Kicked for defend- 
 ing the scriptures, or for writing against them. The known character of Swift 
 decides for the former. 
 
THE PROPHECIES 249 
 
 money and bought a field with it for himself; and instead of hang- 
 ing himself, as Matthews says, he fell headlong and burst asunder 
 — some commentators endeavour to get over one part of the coni- 
 tradiction by ridiculously supposing that Judas hanged himself 
 first and the rope broke. 
 
 Acts, chap, i. ver. 16. "Men and "brethren, this scripture 
 must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the 
 mouth of David spake before"concerning Judas, which was a guide 
 to them that took Jesus. (David says not a word about Jtfdas,)'ver, 
 17, for he (Judas) was numbered among us and obtained-part:of 
 our ministry." 
 
 Ver. IS. " JVoto tliis man purchased a. field with tht reward'of 
 iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and 
 kisbowels-gushed out." ■ Is it not a species of blasphemy to- call 
 the New Testament revealedTreligion, when we see in it such con- 
 tradictions and absurdities. 
 
 I pass on to the twelfth passage called a "prophecy of Jesus 
 -Christ. ;■ 
 
 Matthew, chap, xxvii. ver. 35. " And they crucified him, and 
 parted his garments, casting lots $ that it might be fulfilled which 
 was spoken by the, p'rophet, They parted my garments among 
 them, and upon^my vesture' did they- cast lots." This expression 
 is in the 22d Psalm, ver, IS. • The-writer of that Psalm (whoever 
 he was, for the Psalms'are a collection and not the work of one 
 man) is speaking of himself and his pwn case,' and not that of ano- 
 ther. He begins this Psalm with the words which the New Tes.- 
 tament -writers ascribed to Jesus Ohrist. ; "J\$y God, my God, 
 why hast thou fofoaken'me"— words which might, be uttered by a 
 complaining man without any great impropriety, but very impro- 
 perly from, the mouth-of a reputed God. < 
 
 The picture which the writer draws of his own situation in. this 
 Psahn, is gloomy enough. He is not prophecying, but complain- 
 ngof.his own hard case. He represents, himself as surrounded 
 'by enemies, and beset by persecutions tof every kind ;. and by way 
 of showing the inveteracy of his persecutors? he says, at the 18th 
 verse, ". They parted my garments among theqn, and cast lot t s upon 
 my vesture." The expression is in the present tense-; and is the 
 same as to say, they pursue me even to theclothes upon -my back, 
 and dispute how "they shall divide them ; besides; the word vesture 
 does Hot "always mean clothing of .any kind, hut -properly, or rather 
 
 32 
 
250 Examination op 
 
 the admitting a man to, or investing hiro with property ; and as it 
 is used in this Psalm distinct from the word garment, it appears to 
 be used in this sense. But Jesus had no property; forthey make 
 him say of himself, " The foxes have holes and the birds' of the air 
 have nests, but the Son of .Man hath riot whereto lav his head." 
 
 But be this as it may, if we permit ourselves to suppose the Al- 
 mighty would condescend td tell, by what is called the spirit of 
 prophecy ,_ what could come to pass in some fiature age of the worldv 
 it is an injury to our own .faculties, and to our ideas ofhis great- 
 ness, to imagine that it wduMbe about an old coat^ or an old pair of 
 breeches, or about'any thing which the Common accidents of life, 
 or the quarrels that attend h, exhibit eve"ry- day. 
 
 That which is in the power of man to do, or in his will not-t» 
 do, isnot a subject for prophecy-, even if there were such a thing, 
 because it cannot carry with it any evidence of divine power, or 
 divine interposition : The ways of God are not the- ways of men. 
 That which an almighty power performs, or wills, is not within the 
 circle pf human power to do, or to controul. But any executioner 
 and his assistants might quarfel about dividing the garments of a 
 sufferer, or divide them without quarelling, and by that means ful- 
 fil the thingcalleda'prophecy or set it aside. , 
 
 In the passage before examined, I have exposed the falsehood 
 of them. In this I exhibit its'tiegrading meanness, as an insult to 
 the Creator and an injury to human reason. 
 
 Here end the passages called prophecies by Matthew. 
 Matthew concludes his book by saying, that when Christ expired 
 on the cross, the rocks rent, the graves opened,- and the bodies .of 
 many of the saints arose ; and Mark says, there was darkness 
 over the land from th'e sixth hour until the ninth. - They produce 
 no "prophecy for this ; but had these things been fe'ets, they would ■ 
 have been a proper Subject for prophecy, because none but an 
 almighty power could have inspired a fore-knowledge -of- them, 
 and afterwards fulfilled them. Since then there is no such prophe- 
 cy, but a "pretended prophecy of an old coat, the proper deduction 
 is,, there were no such things, and that the book "of Matthew is 
 fable and falsehood. 
 
 I pass on to the book called the Gospel according to St-. Mark. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 2fil 
 
 THE BOOK OF MARK. 
 
 There are but few passages in Mark called prophecies ; and 
 Hut few in Luke and John, Such as there- are I shall examine, 
 and also such other passages as interfere with those cited by Mat 
 the w. > 
 
 Mark beginp his book by a passage which he puts in the shape 
 of a prophecy. Mark, chap. J, verse 1 , — " The beginning of the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God — As it is written in the 
 prophets, Behold I send my : messenger before'thy face^ which shall 
 prepare tlie ieay before thkeS' Malachi, chap, iii, verse 1. The 
 passage in the original is in. the first person. Mark makes this 
 passage to be a prophecy of John the Baptist, said by the Church 
 to he a forerunnerof- Jesus Christ. But if we attend to the verses 
 that follow this expression, as it stands in Malachi, and to the first 
 and fifth verses of the next chapter, we' shall see that this applica- 
 tion of it is erroneous and false. 
 
 Malachi having said, at the first verse, " Behold I will send my 
 messenger, and he shall prepare the. way before me," says, at the 
 second verse, " But- who may abide the day of -his coming 1 and 
 who shall stand when- he * appeareth 1 for he is like "a refiner's' fire, 
 and like fuller's soap." • 
 
 . -This description can have no reference-'to the birth of Jesus 
 Christ, and consequently none. to. John the Baptist. It is a scene 
 of fear and, terror that is here described, and the birth of Christ is 
 always spoken of as a time of joy and glad, tidings. 
 
 Malachi, continuing to speak on the same subject, explains in 
 the next chapter what the scene is of which he speaks in the 
 verses above quoted* and whom the person is- whom, he calls the 
 messenger. 
 
 " Behold," says he, chap. iv. verse 1, " the day cometh that shall 
 ourn like an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, 
 shall be stubble ; and the day cometh that shall burn them up, 
 saith the Lord of hosts; that it shall leave them neither root nor 
 brarfch." 
 
 ■ Verse 5. '" Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before 
 the-coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. " 
 
 By what right, or by what imposition or ignorance Mark has 
 made Elijah into.. John the Baptist, and Malachi's description of 
 
B*2 EXAMINATION or 
 
 the day of judgment -into the birth day of Christ, I leave to the 
 Bishop to settle. • - 
 
 . Mark, in the second and third verses of his first-chapter, con- 
 founds two passages together, taken from different books of, the 
 Old Testament. The second verse, ? Behold I send my messen- 
 ger- before thy face, which shall prepare the way before me," is 
 taken, as I have said before, from Malachi. The third ' verse, 
 which says," The voice' of one crying in the wilderness, prepare 
 ye the way of the Lord,, make his path straight," is not in Malachi, 
 but in Isaiah, chap, xi, verse 3. Whistpn says, that both these 
 verses were originally in Isaiah., If so, it is another instance of 
 the disordered state of the Bible, and. corroborates wha't I have 
 said with respect to the name and description of Cyrus being in 
 the book of Isaiah, to which it cannot chronologically belong. 
 
 The words jn Isaiah, chap. xl. verse 3. "The voice of htm 
 that cryeth in (he wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord; make 
 his path straight? are in the present tense, and consequently not 
 predictive. It is orje of ' those ' rhetorical figures which the Old 
 Testament authors frequently used. That it is merely rhetorical 
 and metaphorical, may be seen at the 6th verse. " And the voice 
 said," cry ; and he said what shall I cry 1 Alt flesh is grass." This 
 ^evidently nothing but a figure ; for flesh is not grass otherwise 
 than as a figure or metaphor, where one thing is put fbft another. 
 Besides which, the whole passage is top general and declamatory 
 to be applied exclusively to "any particular person or purpose. 
 ' I pass on to the eleventh chapter. 
 
 In this chapter, "Mark speaks of Christ riding into Jerusalem 
 upon a colt, but he does, not make it the accomplishment of a pro- 
 phecy, as Matthew has, done ; for-h'e says nothing about a prophe- 
 cy. Instead of which, he goes on the. other tack, and in order tb 
 add new honors to the ass, he. makes it to be a miracle ; for he 
 says, ver. 2, it was "a eolt whereon nercr man sat;" signi= 
 fying thereby, that as the ass had not been broken, he consequent- 
 ly was inspired into good manners', for we- do not hear" that he- 
 kicked Jesus Christ off. There is not a word about his kicking 
 in all the four Evangelists. - , 
 
 I pass on from these feats of horsemanship, performed upon a 
 jack-ass, to the 15th chapter. 
 
 At the 24th verse of this chapter Mark speaks of parting 
 Christ'* garments and casting lots upon them, but he applies, no 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 253 
 
 prophecy to it as Matthew does. He rather speaks of it as a 
 thing then in practice with executioners, as it is at this day. 
 
 At the 28th verse of the same chapter, Mark speaks of Christ 
 being crucified between two thieves; .that, says he, " the scrip- 
 tures itright be fulfilled which saithj and he was numbered with the 
 transgressors.'' The. same thing might be said of the thieves. 
 
 This expression is in Isaiah, chap. liii. ver. 12 — Grotius applies 
 it to Jeremiah. But the case has happened so often in thfr world, 
 where innocent-men have been numbered with transgressors, and 
 is still continually happening, that rL is absurdity to call it a pro- 
 phecy of any particular person. All those whom the church 
 call martyrs were numbered with transgressors. All the honest 
 patriots who fell upon the scaffold in France, in the time of 
 Robespierre, were numbered with transgressors ; and if himself 
 had not fallen>, the same case, according to a note hrhis .own hand- 
 writing, had befallen me ; "yet I suppose the bishop will not allow 
 that Isaiah was prophesying of Thomas Paine. 
 
 These are all the passages in Mark which, have any reference 
 to prophecies. ' - - 
 
 Mark concludes his book by making Jesus say to his disciples, 
 chap. xvi. ver. 15, " Go ye into all the world and preach the Gos- 
 pel to every creature ; he that believeth and is baptized shall be 
 saved, but-he that believeth. not shall be damned, (fine Popish stuff 
 this,) and.these signs shall follow them that behove ; in my name 
 'they shall cast out devils ;. they shall speak with new tongues; 
 they shall take up. serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it 
 shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they 
 shall recover." 
 
 Now, the bishop, in order to know if he has all this saving and 
 wonder-working faith, should try those things upon himself. He 
 should take a good dose <*£ arsenic, and if he please, I, will send 
 him a rattle-snake from America ! As. for: myself,-as I believe in 
 God' and not at - all in Jesus Christ, nor in the books called the 
 scriptures, the experiment does notconcern me. , 
 
 I ,pass o"n to the. book of -Luke. 
 
 There are no passages in Luke called prophecies, except- 
 ing those which relate to the passages I have already examined. 
 
 Luke speaks of Mary being espoused to Joseph, but he makes 
 no references to the passage in Isaiah, as Matthew does. He 
 speaks also of Jesus riding into Jerusalem upon' a colt, but he 
 
254 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 says nothing about a prophecy. He speaks of John the Baptist 
 and refers to the passage in Isaiah of which I have already 
 spoken. - 
 
 At the 13th chapter, verse 31, he says, "The same day there 
 came- certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him (Jesus) get thee 
 out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee — and he said unto 
 them, go ye and tell that fox, behold I cast out devils and I do 
 cures to-day and to-morrow, and the third day I shall be per- 
 fected." 
 
 Matthew makes Herod to die whilst Christ was a child in Egypt, 
 and makes Joseph to return with the child on the news of Herod's 
 death, -Who had sought.to kill him. Luke makes Herod to be 
 living, and to seek the life of Jesus after Jesus was thirty years of 
 age : for he says, chap, iii. v. 23, "And Jesus began to be 
 about thirty, years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Jo- 
 seph." v 
 
 The obscurity in which, the historical part of the New Testa- 
 ment is involved with respect to Herod, may afford to priests and 
 commentators a pica, which to some may appear plausible, but to 
 none satisfactory, that the Herod of which Matthew speaks, and 
 the Herod of which Luke speaks, were different persons. Mat- 
 thew calls- Herod a king; and Luke, chap. iii. v. 1, calls Herod 
 Tetrarch (that is, Governor) of Galilee. But there could be -no 
 such person as a~king Herod, because the Jews and their country 
 were then under the dominion of the Roman Emperors who gov 
 erned then by Tetrarchs or Governors. 
 
 Luke, chap. ii. makes Jesus 'to be born when Cyrenius was 
 Governor of" Syria, to which government Judea was annexed ; 
 and according to this, Jesus was not born in the time of Herod. 
 Luke says nothing about Herod seeking the life of Jesus when he 
 was born ;. nor of his. destroying the .children under two years 
 old ; nor of Joseph fleeing with Jesus into Egypt : nor of his re- 
 turning from thence. On the contrary, the book of Luke speaks 
 as if the person it calls Christ had never been out of Judea, and 
 that Herod sought his life after he commenced preaching, as is be- 
 fore stated. . I have already shown that Luke, in the book called 
 the Acts of the Apostles, (whichxommentators ascribe to Luke,) 
 contradicts the account in Matthew, with respect to Judas and the 
 thirty pieces of silver. Matthew says, that Judas returned the 
 money, and that the high priests bought with it a field to bury 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 255 
 
 Strangers in. Luke says, that Judas kept the money, and bought 
 a field with it for himself. 
 
 As it is impossible- the wisdom of God should err, so it is im- 
 possible those books should have been written by divine inspira- 
 tion. Our belief in God, and his. unerring wisdom, forbids us to 
 believe it. As for myself, I feel religiously happy in the total dis- 
 belief of it. 
 
 There are no other passages called prophecies in Luke than 
 those I have spoken of. I pass on to. the book of John. 
 
 THE BOOK OF JOHN. 
 
 ' John, like Mark and Luke, is not much of a prophecy-monger. 
 He speaks of the ass, and the casting lots for Jesus' clothes, and 
 some other trifles, of which I have already spoken. 
 
 John makes Jesus to say, chap, v.' ver.- 46, " For had ye be- 
 lieved Moses, ye would have believed me, .for he wrote of me." 
 The book of the Acts, in speaking of Jesus, says,: chap. iii. ver. 
 22j""'For Moses truly said unto the fathers,' a prophet shall the 
 Lord your God raise up unto you, of your brethren, like unto me, 
 him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever. he shalt say unto you." 
 
 This passage is in Deuteronomy, chap, xviii. ver. 15. They 
 apply it: as a prophecy of Jesus. • What impositions ! The per- 
 son spoken -of in Deuteronomy, and also in Numbers, where the 
 same person is spoken of, is Joshua, the .minister of Moses, and 
 his - immediate successor, and just such another Robespierrean 
 .character as Moses is represented to have been. The case, as re- 
 lated in those books, is as "follows .: — 
 
 Moses was' grown old and near to his end, and in order to pre- 
 vent confusion after his death,- for the Israelites had no settled sys- 
 tem of government ; it was thought best to nominate a successor 
 to Moses while he was yet living. This was done, as, we are told, 
 in the following manner : 
 
 Numbers, chap.xxyii. ver. 12. " And the Lord said unto Mo- 
 ses, get the© up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I 
 have given unto tbfe children of Israel — -and when thou hast seen 
 it, thou also shall be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy bro- 
 ther is gathered, ver. 15. And Moses spake unto the Lord, say 
 
256 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 ing, Let the Lord, the God of the^spirits of all flesh, get a man 
 over the congregation — Which may go out before them, and which 
 may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which 
 may bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord be not as 
 sheep that have no shepherd— ,*Jid the Lord said; unto Moses, take 
 thee Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay 
 thine hand upon him — and set him before Eleazar, the priest, and 
 before all the congregation, and give him a charge in their sight — * 
 and thou shah put some of .thine honour upon him,' that all the con- 
 gregation of the children of Israel may be obedient — ver. 22» and 
 'Moses did as the Lord commanded, and he took Joshua, and set him 
 before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and he 
 laid hands upon him, and gave him charge as the Lord command- 
 ed by the hand of Moses." 
 
 I have nothing to do, in this place, with the truth, or the conjura- 
 tion here practised, of raising up -a successor to Moses like unto 
 himself. The passage sufficiently pro vesit is Joshua, and that it 
 is an imposition in John to make the case into a prophecy of Jesus, 
 But the prophecy-mongers were so inspired with falsehood, that 
 they never speak truth.* 
 
 * Newton, Bishop ofBristolin England, published .a wo$c in three volumes, 
 entitled, •" Dissertations cm the Propkeiies." The work is tediously written and 
 tiresome to read.. He strains hard td make every passage Into a jSrophecy that 
 suits his purpose.— -Among others,- he riiakes^this expression of Moses, " the 
 Lord shall raise thee iip a prophet like unto me," into a prophecy of Chris*, 
 who was npt'born, according to the Bible phrpnologies, till fifteen hundred and 
 fifty-two years after the time of Moses, whereas' it was an immediate success^. 
 to Moses, who was -then near his end, that is spoken of in the passage above 
 quoted. •.•-..-.. ' ' , - _ - ' • 
 
 This Bishop, the better- to iinpose this passage on the world as a prophecy 
 fof 'Christ, has entirely omitted the account in Uw bock" of Numbers which 'I 
 have given at length, word for word, and which shows, beyond the possibility 
 of a doubt, that the person spoken of by Moses, is Joshua; and no other per- 
 son. ■ ■• •'• 7. ■ " 
 
 Newton is but. a .superficial writer. He takes up things upon fetor-sag,. and 
 inserts them without either examination or "reflection,- and the more extraor- 
 dinary and incredible they are, the better he likes them. 
 
 In speaking of the wahs of Babylon, (volume the first, page 263,) He makes 
 a quotation .from a traveller, of the .name of Tavernur, whom-he calls, (by way 
 of giving, credit to what he says,) -a celebrated traveller, that those walls were 
 made of burnt brick, ten feet -square and ihfeejelt thick. — If .Newton had only 
 thought of calculating the weight of such a brick, he would have seen the im- 
 possibility of their being used or even made. A brick ten feet square, and 
 three feet thick, contains three hundred cubic feet, and allowing a cubic foot 
 ofbtiek to be only one hundred pounds; each'of the Bishop's bricks .would 
 weigli thirty thousand pounds ; and it would take abojit thirty- cart loads of 
 ■clay (one horse carts) to make one brick. 
 
 But his account ofthes stones used in. the building of Solomon's temple, (vol- 
 ume 2d, page 211,) far exeeeds his "bricks of ' ten feet square in the walls ot 
 Babylon; these aue but brick-bats compared to them. 
 
the PRorHEcma. 257 
 
 I pass to the last passage in these fables pf the Evangelists 
 called a prophecy of Jesus Christ. 
 
 John, having spoken of Jesus expiring on the cross between two 
 thieves, says,-chap. xix. verse 32. " Then came the soldiers and 
 brake the legs of the first (meaning one of the thieves) and of the 
 other which was crucified with" him. But when they came to 
 
 Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs 
 
 verse 36, for these things were done that the Scripture should be 
 fulfilled, A hone of him shall not be broken." 
 
 The passage here referred to is in Exodus, and has no more to 
 
 do with Jesus than with the ass he rode upon to Jerusalem ; nor 
 
 yet so much, if a roasted jack-ass, like a roasted he-goat, might be 
 eaten at a Jewish passover. It might be some consolation to an 
 ass to know that though his bones might be picked, they would 
 not be broken. I go to state the case. 
 
 The book of Exodus, in instituting the Jewish passover, in 
 which they were to eat a he-lamb or a he-goat, says, chap, xii, 
 
 The stones ^ays he) employed in the foundation, were in magnitude forty 
 cubits, that is, above sixty feet, a cubit, says he; being somewhat more than 
 one foot and a half, (a cubit is one .foot nine inches,jTand the superstructure 
 {says this Bishop) was worthy of such foundations. There were some stones, 
 says hef of the whitest marble forty-five cubits long, five cubits high, and six 
 cubits broad. These are the dimensions this Bishop has given, "which in 
 measure of twelve inches to a foot, is 78 feet nine inches long, 10 feet 6 inches 
 broad, and 8 feet three inches thick, and contains 7,234 "pubic feet. I now go 
 to demonstrate the imposition of this Bishop. 
 
 A cubic foot of water weighs sixty-two pounds and a half— The specific 
 '-'■■■■■■ - ■ •" --- \t,_ therefore, of a cu- 
 
 , the number of cubic 
 1,504 pounds, which 
 
 is 503 tons. Allowing then a horse to draw about half a ton,, it will require a 
 thousand horses to draw one such "stone on the ground ; how then were they to , 
 be lifted into the building by human hands 7 - 
 
 The bishop may talk of faith removing mountains, but all the faith of all the 
 Bishops that ever lived could not remove one of those stones and their bodily 
 strength given in- 
 
 This Bishop also tells of great guru used by the Turks at the taking of Con- 
 stantinople, one of which, he says, was drawn by sef enty yoke of oxen, and by 
 two thousand men. Vol. 3d, page 117. ."■ . 
 
 The weight of a «mri'on that carries a Ball of43 pounds, which is the largest 
 cannon that are cast, weighs 8000 pounds, about three tons and a half, and may 
 be drawn by three yoke of oxen. Any body may now calculate what the» 
 weight of the Bishojtfs great gun must be, that required seventy yokeofoxeir 
 to draw it. This Bishop beats Gulliver. -'-._'. 
 
 When men give up the use of the divine gift of reason in writing on any sub- 
 ject, be it religious or any thing else, there are no bounds to their extravagance, 
 no limit to their absurdities. ♦ 
 
 The three volumes whieh this Bishop has written on what he calls the pro- 
 phecies, contain above 1290 pages, and he says in vol. 3, page 1 1 /, " I have stu- 
 liiei brevity." This it as marvellous as the Bishop's great gun. 
 
 S3 »» 
 
258 Examination op 
 
 verse 5. *« Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first 
 year; ye shall take it from the shiep or from the goats." 
 '" The book, after stating some ceremonies to be used in killing 
 and dressing it, (for it was to be roasted, not boiled,)-says, ver. 43, 
 " And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, this is the ordinance 
 of the passover : there shall no stranger eat thereof; but every 
 man's servant that is bought for money, when thou hast circum- 
 cised him, then shall he eat thereof. A foreigner shall not eaf 
 thereof. . In one house shallot be eaten ; thou shalt noV'carry 
 forth ought of the flesh thereof abroad out of the house; neither 
 shall thou break a bone thereof." 
 
 We here see that the case as it stands in Exodus is a ceremony 
 and not a prophecy, and totally unconnected with Jesus's, bones, 
 or any part of him. 
 
 John, having thus filled up the measure of apostolic fable, con- 
 cludes his book with something that beats all fable ; for he says 
 at the last verse, " And there are also -many other things which 
 Jesus did, the which if they-could be written every one, I suppose 
 that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be 
 written." 
 
 This is what in vulgar life is called a thumper ; that is, not only 
 a lie, but a lie beyond the line of possibility ; besides which it is 
 an absurdity, for if they should be written in the world, the world 
 would contain them. — Here ends the examination of the passages 
 called prophecies. 
 
 I have now, reader, gone through and examined all the passages 
 which the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, quote 
 from the Old Testament and call them prophecies of Jesus Christ. 
 When I first sat down- to this examination,! expected to find cause 
 for some censure, but little did I expect to find fhem so utterly 
 destitute of truth, and of all pretensions 7 to it, as I have shown 
 liihem to be. 
 
 The practice which the writers of those books employ is not 
 more false than it is absurd. x They state some trifling case of die 
 person they call Jesus Christ,, and then cut out a sentence from, 
 some passage of the Old Testament and call it a prophecy of that 
 case. But when the words thus cut out are restored to the place 
 thev are taken from, and read with the words before and after 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 2§£ 
 
 flieth, they give the lie to the New Testament. A short instance 
 or two of this will suffice for the whole. 
 
 They make Joseph to dream of an angel, who informs him that 
 Herod is dead, and tells him to come with the child out of Egypt. 
 They then cut out a sentence from the book of Hosea, •* Out of 
 Egypt have I called my Son," and apply it as a prophecy in that 
 case. ' 
 
 The words " Aid called my Son out- of Egypt," are in the 
 Bible ';- — but What of that? They are only part of a passage, and 
 not a whole passage, and stand immediately connected with other-, 
 words-, which show they refer to the children of Israel coming out 
 of Egypt' in the time of Pharoah, and to the idolatry they com- 
 mitted afterwards. 
 
 . Again, they tell us that when the soldiers came to break the 
 legs of tliSPfcrucified. persons, they found Jesus was already dead, 
 and, therefWe, did not break his. They then, with some alteration 
 of the original, cut out a sentence from Exodus, '•' a bone of him 
 shall not be broken," and apply it as a prophecy of that case. 
 
 The words " Neither shall ye break a bone thereof," (for they 
 have alft»i§A the text,) are in the Bible — but what of that? They 
 are, as in the 1 former case, only part of a. passage, and not a whole 
 passage,- and when read with the words they are immediately 
 joined to, show it is the bones of a he-lamb or a' he-goat of which 
 the passage speaks. 
 
 - These repeated forgeries and falsifications create a well-founded 
 suspicion, that all the cases spoken of concerning the person 
 called Jesus Christ are made cases, on purpose to lug in/ and that 
 very clumsily, some broken sentences from the OJd Testament, 
 antl apply them as prophecies of those cases ; and that so far from 
 his being the Son of God, he did not exist even as a man— that he 
 is merely an imaginary or-allegorical character, asApollo, Hercules, 
 Jupiter, and all the deities, of antiquity were. There is no history 
 written at the Sme, Jesus Christ is said to have lived that speaks 
 of-the existence of such a person, even as a man. 
 
 Did we find in any other book pretending to give a system of 
 religion, the falsehoods, falsifications, contradictions, and absurdi- 
 ties, which are to be met with in almost every page of the Old and 
 New Testament, all the priests of the present day, who supposed 
 themselves capable, would triumphantly show their skill in criti- 
 cism, and cry it down as a most glaring imposition. But since the 
 
260 KAMJNAT105 Of 
 
 books: in question belong to their own trade and profession, they 
 or at least many of them, seek to stifle every inquiry into them. 
 and abuse those who have the honesty and the courage to do it. 
 
 When a book, as is the case with the Old and New Testa 
 ment, is ushered into th« world under the title of being tbe Word 
 or God, it ought, to be examined vwith the utmost strictness, in 
 order to know if it has a well -founded claim to that title or not, 
 and whether we are or are not imposed upon : for as no poison is 
 so dangerous as that which poisons the physic, so no falsehood is 
 so fatal as that which is made an article of faith. 
 
 This examination becomes more necessary, because when the 
 New Testament was written, I might say invented, the artof print- 
 ing was hot known, and there were no other copies of the Old 
 Testament than written copies. A written copy of that book 
 would cost about as much as six hundred common priced bibles 
 now cost. s Consequently was in the hands pf very fe^persons, 
 and these chiefly of the church. This gave an opportunity to the 
 writers of the New Testament to make quotations from the Old 
 Testament as they pleased, and call them prophecies,: with very 
 little danger of being detected.. Besides which, the £gy»rs and 
 inquisitorial fury of the church,, like what they tell us of the flaming 
 sword that turned every way, stood sentry over the New Testa- 
 ment ; and time, which brings every thing else to light, has served 
 to thicken the darkness that guards it from detection. 
 
 Were the New Testament now to appear for the first time, 
 every priest of the present day would examine it line by line, and 
 compare the detached sentences it calls prophecies with the whole 
 passages in the Old Testament from whence they are .taken. 
 1 Why theii do they not make the same examination at this time, as 
 they would make had the New Testament never appeared before? 
 If it be proper and right to make it in one case, it is equally proper 
 and right to do it in the other case. Length of time can make no 
 difference in the fight to do it at any time. But, instead of doing 
 this, they go on as their predecessors went on before them, to tell 
 the people there are prophecies of Jesus Christ, when the truth is 
 there are none. 
 
 They tell us that Jesus rose from the dead, and ascended into 
 heaverilft It is very easy to say so ; a great lie is as easily told as 
 a little one. But if he had done so, .those would have been die 
 only circumstances respecting him that would have differed from 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 261 
 
 the common lot of man ; and, consequently, the only case that 
 would apply exclusively to him, as prophecy, would be some pas- 
 sage in the Old Testament that foretold such things of him. But 
 there is not a passage in the Old Testament that speaks of a per- 
 son, who, after being crucified, dead, and buried, should rise from 
 the dead, and ascend into heaven. Our prophecy ^-mongers supply 
 the silence the Old Testament guards upon such things, by telling 
 us of 1 passages they call prophecies, and that falsely so, about 
 Joseph's dream, old clothes, broken bones,, and such like trifling 
 stuff. 
 
 In writing upon this, as upon every other- subject, I speak a lan- 
 guage full and intelligible;. I deal not in hints and intimations. I 
 haye several reasons for this ;■ First, that I may be clearly under- 
 stood. Secondly, that it may be seen I am in earnest. And third- 
 ly, because it js an affront to -truth to treat falsehood with com- 
 plaisance. 
 
 I will close this treatise with asubject I have already touched 
 0pon in the First Part of the^Sge of Reason. 
 
 The world has been amused withthe term revealed religion, and 
 the generality of priests apply this term to the books called the 
 Old and New Testament. The Mahometans apply the same term 
 to the Koran. - There is no man that .believes in revealed religion 
 stronger than I do ; but it is not the reveries oftfye Old and New 
 Testament, nortrf the Koran, that I dignify with that sacred title. 
 That whichis revelation to me, exists in something which no hu- 
 man mind can invent, no human hand can counterfeit or alter. 
 
 The Word of God is the Creation we behold ; and this word of 
 God revealeth to man all that is necessary for man to know of 
 his Creator. ^ 
 
 Dp we want to contemplate his power T We see it in the 
 immensity of his creation. . 
 
 Do w.e want to contemplate his wisdom 1 We see it in the 
 unchangeable order by which the incomprehensible whole is 
 governed. 
 
 Do we want to contemplate his.munificence 1 We see it -in 
 the abundance with which he fills the earth. 
 
 Do we want to contemplate his mercy 1 rWe see it in his not 
 withholding that abundance, even from theunthankful. 
 
 Do we want to contemplatehis will, so far as it respects man ? 
 
ZS£ EXAMINATION OF 
 
 Thie goodness he shows to all, is a lesson for our conduct to each 
 other."". 
 
 In fine — Do we want to know what God is? Search not the 
 book called the Scripture," which any human hand might make, or 
 any impostor invent ; but the scripture called the Creation. 
 
 When, in the first part of the Age of Reason, I called the Crea- 
 tion the true revelation of God to man, I did not know that any 
 other person had expressed the same idea. But I lately met 
 with the writings of Doctor Cpnyers Middleton, published the 
 beginning of last century, in which he expresses himself in the 
 same manner with respect to the Creation, as I have done in the 
 Age of Reason. 
 
 He was principal librarian of the University of Cambridge,.in 
 England, which furnished him with extensive opportunities -of 
 reading, and necessarily required he should be well acquainted 
 with the dead as well as the 1 living languages. He was a man of 
 a strong original mind ; had the courage to think for himself, and 
 the honesty to speak his thoughts. * 
 
 He made a journey to Rome, from whence he wrote letters to 
 show that the forms and ceremonies of the Romish Christian 
 Church were taken from the degenerate state of the heathen my- 
 thology, as it stood in the latter times of the Greeks and Romans. 
 He attacked without ceremony the miracles whieh the church pre- 
 tend to perform : and in one of his treatises, be calls the creation 
 a revelation. The priests of England' of that day, in-order to de- 
 fend their citadel by first defending its out- works, attacked him for 
 attacking the Roman ceremonies ; and one of them censures him 
 for calling the creation a revelation — he thus replies to him : 
 
 " One of them," says he, " appears to be scandalized by the 
 title of revelation which I have given to that discovery which God 
 made of himself in the visible works of his creation. Yet it is no 
 other than what the wise in all ages have given to it, who .consider 
 it as the most authentic and indisputable revelation which God 
 has ever given of himself, from the beginning of the world to this 
 day, It -was this by which the first notice of him was revealed 
 to the inhabitants of the earth, and by which alone it has been kept 
 up ever since among the several nations -ef it;- From this the 
 reason of man was enabled to trace out his nature and attributes, 
 and, by a gradual deduction - of consequences, to learn his own 
 nature also, with all the duties' belonging to it, which relate either 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 263 
 
 to God or to his fellow-creatures. This constitution of things 
 was ordained by God* as an universal law, or rule of conduct to 
 man — the source of all his knowledge— the test of all truth, by 
 which "all subsequent revelations whjch are supposed to have 
 been given by Godwin any other manner, must be tried, and can- 
 not be received as divine any further than as they are found to 
 tally and-.coincide with this original standard. 
 
 " It was this divine law which I referred to in the passage above 
 recited, (meaning the passage, on which they had attacked him,) 
 being desirous to excite the readers attention to it, as it would 
 enable him to judge more freely of the argument I was handling. 
 For, by contemplating this law, he would discover the genuine way 
 which God himself has marked out to us for the acquisition of true 
 knowledge ; not from the authority or reports of our fellow-crea- 
 tures,' but from the information of the facts and material objects 
 which in. his providential distribution of worldly things, he hath 
 presented to the perpetual observation of our senses.. For as it 
 was from these that his existence; and nature, the most important 
 articles of all .knowledge, were first discovered to man, so that 
 grand discovery furnished new light towards, tracing out the rest, 
 arid made alt' the inferior subjects of human knowledge more 
 easily discoverable to us by the same irfethod. 
 
 " I had another view likewise in the same passage, and appli 
 cable to the same end, of giving-the -reader a more enlarged 
 notion of the question in-dispute, who, by turning his thoughts to 
 reflect on the works of the Creator, as they are manifested to us 
 in this fabric of the world, could notrfail-to observe, that they are 
 all of them great, noble, and suitable to the majesty of his nature, 
 carrying with them the proofs of their origin, and showing them- 
 selves to be the production of an all-wise and Almighty being ; 
 and by accustoming his mind to these sublime reflections', he will 
 be prepared to determine,, whether those miraculous interpositions 
 so confidently affirmed to us by the primitive fathers, can rea- 
 sonably- be thought to make part in the grand scheme of the divine 
 administration, or whether it be agreeable that God,_who created 
 all things by his will, and can give what turn to them he pleases 
 by the same will, should, for the particular purposes of his govern- 
 ment and the services of the church, descend to the expedient of 
 visions and revelations, granted sometimes to boys for the instruc- 
 tion of the elders, and sometimes' to women to settle the fashion 
 
264 EXAMINATION OF 
 
 and length of their veils^ and sometimes to pastors of the Church, 
 to e,njoin them to ordain one man a lecturer, another a prie'st ; — 
 or that he should scatter a profusion of. miracles around the stake 
 of a martyr,- get all of them, vain and insignificant, and without any 
 sensible effect, either of preserving the life, or easing the sufferings 
 of the saint ; or even^ of mortifying his persecutors, who were 
 always left to enjoy the full triumph of their cruelty* and the px>or 
 martyr to expire in a miserable death. When these things, I say, 
 are brought to the original test, and compared with the genuine 
 and indisputable works of the Creator, how minute, how trifling, 
 how contemptible must they be t — and how incredible .must it be 
 thought, that for- the instruction of his church, God should employ 
 ministers so precarious, unsatisfactory* and inadequate,; as the 
 estacies of women and boys, and the visions of interested priests, 
 which were derided at the, very time by men of sense to whom 
 they were proposed. 
 
 "That this universal law (continues Middleton, meaning the 
 law revealed in the works of the creation) was actually revealed 
 to the heathen world long before the gospel was known, we learn 
 from all the principal sages of antiquity, who made it the capital 
 subject of their studies and writings. 
 
 " Cicero has given us a short abstract of it in a fragment still 
 remaining from one of his books on government, which I shall 
 here transcribe in his own words, as they will illustrate my sense 
 also, in, the passages that appear so dark and dangerous to my 
 antagonists." 
 
 " The true law, (says. Cicero,) is right reason conformable to 
 jthe nature of things, constant, eternal-, diffused through all, which 
 calls us to duty by commanding — ^deters us, from sin by forbid- 
 ding ; which never: loses its influence with the. good, nor ever 
 preserves it with the wicked.. This law cannot be over-ruled by* 
 any other, nor ahrogated in whole or in part ; nor can we be ab- 
 solvecLfroHi jt either by the senate or by the people ; nor are we to 
 seek any other comment or interpreter of it but himself ; nor can 
 there be one law at Rome and another at Athens — one now and an- 
 other hereafter : but the same eternal immutable law comprehends 
 all nations at. all times, under one common master and governor 
 ©f all — God, He is the inventor, propounder, enacter of this 
 law; and whoever will not obey it- must first renounce himself 
 and throw off. the nature oilman ; by doing which, he will suffer 
 
THE PROTHBCIES. 285 
 
 the greatest punishments, though he should escape all the other 
 torments which are commonly believed to be prepared for tho 
 wicked." Here ends the quotation from Cicero. 
 
 "Our Doctors (continues Middleton) perhaps will look on this 
 as rank deism ; but let them call it what they will, I shall ever 
 avow and defend it as the fundamental, essential, and vital part of 
 .all true religion." Here ends the quotation from Middleton. 
 
 I have here given the reader two sublime extracts from men 
 who lived in ages of time far remote from each, other, but who 
 thought alike". Cicero lived before the time in which they tell us 
 Christ was born. Middleton may be called a man of our own 
 time, as he lived within the same century with ourselves. 
 
 In Cicero we see that vast superiority of mind, that sublimity of 
 right reasoning and justness of ideas which man acquires, not by 
 studying Bibles and Testaments, and the theology of schools built 
 thereon, but T>y studying the Creator in the immensity and un- 
 changeable order of his creation, and the immutability of his law. 
 " There cannot," says Cicero, " be one law now, and another here- 
 after; but the same eternal immutable law comprehends all nations, 
 at all times, under one common master and governor of all — God." 
 But according to the doctrine of schools whieh priests have set up, 
 we see one law, called the Old -Testament, given in one age of the 
 world* and another law, called the New Testament, given in an- 
 other age of the world."" As all this is contradictory to the eternal 
 immutable nature, and the unerring and unchangeable wisdom of 
 God, we must be compelled to hold this doctrine to be false, and 
 the old and the new law, called the Old and the New Testament, 
 to be impositions, fables, and forgeries. 
 
 .In Middleton, we see the manly eloquence of an enlarged mind 
 and the genuine sentiments of a true believer in his Creator. In-- 
 stead of reposing his faith on books, by whatever name they may 
 oe called, whether Old Testament or New, he fixes the creation 
 as the great original standard by which every other thing called the 
 the word, or work of God, is to be tried. In this we have an 
 indisputable scale/ whereby to measure every word .or work im- 
 puted to him. If the thing so imputed carries not in itself thp 
 evidence of the same Almightiness of power, of the same unerr- 
 ing truth and wisdom, and the same unchangeable order in all its 
 parts, as are visibly demonstrated to our senses, and incompre-, 
 
266 EXAMINATION OT 
 
 hensible by our reason, in the magnificent fabric of the universe, 
 that word or that work is not of God. Let then the two books 
 called the Old and New Testament be tried by this rule, and the 
 result will be, that the authors of them, whoever they were, will be 
 convicted of forgery. 
 
 The invariable principles, and unchangeable order, which regu- 
 late the movements of all the parts that compose the universe, 
 demonstrate both to our senses and our reason that its Creator is a 
 God of unerring truth. But the Old Testament, besides life num- 
 berless, absurd, and bagatelle stories it tells of God, represents 
 him as a God of deceit, a God not to be confided" in. Ezekiel 
 makes God to say, chap. 14, ver. 9, " And if the prophet be 
 deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I, the Lord have deceived 
 that prophet?'^ And at the 20th chap. ver. 25, he makes God in 
 speaking of the children of Israel to say " Wherefore I gave them 
 statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could 
 not live." 
 
 This, so far from being the word of God, is horrid blasphemy 
 against -him. Reader put thy confidence in thy God, and put no 
 trust in the Bible., 
 
 The same Old Testament, after telling us that God created the 
 heavens and the earth in six days, makes the same almighty power 
 and eternal wisdom employ itself in giving directions how a priest's 
 garment should be cut, and what sort of stuffihey should be made 
 of, and what their offerings should be, gold, and silver, and brass, 
 and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goat's hair, 
 and rams' skins died red, and badger skins, &c. chap. xxv. ver. 3 ; 
 and in one of the pretended prophecies I have just examined, 
 God is made to give directions how they should kill, cook, and eat 
 a he-lamb or a he-goat. And Ezekiel, chap, iv; to fill up the 
 measure of abominable absurdity, makes God to order him to take 
 " wheat, and barky, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, 
 and make a loaf or a cake thereof, and bake it with human dung 
 and eat it ;" but as Ezekiel complained that this mess was too 
 strong for his stomach, the matter was compromised from man's 
 dung to cow dung, Ezekiel, chap. iv. Compare- all, this ribaldry, 
 blasphemously called the word of God, with the Almighty power 
 that created the universe, and whose eternal wisdom directs and 
 governs all its mighty movements, and we shall be at a loss to find 
 name sufficiently contemptible for it. 
 
THE PROPHECIES. 267 
 
 In the promises which the Old Testament pretends that God 
 made to his people, the same derogatory ideas of him prevail. It 
 makes God to promise to Abraham, that his seed should be like 
 the stars in heaven and the sand on the sea shore for multitude, 
 and that he would give them the land of Canaan as their inheri- 
 tance for ever. But observe, reader, how the performance of this 
 promise "was to begin, and then ask thine own reason, if the wisdom 
 of God, whose power is equal to his will, could,, consistently with 
 that power and that wisdonr,. make such a promise. 
 
 The performance of the promise was to begin, according to that 
 book, by four hundred years of bondage and affliction. Genesis, 
 chap. xv. ver. 13.- '* And God said unto Abraham, know of a 
 surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, 
 and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred 
 years." This promise, then, to Abraham, and his seed forever, to 
 inherit the land of Canaan, had it been a fact, instead of a fable, 
 was to operate, in the commencement of it, as a curse upon all 
 the people and their children, and their children's children for four 
 hundred years. 
 
 But the case is, the Book of Genesis was written after the bond- 
 age in Egypt had taken place ; and in order to get rid of the dis- 
 grace of the Lord's 6hosen people, as they called themselves, be- 
 ing in bondage to the Gentiles, they .make God to be the author of 
 it, and annex it- as a condition to a pretended promise; as if 
 God, in making that promise, had exceeded his power in perform- 
 ing it, and consequently his Wisdom in making it, and was obliged 
 to compromise with them for one half, and with the Egyptians, to 
 whom they were to be in bondage, for the other half. 
 
 Without degrading my own reason by bringing those wretched 
 and contemptible tales into a comparative view, with the Almighty 
 power and eternal wisdom, which the Creator hath demonstrated 
 to our senses in the creation of the universe, I will confine myself 
 to say, that if we compare them with the divine and forcible senti- 
 ments of Cicero, the result will be, that the human mind has de- 
 generated by believing them. Man in a state of grovelling super- 
 stition, from which he has not courage to rise, looses the energy 
 of his mental powers. 
 
 I will not tire the reader with more observations on the Old 
 Testament. 
 
 As to the New Testament, if it be brought and tried by that 
 
2GS EXAMINATION Of 
 
 standard, which, as Middleton wisely says, God has revealed to 
 our senses of his Almighty power and wisdom in the creation and 
 government of the visible universe, it will be found equally as 
 false, paltry, -and absurd, as the Old. 
 
 Without entering, in this place,. into any other argument, that 
 the story of Christ is of human invention, and not of divine ori- 
 gin, I will confine myself to show that it is derogatory to God, by 
 the contrivance of it ; because the means it supposes God to use, 
 are not adequate to' the end to be obtained ; .and, therefore, are de- 
 rogatory to the Almightiness of his power, and the eternity of his 
 wisdom. • - _ 
 
 The New Testament supposes that God sent his Son upon 
 earth to make a new covenant with man ; which the church calls 
 the covenant of Grace, and to instruct mankind in a new doctrine, 
 which it calls Faith, meaning thereby, not faith in God, for Cicero 
 and all true Deists always had and always -will have this ; but faith 
 in the person called Jesus Christ, and that whoever had not this 
 faith should, to use the words of the New Testament, be 
 DAMNED. 
 
 Now, if this were a fact, it is. consistent with that attribute of 
 God, called his Goodness, that no time should be lost in letting 
 poor unfortunate man know it ; and as that goodness was united 
 to Almighty power, and. that power to Almighty wisdom, all the 
 means existed in the hand of the Creator to make it known imme- 
 diately over- the whole earth, in a manner suitable to the Almighti- 
 ness of his divine nature, and with evidence that would not leave 
 man in doubt ; for it is always incumbent upon us, in all cases, to 
 believe that the Almighty always acts, not by imperfect means as 
 imperfect man acts, but consistently with his Almightiness. It is 
 this only that can become the infallible criterion by which we can 
 possibly distinguish the works of God from the works of man. 
 
 Observe now, reader, how the comparison between this supposed 
 mission of Christ, on the belief or dishelief of which they say 
 man was to be saved or damned — observe, I say, how the com- 
 parison between this and the Almighty power, and wisdom of God 
 demonstrated to our senses in the visible creation, goes on. 
 
 The Old Testament tells us that God created the heavens and 
 the earth, and every thing, therein, in six days. The term six 
 days is ridiculous enough when applied to God ; but leaving out 
 that absurdity, it contains the idea of Almighty power acting 
 
THE PKoi-ri^UiiiS. 209 
 
 unitedly with Almighty; wisdom, to produce an immense work, 
 that of the creation of the universe and every thing therein, in a 
 short time. 
 
 Now as the eternal salvation of man is of much greater impor- 
 tance than his creation, and as that salvation depends, as the New 
 Testament tells us, on man's knowledge of, and belief in the per- 
 son called, Jesus Christ, it necessarily follows from our belief In 
 the goodness. and justice of Gadi and our knowledge of his al- 
 mighty power and wisdom, as demonstrated, in the creation/that 
 aix this, if true, would be made known to all parts of the world, 
 in as little time at least, as was .employed in making the world. 
 To suppose the Almighty would pay greater regard and attention 
 to the creation atid organization of inanimate matter, than he would 
 to thesalvatidn of innumerable millions of souls, which himself had 
 created, "as the image of himself," is to offer an 'insult to his 
 goodness and his justice. / 
 
 Now observe, reader, how the promulgation of this pretended 
 salvation by a knowledge of, and a belief in Jesus Christ went on, 
 compared with the work of creation. 
 
 In the first place,, it took longer time to make a child than to 
 make the world* for nine months were passed away and totally 
 lost in a state of pregnancy I which is more than forty times 
 longer time than God employed in making the world, according 
 to the Bible account. Secondly 5 several years of Christ's life 
 were lost in a state x>f human infancy. But the universe was in 
 maturity the moment it existed, ■ Thirdly ; Christ, as Luke aserts, 
 was thirty years old before he began to preach what they call his 
 mission. Millions of souls. died in th'e mean time without know- 
 ing it. Fourthly; it was above three hundred years from that 
 time before the book called the New Testament was compiled 
 into a written copy, before which time there was no such book. 
 Fifthly ; it was above a thousand years after that, before it could 
 be circulated ; because neither Jesus nor his apostles had know- 
 ledge of, or were inspired with the art of printing: and, conse- 
 quently* as the means for making it- universally known did not 
 exist,-- the means were hot' equal to the end, and, therefore, it is 
 not the work of God. 
 
 I will here subjoin the nineteenth Psalm, which: is truly deisti- 
 cal, to show how universally and instantaneously the works pt 
 
270 EXAMINATION OP THB PROPHECIES. 
 
 God make themselves known, compared with this pretended sal- 
 vation by Jesus Christ. 
 
 Psalm 19th. "The heavens declare the glory of God, and 
 the firmament showeth his handy work— Day unto day uttereth 
 speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge — There is no 
 speech nor language where their voice is not heard — TKeir line is 
 gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the 
 world. In them hath he set a chamber for the- sun. Which is a 
 bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong 
 man to run a race — his going forth is from the end of the neaven, 
 and his circuit unto the ends of it, and there is nothing nid from 
 the heat thereof." 
 
 Now, had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed 
 on the face of the Sun and the Moon, in characters that all nations 
 would have understood, the whole earth- had known it in twenty- 
 four hours, and all nations would have believed it ; wnereas, 
 though it is now almost two thousand years since, as thev tell us, 
 Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of -foe 
 earth know any thing of it, and among those who^o, the wiser 
 part do not believe it. 
 
 I have now reader gone through all the passages called orophe- 
 cies of Jesus Christ, and shown there is no such thing. 
 
 I have examined the story told of Jesus Christ, and compared 
 the several circumstances of it with that revelation, which, as Mid- 
 dleton wisely says, God has made to us of his Power and Wisdom 
 in the structure of the universe, and by which every thing ascrib- 
 ed to him is to -be tried. The result is, that the story of Christ 
 has not one trait, either in its character, or in the means employed, 
 that bears the least resemblance to the power and wisdom of God, 
 as demonstrated in the creation of the universe. All the means 
 are human means, slow, uncertain, and inadequate to the accom- 
 plishment of the end proposed^ and, therefore, the whole is a fabu- 
 lous invention, -and undeserving of credit. 
 
 The priests of the present day, profess to believe it They 
 gain their living by it, and they exclaim against something they 
 call infidelity. I will define what it is. He that believes in 
 the story of Christ is an Infidel to God. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 CONTRADICTORY DOCTRINES IN THE 
 NEW TESTAMENT, 
 
 BETWEEN 
 
 MATTHEW AND MARK. 
 
 In the New Testament, Mark, chap. xvi. ver. 16, it is said 
 " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; he that be- 
 lieveth not shall be damned." This is making salvation, or, in 
 other words, the happiness of man after this life, to depend entire- 
 ly on believing, or on what Christians call faith. 
 
 But the 25th chapter of The Gospel according to Matthew 
 makes Jesus Christ to preach a direct contrary doctrine to The 
 Gospel according to Mark t for it makes salvation, or the future 
 happiness of man, to depend entirely on good works ; and those 
 good works are not works done to God, for he needs them not, 
 but good works done to man. 
 
 The passage referred to in Matthew is the account there given 
 of what is called the last day, or the day of judgment, where the 
 whole world is represented to be divided into two parts, the right- 
 eous and the unrighteous, mataphorically called the sheep and the 
 
 To thg one part called the righteous, or the sheep, it says, 
 " Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
 you from the beginning of the world — for I was an hungered and 
 yegave me meat— I was thirsty and ye gave me drink — I was a 
 stranger and ye took me in — Naked and ye clothed me — I was 
 sick and ye visited me — I was in prison and ye came unto me." 
 
272 APPENDIX. 
 
 " Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw 
 we thee an hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink ? 
 When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, or naked and 
 clothed thee ? Or when saw we thee sick and in prison t and came 
 unto thee 1 
 
 " And the king shall answer and say unto them, verity I say unto 
 you in as much as ye have done it unto one of till least'of these my 
 brethreiirye havej&one it unto-me." 
 
 Here is nothing about believing in Christ — nothing about that 
 phantom of the imagination called Faith. - The works ' here spo- 
 ken of, are works of humanity and benevolence, or, in other words, 
 an endeavour to make God's creation happy. Here is nothing 
 about preaching and making long prayers, «s if God must be dic- 
 tated to by man ; nor about" building -churches andrneetings, nor 
 hiring priests to pray and preach in them. Here is nothing about 
 predestinatipn, that lust which- some men have for damning one 
 another. Here is nothing about baptism, whether by sprinkling 
 or plunging, nor about any of those ceremonies for which the 
 Christian'church has been fighting, persecuting, "and burning each 
 others ever since the Christian church began. 
 
 If it be asked;, why do not priests preach the doctrine contained 
 in this chapter 1 The answer is easy ; — they are not fond o» 
 practising it therftselves^ It does not answer for theirtrade. 
 They had rather get than give. Charity Vith them begins ana 
 ends at home; 
 
 Had it been said, Come ye blessed, ye have been liberal in pay- 
 ing the preachers of the vbord, ye have contributed largely towards 
 building churches and' meeting-houses, there is not a hired priest 
 in Christendom but would have thundered it continually in the ears 
 of his congregation. But as it is altogether on" good works done 
 to men, the priests pass over it in silence, and they will abuse me 
 for bringing it into notice. 
 
 - THOMAS PAINE. 
 
MY 
 
 PRIVATE THO V..Q Jl T'S 
 
 ON A 
 
 FUTURE STATE. 
 
 I have said, in the firsf nart of the Age of Reason, that " J hope 
 for happiness after this life." This hope is comfortable to me, 
 and I presume not to gd beyond the comfortable idea of hope, with 
 respect <jo a future state. 
 
 I consider myself in the hands of my Creator, and that he will 
 
 dispose of me after this life consistently with his justice and good- 
 
 . ness. I leave all these matters to him, as my Creator and friend, 
 
 and I hold it to be presumption in man to make an article of faith 
 
 as to what the Creator will do with us hereafter. 
 
 I do not believe because a man and> woman make a child, that 
 it imposes on the Creator the unavoidable obligation of keeping 
 the being so made, in eternal existence hereafter. It is in his 
 power to do sq, or not to do' so, and it is not' in our power to de- 
 cide which he will do. 
 
 The book called the New Testament, which I hold to be fabu- 
 lous and have shown to be false, gives an accounjt in the 25th 
 chapter of Matthew, of what is there called the last day, or the day 
 of judgment. The whole world, acco'rding to that account, is 
 divided into two parts, tlje righteous and the unrighteous, figurative- 
 ly called the sheep and the goats. They are then to receive their 
 sentence. To the one, figuratively called the sheep, it says, 
 " Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared fpr 
 you from the, foundation of the world." To the other, figuratively , 
 called the goats, it says, « Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
 lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." 
 
 Now the case is, the world cannot be thus divided — the moral 
 world, like the physical world, is composed of numerous degrees 
 of character, running imperceptibly one into the other, in such a 
 
 35 
 
274 , APPENDIX 
 
 manner that no fixed point of division can be found in either. 
 That point is no where, or is every where. The whole^ world 
 might be divided into two parts numerically, but not as to moral 
 character ; and, therefore, the metaphor of dividing them, as sheep 
 and goats can be divided, whose difference is marked by their ex- 
 temaLfignre, is absurd.' All sheep are still sheep ; all goats are 
 still goats ; it is their physical nature to be so. But one part of 
 the world are not all good 'alike, nor the other part all wicked alike. 
 There are some exceedingly good ; others exceedingly wicked. 
 There is another description of men who cannot be ranked with 
 either the one or the other — they belong neither to the sheep nor 
 the goats. 
 
 My own opinion is, that those whose lives have been spent in 
 doing good, and endeavouring to make their fellow-mortals happy, 
 for this is the only way in which we can serve God, iciU be happy 
 hereafter : and that the very wicked will meet with some punish- 
 ment. This is my opinion. It is consistent with my idea of 
 God's justice, and with the. reason that God has given me. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
EXTRACT FROM A REPLY 
 
 BISHOP OF LLANDAFF. 
 
 [This extract from Mr. Pain's reply to Watson, Bishop of. Llandaff, waa 
 given by him, not long before his death, to Mrs. Palmer, widow of Elihu Pal- 
 mer. He retained the work entire, and, therefore, must have transcribed this 
 
 - part, which was unusual for him to do. " Probably he had discovered errors, 
 which he corrected, in the copy. Mrs. Palmer presented it to the editor of a 
 periodical work, entitled the Theophilanthropist, published in New- York, in 
 
 _ which it appeared in 1810.] 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 The bishop says, " the oldest book in the world is Genesis." 
 This is mere assertion ; he offers no proof of it, and I gp to con- 
 trovert it, and to show that the book of Job, which is not a Hebrew 
 book, but is a book of the Gentiles, translated into Hebrew, is 
 much older than the bdok of Genesis. 
 
 The book of Genesis means the book of Generations ; to which 
 are prefixed two chapters, the first and second, which contain two 
 different cosmoganies, that is, two different accounts of the creation 
 of the world, written by different persons, as I have shown in the 
 preceding part of this work.* 
 
 The first cosmogany begins at the first verse of the first chap- 
 ter, and ends at the end of the third verse of the second chapter ; • 
 for the adverbial conjunction thus, with which .the second chapter 
 begins, shows those three verses to belong "to the first, chapter. 
 The second cosmogany begins at the fourth verse of the second 
 chapter, and ends with that chapter. 
 
 In the first cosmogany the name of God is used, without any 
 
 * See Letter to Erskine, page 165. 
 
• 276 REPLY TO THE BISHOP- 
 
 epithet joined to it, and is repeated thirty-five times. In the second 
 cosmogany it is always the Lord God, which is repeated eleven 
 times. These two different styles of expression show these two 
 chapters to be the work of two different persons, and the contra- 
 dictions they contain; show they ca*rinot be the work of one arid the 
 same person; as I have already shown. 
 
 The third chapter; in which the style of Lord God is continued 
 in every instance, except in the supposed conversation between 
 the womati and the serpent (for in every place in that -chapter 
 where the writer speaks;- it is always the Lord God) shows this 
 chapter to belong to the second cosmogany. 
 
 This chapter gives an account of what is called the fall of man, 
 .which is no other, than a fable borrowed from, and constructed 
 upon the religion of Zoroaster, or the Persians, or the annual pro- 
 gress of the sun through the twelve signs of the Zodiac: It is the 
 fall of the year, the approach and evil of* winter, announced by the 
 ascension of the a'iitumnal constellation of the serpent of the Zodi- 
 ac, and not the moral fall of man that is the key of the allegory, 
 and of the fable in Genesis borrowed from it. 
 
 The fall of man in Genesis, is said to have been produced by 
 eating a certain fruit, generally taken to be an apple. The fall of 
 the year is the season for the gathering aha' eating the new apples 
 of that year. The allegory, therefore, holds with respect to the 
 fruit, which it would not have done hid it been an early summer 
 fruit It holds also with respect to place. The tree is said to 
 have been placed in the midst of the garden. But why in the 
 midst of the garden more than in any Other place 1 The situation 
 pf the allegory gives the answer to this question, which is; that 
 the fall of the year, when apples and other autumnal fruits are ripe, 
 and when days and nights are of equal length, is the mid-season 
 between summer and winter: 
 
 It holds also with respect to clothing, and the temperature of 
 the air. It is said in Genesis, chap. iii. ver. 21. " Unto Aotam 
 and his loife did the Lord God make coals of skins and clothed 
 them." But why" are coats of skins mentioned 1 This cannot be 
 understood as referring to any thing of the nature of moral evil. 
 The solution of the allegory gives again the answer to this ques- 
 tion, which is, that the evil of winter, which follows the fall of the 
 year, fabulously called in Genesis the fait of man, makes warm 
 clothing necessary. 
 
OF I.I.ANJ>AFF. 277 
 
 But of these things I shall speak fully when I come in another 
 part to treat of the ancient religion of the Persians, and compare it 
 with the modern religion of the New Testament.* At present, I 
 shall confine myself to the comparative antiquity of the books of 
 Genesis and Job, taking, at the same time, whatever I may find in 
 my way with resgect to the fabulousness of the booli of Genesis ; 
 for if what is called the fall of man, in Genesis, Tie fabulous or alle- 
 gorical, that which is called the redemption * in the New Testament, 
 cannot be a fact. It is niorally impossible, and impossible also in 
 the nature of things, that moral good can redeem physical evil. I 
 return to the bishop. 
 
 If Genesis be, as the bishop asserts, the oldest book in the 
 world; and, consequently, the oldest and first written book of the 
 Bible, and if the extraordinary things related in it} such as the cre- 
 ation of the world in six days, the tree of life, and of good and 
 evil) the story of Eve and the talking serpent, the fall of man and 
 his being turned out of Paradise, were facts, or even believed by 
 the Jews to be facts, they would be referred to as fundamental 
 matters, and that very frequently, in the books of the Bible that 
 were written by various authors afterwards ; whereas, there, is not 
 a book, chapter, or verse of the Bible, from the time Moses is 
 said to have written the book of Genesis, to the book of Malachi, 
 ' the last book in the Bible; including a space of more than a thou- 
 sand yearsi in which there is any mention made of these things, 
 or any of them, nor are they so much as alluded to. How will 
 the bishop; solve this difficulty, which stands as a circumstantial 
 contradiction to his assertion 1 
 
 There are but two ways of solving it : 
 
 iFirst, that the book of Genesis is not an ancient book ; that it 
 has been written by some (now) unknown person, after the return 
 bf the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, about a thousand years 
 after the time that Moses is said to have lived, and put as a pre- , 
 face or introduction to the other books, when they were formed 
 into a cannon in the time of the second temple, and, therefore, not 
 having existed before that time, none of these things mentioned 
 in it could be referred to in those books. 
 
 Secondly, that admitting Genesis to have been written by 
 Moses, the Jews did not believe the things stated in it to be true, 
 and, therefore as they could not refer to them as facts, they would 
 
 * Not published. 
 
278 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 not refer to them as -fables. The first of these solutions g6es 
 against the antiquity of the book, and the second against its au» 
 thenticity, and the bishop may take which he pleases. 
 
 But, be the author of Genesis whoever he may, there is abun- 
 dant evidence to show, as well from the early Christian writers, as 
 from the Jews themselves, that the things stated in that book were 
 not believed to be facts. Why they have been believed as~ facts 
 since that time, when better and fuller knowledge existed on the 
 case, than is known now, can be accounted for only on the impo-> 
 sition of priestcraft. 
 
 Augustine, one of the early champions of the Christian church, 
 acknowledges in his City of God, that the adventure of Eve and 
 # the serpent, .and the account of Paradise, were generally consider- 
 ed as fiction, or allegory. He regards them as allegory himself, 
 without attempting to give any explanation, but he supposes that 
 a better explanation might be found than those that had been 
 offered. 
 
 Origen, another early champion of the church, says, " What 
 man of good sense can ever persuade himself that there were a 
 first, a second, and a third day, and that each of these days had a 
 night when there were yet neither sun, moon, nor stars. What 
 man can be stupid enough to believe that God acting the part of 
 a gardener, had planted a garden in the east, that the tree of life 
 was a real tree, and that its fruit had the virtue of making those 
 who eat of it live for ever V 
 
 Marmonides, one of the most learned and celebrated of the 
 Jewish Rabbins, who lived in the eleventh century (about seven 
 or eight hundred years ago) and to whom the bishop refers in his 
 answer to me, is very explicit, in his book entitled More JYeba- 
 chim, upon the non-reality of the things stated in the account of 
 the Creation in the book of Genesis. 
 
 " We ought not (says he) to understand, nor take according to 
 the letter, that which is written in the book of^the Creation, nor to 
 have the same ideas of it with common men ; otherwise, our an- 
 cient sages would not have recommended, with so much care, to 
 conceal the sense of it, and not to raise the allegorical veil which 
 envelopes the truths it contains. The book of Genesis, taken ac- 
 cording to the letter, gives the most absurd and the most extrava 
 gant ideas of the Divinity. Whoever shall find out the sense of 
 it, ought to restrain himself from divulging it. It is a maxim 
 
OF LLANDAFF. 279 
 
 which all our sages repeat, and above all with respect to the work 
 of six days. It may happen that some one, with the aid he may 
 borrow from others, may hit upon the meaning of it. In that case 
 he ought to impose silence upon himself; or if he speak of it, he 
 ought to speak obscurely, and in an enigmatical manner, as I do 
 myself, leaving the rest to be found out by those who can under- 
 stand," 
 
 This is, certainly, a very extraordinary declaration of Marmon- 
 ides, taking all the parts of it. 
 
 First, he declares, that the account of the Creation in the book 
 of Genesis is not a fact ; that to Relieve it to be a fact, gives the 
 most absurd and the most extravagant ideas of the Divinity. 
 Secondly, that it is an allegory. 
 Thirdly, that the allegory has a concealed secret. 
 Fourthly, that whoever can find the secret ought not to tell it. 
 It is this last part that is the most extraordinary. Why all this 
 care of the Jewish Rabbins, to prevent .what they call the conceal- 
 ed meaning, or the secret, from being known, and, if known, to 
 prevent any of their people from telling it 1 It certainly must be 
 something which the Jewish nation are afraid or ashamed the world 
 should know. It must be something personal to them as a peo- 
 ple, and not a secret of a divine nature, which the more it is known, 
 the more it increases the glory of the Creator, and the gratitude 
 and happiness of man. It is not God's secret, but their own, they 
 are keeping. I go to unveil the secret. 
 
 The case is, the Jews have stolen . their cosmogany, that is, 
 their account of the Creation, from the cosmogany of the Persians, 
 contained in the book -of Zoroaster, the Persian lawgiver, and 
 brought it with them when they returned from captivity by the be- 
 nevolence of Cyrus, King of Persia ; for it is evident, from the 
 silence of all the books of the Bible upon the subject of the Crea- 
 tion, that the Jews had no cosmogany before that time. If they 
 had a cosmogany from the time of Moses, some of their judges 
 who governed during more than four hundred years, or of their 
 kings, the Davids and Solomons of their day, who governed nearly 
 fiv hundred years, or of their prophets and psalmists, who lived 
 in the mean time, would 'have mentioned it. It would, either as 
 fact or fable, have been the grandest of all subjects for a psalm. 
 It would have suited to a tittle the ranting, poetical genius of 
 Isaiah, or served as a cordial to the gloomy Jeremiah. But not 
 
280 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 *>ne word nor even a whisper, does any.of the Bible authors give 
 upon the subject. 
 
 To conceal the theft, the Rabbins of the second temple have 
 published Genesis as a book of Moses, and have enjoined secresy 
 to all thejr people, who, by travelling, or otherwise, might happen to 
 discover from whence the cosmogany was borrowed, notto tell it. 
 The evidence of circumstances is often unanswerable, and there 
 is no other than this which I have giveq, that goes to the whole of 
 the case, and this. does. 
 
 Diogenes Laertius, an ancient and respectable author, whom 
 the Bishop., in his answer to me, quotes on another occasion, has 
 ' a passage that corresponds with the solution here given. In speak- 
 ing of the religion of the Persians, as promulgated by their priests 
 or magi, he says, the Jewish Rabbins were the successors of their 
 doctrine. Having thus spoken on the plagarism, anfl on the non^ 
 reality of the book of Genesis, I will give some additional evi^ 
 dence that Moses is not the author of that book. 
 
 Eben-Ezra, a celebrated Jewish author, who lived about seven 
 hundred years ago, and whom- the bishop allows to have been a 
 man of great erudition, has made a great many observations, top 
 numerous to be repeated here, to show that Moses was not, and 
 could not be, the author of the book of Genesis, nor any of the five 
 books that bear -his name. 
 
 Spinosa, another learned Jew, who lived about a hundred and 
 thirty years ago, recites, in his treatise on the ceremonies of the 
 Jews, ancient and modern, the observations of Eben-Ezra, to 
 which he adds many others, to show that Moses is not the author 
 pf these books. He also says, and shows his reasons for sayj»g 
 jt, that the Bible did not exist as a book, till the time of the Mac- 
 cabees, which was more than a hundred years after the .return of 
 the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. 
 
 In the second part of the Age of Reason, I have, among other 
 things, referred to nine verses in the 36th chapter of 'Genesis, be- 
 ginning at the 31st verse, " These are the kings that reigned in 
 Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of Israel," 
 which it is impossible could have been written by Moses, or in the 
 time of Moses, and could not have been written till after the Jew 
 kings began to reign in Israel, which was not till several hundred 
 years after the time of Moses. 
 
 The bishop allows this, and says ' " I think you say true." But 
 
OF LLANDAFF. 281 
 
 hs thai quibbles, and says, that a small addition to a book does not 
 destroy either the genuineness or authentieity-of the whole book. 
 This is priestcraft. These verses do not stand in the book as an 
 addition to it, but as making a part of the whole book, and which 
 it is impossible that Moses could write. The bishop would reject 
 the antiquity of any other book if it could be proved from the 
 words of the book itself that a part of it could not have beeft writ- 
 ten till several hundred years after the reputed author of it was 
 dead. He" would call such a book a forgery. , lam authorised, 
 therefore, to call the book of Genesis a forgery. 
 
 _C^ining, then, all the foregoing circumstances together re- 
 SpBcrteg,a«, - ,;„ llltv d authent ; cftv of the book of Genesig a 
 
 conclusion will naturally toiaiVr „V „ __ 
 
 v " ■■*«« ''ircumstances 
 
 are, 
 
 First, that pertain parts of the book cannot possibly have been 
 written by Moses, and that the other parts carry no evidence ol 
 having been written by him. 
 
 Secondly, the universal silence of all the following books of the 
 Bible, for about a thousand years, upon the extraordinary things 
 spoken of in Genesis, such as the creation of the world in six days 
 —the garden of Eden — the tree of knowledge — the tree of life- — 
 the story of Eye and the serpent — the fall of man, and his being 
 turned out of this fine garden, together with Noah's flood, and the 
 tower of Babel. 
 
 Thirdly, the silence of all the books of the Bible upon even the 
 name of Moses, from the book of Joshua until the second book of 
 Kings, which was hot written till after the captivity, for it gives an 
 account of the captivity, a period of about a thousand years. 
 Strange that a man "who is proclaimed as the historian of the Cre- 
 ation, the privy-counsellor and confident of the Almighty— the 
 legislator of the Jewish nation, and the founder of its religion j 
 strange, I say, that even the name of such a man should not find 
 a place in their books for a thousand years, if they knew or believed 
 any thing about him, or the books he is said to have written. 
 
 Fourthly, the opinion of some of the most celebrated of the Jew- 
 ish commentators, that Moses is not the author of the book of 
 Genesis, founded on the reasons given for that opinion. 
 
 Fifthly, the opinion of the early Christian writers, and of the . 
 great champion of Jewish literature, Marmonides, that the book 
 of Genesis is not a book of facts, 
 
 36 
 
282 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 Sixthly, the silence imposed by all the Jewish Rabbins, and by 
 Marmonidos himself. uponjheJewish nation, not to speak of any 
 thing they may happen to know, or discover, respecting the cos- 
 mogany (or creation of the world) in the book of Genesis. 
 
 From these circumstances the following conclusions offer — 
 
 First, that the book of Genesis is not a book of facts. 
 
 Sec^jdly, that as no mention is made throughout the Bible of 
 any of the extraordinary things related in Genesis, that it has not 
 been written till after the other books were written, and put as a 
 preface to the Bible. Every one knows that a preface to a book, 
 though it stands first, is the last written. 
 
 Thirdly, that the silence imposed by all the Jewish 
 
 and by Marmonides uponJth^_J-£Ba Blx -~~ t- 7*' _ccr ^ 
 
 — neir cosmogany, evinces a secret, they are 
 
 not willing should be known. The secret, therefore, explains itself 
 %o be, that when the Jews were in captivity in Babylon and 
 Persia, they became acquainted with the cosmogany of the 
 Persians, as registered in the Zend-Avesta, of Zoroaster, the 
 Persian lawgiver, which, after their return from captivity, they 
 manufactered and modelled as their own, and anti-dated it by giv- 
 ing to it the name of Moses. The case admits of no other ex? 
 planation. From all which it appears that the book of Genesis, 
 instead of being the oldest book in the world, as the bishop calls 
 it, has been the last written book of the Bible, and that the cos? 
 mogany it contains, has been manufactured. 
 
 On the Names in the Book oir Genesis. 
 
 Every thing in Genesis serves as evidence or symptom, that the 
 oook has been composed in some late period of the Jewish nation- 
 Even the names mentioned in it serve to this purpose. 
 
 Nothing is more common or more natural, than to name the 
 children of succeeding generations, after the names of those who 
 had been celebrated in some former generation. This holds good 
 with respect to all the people, and all the histories we know of, 
 and it does not hold good with the Bible. There must be soma 
 cause for this. 
 
 This book of Genesis tells us of a man whom it calls Adam, 
 and of his sons Abel and Seth ; of Enoch, who lived 365 years (it 
 is exactlv the number of days in a year,) and that then God took 
 
OP LLANDAFF. 283 
 
 him up. It has the appearance of being taken from some allegory 
 of .the Gentiles on the commencement and termination of the 
 year, by the progress of the sun through the twelve signs of the 
 Zoliiac, on which the allegorical religion of the Gentiles was 
 founded. 
 
 It tells us of Metfiuselah who lived 969 years, and of a long 
 train of other names in the fifth chapter. It then passes on to a 
 man whom it calls Noah, and his sons, Shem, Ham, and. Japhet : 
 then to Lot, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and his sons, with which 
 the book of Genesis finishes. 
 
 All these, according to the account giveri in that book, were the 
 most extraordinary and celebrated of men. They were, more- 
 over, heads of families. Adam was the father of the world. 
 Enoch, for his righteousness, was-taken up to heaven: Methuse- 
 lah lived to almost a thousand years. He was the son of Enoch, 
 the man of 365, the number of days in a year. It has the ap- 
 pearance of being the continuation of an allegory on the 365 days 
 of a year, and its abundant productions. Noah was selected from 
 all the world to be preserved when it was drowned, and became 
 the second father of the world. Abraham was the father of the 
 faithful multitude. Isaac and Jacob were the inheritors of his 
 fame, and the last was the father of the twelve tribes. 
 
 Now, if these Very wonderful men and their names, and the 
 book that records them, had been known by the Jews, before the 
 Babylonian captivity, those names would have been as common 
 among the Jews before that period as they have been since. TVe 
 now hear of thousands of Abrahams, Isaac's, and Jacobs among 
 the Jews, but there were none of that name before the Babylonian 
 captivity. The Bible does not mention one, though from the time 
 that Abraham is said to have lived, to the time of the Babylonian 
 captivity, is about 1400 years. 
 
 How is it to be accounted for, that there have been so many 
 thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of Jews of the 
 names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob since that period, and 
 not one before 1 It can be accounted for but one way, which 
 is that before the Babylonian captivity, the Jews had no such 
 books as Genesis, nor knew any thing of the names and persons 
 it mentions, nor of the things it relates, and that the stones in 
 it have been manufactured since that time. Fr»ii the Arabic 
 
284 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 name Ibrahim (which is the manner the Turks write that name 
 to this day) the Jews havfe most probably manufactured their 
 Abraham. 
 
 I will advance my observations a point further, and speak ofthe 
 names pf Moses and Aaron, mentioned for the first time in the 
 book of Exodus. There are now, and have continued to be from 
 the time of the Babylonian captivity, or soon after it, thousands 
 of Jews of the names of Moses and Aaron, and we read not of 
 any of that name before that time. The Bible does not mention 
 one. The direct inference from this is, that the Jews knew of no 
 sflch book as Exodus, before the Babylonian captivity. In fact, 
 that it did not exist before that time, and that it is only since the 
 book has been invented, that the names of Moses and Aaron have 
 been common among the Jews. 
 
 It is applicable to the purpose, to observe, that the, picturesque 
 work, called Mosaic-work, spelled the same as you would say the 
 Mosaic account of the creation, is not derived from the word 
 Moses but from Muses, (the Muses,) because of the variegated 
 and picturesque pavement in the temples dedicated to the Musts. 
 This carries a strong implication that the name Moses is drawn 
 from the same source, and that he is not a real but an allegorical 
 person, as Marmonides describes what is called the Mosaic ac- 
 count of the Creation to be. 
 
 I will go a point still further. The Jews now know the book 
 of Genesis, and the names of all the persons mentioned in the first 
 ten chapters of that book, from Adam to Noah : yet we do not 
 hear (I speak for myself) of any Jew of the present day, of the 
 name of Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah,* Shem, 
 Ham, or Japhet, (names mentioned in the first ten chapters,) though 
 these were, according to the account in that book, the most ex- 
 traordinary of all the names that make up the catalogue of 
 the Jewish chronology. 
 
 The names the Jews now adopt, are those that are mentioned 
 in Genesis after the tenth chapter, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, &c. 
 How then does it happen, that they do not adopt the names found 
 in the first ten chapters ? Here is evidently a line of division 
 drawn between the first ten chapters of Genesis, and the lemain- 
 ing chapters, with respect to the adoption of names. There 
 
 * Noah is an e^^tion ; there are of that name among the Jews. — Editor 
 
OF LLANDAFF. 285 
 
 must be some cause for this, and I go to offer a solution of the 
 problem. 
 
 The reader will recollect the quotation I have already made 
 from the Jewish Rabbin, Marmonides, wherein he says, " We 
 ought not to understand nor to take according to the letter that 
 which is written in the book of the Creation. . It is a maxim (says 
 he) which all our sages repeat above all, with respect to the work 
 of six days." 
 
 The qualifying expression above all; implies there are other 
 parts of the book, though not so important, that ought not to be 
 understood or taken according to the letter, and as the Jews do 
 not adopt the names mentioned in the first ten chapters, it appears 
 evident those chapters are included in the injunction not to take 
 them in a literal sense, or according to the letter ; from which it 
 follows, that the persons or characters mentioned in the first ten 
 chapters, as Adam, Abel, Seth, Enoch, Methuselah, and so on to 
 Noah, are not real but fictitious or allegorical persons, and, there- 
 fore; the Jews do riot adopt their names into their families. If they 
 affixed the same idea of reality to them as they do to those that 
 follow after the tenth chapter, the names of Adam, Abel, Seth, &c; 
 would be as common among the Jews of the present day; as are 
 those of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Aaron. 
 
 In the superstition they have been in, scarcely a Jew family 
 • would have been without an Enoch, as a presage of his going to 
 heaven as ambassador for the whole family. Every mother who 
 wished that the days of her son might be long in the land would 
 call him Methuselah ; and all the Jews that might have to traverse 
 the ocean would be named Noah, as a charm against shipwreck 
 and drowning. 
 
 This is domestic evidence against the book of Genesis, which 
 joined to the several kinds of evidence before recited, show the 
 book of Genesis not to be older than the Babylonian captivity, 
 and to be fictitious. I proceed to fix the character and antiquity 
 of the book of 
 
 JOB. 
 
 The book of Job has not the least appearance of being a book 
 .of the Jews, and though printed among the books of the Bible, 
 does not belong to it. There is no reference in it to any Jewish 
 
286 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 law or ceremony. On the contrary, all the internal evidence it 
 contains shows it to be a book of the Gentiles, either of Persia or 
 Chaldea. 
 
 The name of Job does not appear to be a Jewish name. 
 There is no Jew of that name in any of the books of the Bible, 
 neither is there now that I ever heard of. The country where Job 
 is said or supposed to have lived, or rather where the scene of the 
 drama is laid, is called Uz, and there was no place of that name 
 ever belonging to the Jews. If Uz is the same as Urj it was iri 
 Ghaldea, the country of the Gentiles. 
 
 The Jews can give no account how they came by this book, not 
 who was the author, nor the time when it was written. Origen, in 
 his work against Celsus, (in the first ages of the Christian church,) " 
 says, that thebooh of Job is older than Moses. Eben-Ezra, the 
 Jewish commentator, whom (as I have before said) the bishop ak 
 lows to have been a man of great erudition, and who certainly 
 understood his own language', says, that the book of Job has 
 been translated from another language into Hebrew. SpinosSj 
 another Jewish" commentator of great learnings confirms the 
 opinion of Eben-Ezra^ and says moreover, " Je crois que Job 
 etait Gentie ;* I believe that Job was a Gentile. 
 
 The bishop, (in his answer.to me;) says, " that the structure of 
 the whole hook of Job, in whatever light of history or drama it be 
 considered, is founded on the belief that prevailed with the Per± 
 sians and Chaldeans, and other Gentile nations, of a good and 
 an evil spirit." 
 
 In speaking of the good and evil spirit of the Persians, the 
 bishop writes them JLrimanius and ' Oromasdes. I will not dis- 
 pute about the orthography, because I know that translated names 
 are differently spelled in different languages. But he has never- 
 theless made a capital error. He has put the Devil first ; for 
 Arimanius, or, as. it is more generally written, Ahriman, is th£ 
 evil spirit^ and Oromasdes or Orrnusd the good spirit. He has 
 made the same mistake in the same paragraph, in speaking of th6 
 good and evil spirit of the ancient Egyptians Osiris and Typho; 
 he puts Typho before Osiris. The error is just the same as if the 
 bishop in writing about the Christian religion, or in preaching a 
 sermon, were to say the Devil and God. A priest ought to know 
 
 * Soinosa on the ceremonies of the Jews, page 296, published in French at 
 Amsterdam, 1678. 
 
OF LLANDAFF. 
 
 287 
 
 his own trade better. We agree, however, about the structure of 
 the book of Job, that it is Gentile. I have said in the second part 
 of the Age of Reason, and given my reasons for it, that iha 
 drama of it is not Hebrew, 
 
 FrorF tfiTTeimimnrtes-}^^ about 
 
 fourteen hundred years ago, said "that the book of Job was more 
 ancient than Moses, that of Eben-Ezra, who, in his commentary 
 on Job, says, it has been translated from another language (and 
 ConsequanflxJVom a Gentile language) into Hebrew ; that of 
 Spinosa, who not only says the same thing, but that the author of 
 it was a Gentile ; and that of the bishop, who says thatthfi__ - 
 structure of the whole book is Gentile. Itjhllo* — ^«rf& 
 first place, that the book of Job is nolTa book of the Jews 
 priginally. 
 
 Then, in order to determine to what people or nation any book 
 of religion belongs, we must compare it with the leading dogmas 
 and precepts of that people or nation ; and, therefore, unon *Vi<=> 
 
 bishop?*- own construction, thebooksfc-l^^y"^ eltBer to * e 
 ancient Pe^ansrme ~xmaTa*eli.ns, or the Egyptians ; because the 
 structure of it is consistent with the dogma they held, that of 
 a good and £ V W spirit, called in Job, God and Satan, existing as 
 distinct and separate beings, and it is not consistent with any 
 .dogma of the Jews. 
 
 The belief of a good and an evil spirit, existing as distinct and 
 separate beings, is not a dogma to be found in any of the books of 
 the Bible. It is not till we come to the New Testament that we 
 hear of any such dogma. There the person called the Son of 
 God, holds conversation with Satan on a mountain, as familiarly 
 as is represented in the drama of Job. Consequently the bishop 
 cannot siry^ in this respect, that the New Testament is founded 
 upon the v Old. According to the Old, the God of the Jews was 
 -the God of every thing. All good and evil came from him. Ac- 
 cording to Exodus it was God, and not the Devil, that harden'*' 1 
 Pharoah's hejirt. According to the bookofL - 
 
 evil spirit from God that troubled &aJ ^^S^zehi e \ makes God 
 to say, in speaking^-u^-Tews, « I gave them the statutes that 
 were not good, and judgments by which they should not live." 
 The Bible describes the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in 
 such a contradictory manner, and under such a two fold character, 
 there would be no knowing when he was in earnest and when in 
 
288 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 irony ; when to believe, and when not. As to the precepts, prin 
 ciples, and maxims, in the book of Job, they show that the people, 
 abusively called the heathen in the books of the Jews, had the 
 most sublime ideas of the Creator, and the most exalted devotion-: 
 al morality: — Tt ram tto Jom -aiho dishonoured TJod\ It was the 
 Gentiles who glorified him. As to the fabulous personifications 
 introduced by the Greek and Latin poets, it was a corruption of 
 the ancient religion of the Gentiles, which consisted in the adora- 
 tion of a first cause of the works of the creation, in which 
 the sun was the great visible agent. 
 
 — Itaepears to have beeTr^nSig^onoTgratitude and adoration, 
 and not or ]»»._,„ aD |j discontented solicitation. In Job we find 
 adoration and submission, but not prayer. Even the ten com- 
 mandments enjoin not prayer. Prayer has been added to devo- 
 tion, by the church of Rome, as the instrument of' fees and per- 
 quisites. AH prayers by the priests of the Christian church, 
 —wheftierjublic or private, must be paid for. It may be right. 
 
 ~ virtues, or mental instruction, but not for 
 
 things. It is an attempTto v.^aur-.^-*— «_i_„ g h tr ,„ )|1C govern- 
 ment of the world. But to return to the book of Job. 
 
 As the book of Job decides itself to be a book of the Gentiles 
 the next thing is to find out to' what particular nation it belongs 
 and lastly, what is its antiquity. 
 
 As a composition, it is sublime, beautiful, and scientific : fuTTbf 
 sentiment, and abounding in grand metaphorical description. As 
 a drama, it is regular. The dramatis persona?, the persons per- 
 forming the several parts, are regularly introduced, and speak 
 without interruption or confusion. The scene, as I have before 
 said, is laid in the country of the Gentiles, and the unities, though 
 not always necessary'in a drama, are observed here as strictly as 
 the subject would admit. 
 
 In the last act, where the Almighty is introduced as speaking 
 '""^-thewhirlwind, to decide the controversy between Job and 
 1 rlen s ' — ; dea as grand as poetical imagination can con- 
 ceive. What follows ^of o^, =Ju tu re prosperity does not belong 
 to it as a drama. It is an epilogue of tn^,;^ as the first verses 
 of the first chapter, which gave an account of Job, his country 
 and his riches, are the prologue. 
 
 The book carries the appearance of being the work of some of 
 the Persian Magi, not only because the structure of if cbrresponds 
 
OP LLANDAI'F. , 289 
 
 to the dogmas of the religion of. those people, as founded by Zo- 
 roaster, but from the astronomical references in it to the constel- 
 lations of the zodiac and other objects in the heavens, of which the 
 sun, in their religion called Mithra, was the chief. Job, in des- 
 cribing the. power of God, (Job ix. v. 27,) says, "Who command- 
 eth the sun, and itriseth not, and sealeth up the stars — who aloha 
 spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea 
 — who maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of 
 the south.'' All this astronomical allusion is consistent with the 
 religion of the Persians. 
 
 Establishing then the book of Job, as the work. of some of the 
 Persian, or Eastern Magi, the case naturally follows, that when the 
 Jews returned from captivity,, by the permission of Cyrus, king of 
 Persia ; they brought this book with them : had it translated into 
 Hebrew, and put into their scriptural canons, which were not form- 
 ed till after their return. This will account for the name of Job 
 being mentioned in Ezekiel, (Ezekiel,. chap. xiv. v. 14,) who was 
 one of thecaptives, and'also for its not being mentioned in any 
 book said or supposed to have been vyritten before the captivity. 
 
 Among, the astronomical allusions in the book, there is one 
 which serves to-fix its antiquity. It is that where God is made to 
 say to Job, in the styleof reprimand, " Canst thou bind the sweet 
 influences of Pleiades," (Chap, xxxviii. ver. 31.) As the ex- 
 planation of this depends upon astronomical calculation, I will, for 
 the sake of those who would not otherwise understand it, "endeav- 
 our to explain it as clearly as the subject will admit. # 
 
 The Pleiades are "a cluster of pale, rmlky stars, about the size of 
 a man's hand, in the constellation Taurus, or in English, the Bull. 
 It is one of the constellations of the zodiac, of which there are 
 twelve, answering to the twelve months of the year. The Pleiades 
 are visible in the winter nights, but' not in the summer nights, be- 
 ing then below the horizon. 
 
 The zodiac is an imaginary belt or circle' in the heavens, eigh- 
 teen degrees broad, in which the sun apparently makes his annual 
 course, arid in which all the planets move." When the sun appears, 
 to our viewto be between us and the group of stars forming such 
 px such a constellation, he is said to. be in that constellation. Con- 
 sequently the constellation he appears to be in, in the summer, are 
 directly opposite to those he appeared in in'the winter,, and-the 
 same with respect to spring and autumn. 
 
 37 
 
290 REPLY TO THE* BISHOP 
 
 The zodiac, besides being divided into twelve constellations, is 
 also, like every other circle, great or small, divided into 360 equal 
 parts,' called degrees ; consequently each constellation contains 
 30 degrees. The constellations of the zodiac are generally called 
 signs, to distinguish them from the constellations that are placed 
 out of the zodiac, and this is the name I shall now use. 
 
 The precession of the equinoxes is the part most difficult to ex- 
 plain, and it is on this that the explanation chiefly depends. 
 
 The equinoxes correspond to the two seasons of the year when 
 he sun makes equal day and night. 
 
 The following is a disconnected part of the same work, and is now (1824) 
 first published. 
 
 SABBATH, OK SUNDAY. 
 
 The seventh day, or more properly speaking the period of seven 
 days, was originally a numerical division of time and nothing 
 more ^.and had the bishop been acquainted with the history of as- 
 tronomy, he would have known this. The annual revolution of the 
 earth makes what we call a year. 
 
 The year is artificially divided into months, the months into 
 weeks ,of seven days, the days into hours, &c. The period of 
 seven days, like any other of the artificial divisions of the year, is 
 only a fractional part thereof, contrived for the convenience of 
 countries. 
 
 It is ignorance, imposition, and priest-craft, that have called it 
 otherwise. They might as well talk of the Lord's month, of the 
 Lord's week, of the Lord's hour, as of the Lord's day. All time 
 is his, and no part of it is more holy or more sacred than another. 
 It isj however, necessary to the trade of a priest, that he should 
 preach up a distinction of days. 
 
 Before the science of astronomy was studied and carried to the 
 degree of eminence to which it was by the Egyptians and Chalde- 
 ans, the- people of those times had no other helps, than what com- 
 
OF LLANDAFF. 291 
 
 mon observation of the very visible changes of the sun and moon 
 afforded, to enable them to keep an account of the progress of 
 time. As far as history establishes the point, the Egyptians were 
 the first people who divided the year into twelve months. Hero- 
 dotus, who lived above two thousand two hundred years ago, and 
 is the most ancient historian whose works have reached our time, 
 says, they did this by the knowledge they had of the stars. As to 
 the Jews, there is not one single improvement in any science or 
 In any ' scientific art, that they ever produced. They were the 
 most ignorant of all the illiterate world. If the word of the Lord 
 ad come to them, as they pretend, and as the bishop professes to 
 pelieve, and that they were to be the harbingers of it to the rest of 
 the world ; the Lord would have taught them the use of letters, and 
 the art of printing ; for without the means of communicating the 
 word, it could not be communicated ; whereas letters were the in- 
 vention of the Gentile -world ; and printing of the modern world. 
 But to return to my subject — 
 
 Before the helps which the science of astronomy afforded, the 
 .people as before said, had no other, whereby to keep an ^account 
 of the progress of time, than what the common and very visible 
 changes of the sun and moon afforded. They saw that a great 
 number of days made a year, but the account of them was too tedi- 
 ous, and too difficult to be kept numerically, from one to three 
 hundred and sixty-five ; neither did they know the true time of a 
 solar year. It, therefore, became necessary, for the purpose of 
 marking the progress of days, to put them into small parcels, such 
 as are now called weeks ; and which consisted as they now do of 
 seven days. By this means the memory was assisted as it is with 
 us at this day ; for we do not say of any thing that is past, that it 
 was fifty, sixty, or seventy days ago, but that it was so many 
 weeks, or, if longer time, so many months. It is impossible to 
 keep an account of time without helps of this kind. 
 
 Julian Scaliger, the inventer of the Julian period of 7,980 years, 
 produced by multiplying the cycle of the moon, the cycle of the 
 sun, and the years of an indiction,.19, 28, 15, into each other : 
 says, that the custom of reckoning by periods of seven days was 
 used by the Assyrians, the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the people of 
 India, the Arabs, and by all the nations of the east. 
 
 In addition to what Scaliger says, it is evident that in Britain, in 
 Germany, and the north of Europe, they reckoned by periods of 
 
292 KEPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 seven days, long before the book called the bible, .was known in 
 those parts ; and, consequently, that they did not. take that mode of 
 reckoning from any thing written in that book. 
 
 That they reckoned by periods of seyen days is evident from 
 their having seven names and no more for the several days ; and 
 which have not the most distant relation to any thing in the book of 
 Genesis, or to that which is, called the fourth commandment. 
 
 Those names are still retained in England,- with no other altera- 
 tion than what has been produced by moulding the Saxon and Da- 
 nish languages into modern English. 
 
 1. Sun-day from Sunne the sun, and dag, day, Saxon. Sbndag, 
 Danish. The day dedicated to the sun. 
 
 2. Monday, that is, moonday, from JStofta, the moon, Saxon. 
 JVloano, Danish. Day dedicated to the moon. 
 
 3. Tuesday, that is Tvis-co's-day. The day dedicated to the 
 Idol Tuisco.' 
 
 4. Wednes-day, that is Woden's-day. • The day dedicated to 
 Woden, the mars of the Germans. 
 
 5. Thursday, that is, Thor's-day dedicated to the Idol Thor. 
 
 6. Friday, that is Friga's-day. The day dedicated to Friga 
 the Venus of the Saxons. 
 
 Saturday^from Sjeaten (Saturn) an Idol of the Saxons ; one of 
 the emblems representing time, which continually terminates- and 
 renews itself :'■ The last day of the period of seven days. When 
 we see a cerfain mode of reckoning general among nations totally 
 unconnected, differing from each other in religion and in govern- 
 ment, and some of them unknown to each other, we may be certain 
 that it arises from some natural and common cause, prevail- 
 ing alike over all, and which strikes every one in the same manner. 
 Thus all nations have reckoned arithmetically by tens, because the 
 people of all nations have ten fingers. . If they had more or less 
 than. ten, the mode of arithmetical reckoning would have followed 
 that number, for the fingers are a natural numeration table to all 
 the world. I now come to show why the period of seven days 
 is so generally adopted. 
 
 Though the sun is the great luminary of the world, and the ani-. ., 
 mating cause of all rlie fruits of the earth, the moron by renewing 
 herself more than twelve times oftener than the sun, which does 
 it but. once a year, served the rustic world as a natural almanac, 
 as the fingers served it for a numeration table. All the world could 
 
OP LLANDAFF. 293 
 
 see |ihe moon, her changes, and her monthto- revolutions ; and their 
 ^mode of reckoning time, was accommodatedjas nearly as could 
 possibly be done in round numbers, to agree with the changes of 
 thaf planet, their natural almanac. * * 
 
 The moon performs her natural revolution round the earth in 
 twenty-nine days and a half. She goes from a new moon to a half 
 moon, to a full moon, to a half moon gibbous or convex, and then 
 to a new moon again* Each of these- changes is performed in 
 seven days and nine hours ; but seven days is the nearest division 
 in round numbers that could be taken ; and this was sufficient ta 
 suggest the universal custom of reckoning by periods of seven 
 days, since it is impossible to reckon time without some stated 
 period. 
 
 How the odd hours could be disposed of without interfering 
 with the regular periods of seven days, in case the ancients recom- 
 menced a new Septenary period with every new moon, required no 
 more difficulty than it did to regulate the Egyptian Calender after- 
 wards of twelve months of thirty days each, or the odd hour in the 
 Julian Calender, or the odd days and hours in the French Calen- 
 dar^ . In all cases it is done by the addition of complementary 
 days ; and it can be done in no otherwise. 
 
 The bishop knows that as the Solar year does not end at the 
 termination of what we call a day, but runs some hours into the 
 next day, as the quarters of the Moon runs some hours beyond 
 seven days^; that it i^ impossible to give the year any fixed num- 
 ber of days, that-will not in course of years become wrong, and 
 make a complimentary time necessary to keep the nominal year 
 parallel with the solar year. The same must have been the case 
 with those who regulated time formerly by lunar revolutions. 
 They would have to add three days to every second moon, or in 
 that proportion, in order to make the new moon and the new 
 week commence together like the nominal year and the. solar year 
 Diodorus of Sicily, who, as before said, lived before Christ was 
 born, in giving an account of times much anterior to his own, 
 speaks of years, of three months, of four months, and of six months. 
 These could be of no other than years composed of lunar revolu- 
 tions, and, therefore, to hring the several periods of seven days, to 
 agree with such years there must have been complementary days. 
 The moon was the first almanac the world knew ; and "the only 
 one which the face of the heavens afforded to common spectators. 
 
294 , ^RE PLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 Her changes and h|!Sp r olutions have entered into all the Calen* 
 ders that have been L known in the known world* <,. 
 
 The division of the year into twelve months, which, as before 
 shown, was first done by the Egyptians, though arranged with as- 
 tronomical knowledge,had reference to the twelve moons, or more 
 properly speaking, to the twelve lunar revolutions that appear in 
 the space of a solar year ; as the period of seven days had refer* 
 ence to one revolution of the moon. The feasts of the Jews were, 
 dnd those of the Christian church still are, regulated by the moon. 
 The Jews observed the feasts of the new moon and full moon-, and, 
 therefore, the period of seven days was necessary to them. 
 
 AH the feasts of the Christian church are regulated by the moon. 
 That called Easter governs till the rest, and the moon governs 
 Easter. It is always the first Sunday after the first full moon 
 that happens after the vernal Equinox, or 21st of March. 
 
 In proportion as the science of astronomy was studied and im- 
 proved by the Egyptians and Chaldeans, and the solar year regu- 
 lated by astronomical observations, the custom of reckoning by 
 lunar revolutions became of less use, and in time discontinued. 
 But such is the harmony of all parts of the machinery of the 
 Universe, that a calculation made from the motion of one part will 
 correspond with the motion of some other. 
 
 The period of seven days deduced from the revolution of the 
 moon round the earth, corresponded nearer than any other period 
 of days would do to the revolution of the earth round the sun. 
 Fifty-two periods "of seven days make 3fi4, which is within one 
 day and some odd hours of a -solar year ; and there is no other pe- 
 riodical number that will do the same, till we come to the number 
 thirteen, which is too great for common use, and the numbers before 
 seven are "too small. The custom, therefore, of reckoning by 
 periods of seven days, as best suited to the revolution of the 
 moon, applied with equal convenience to the solar year, and be- 
 came united- with it. But the decimal division of time, as regulated 
 by the, French Calendar, is superior to every other method. 
 
 There is no part of the Bible that is supposed to have been writ 
 ten by persons who lived before the time of Josiah, (which was a 
 thousand years after the* time of Moses,) that mentions any thing 
 about the sabbath as a day consecrated to that which is called the 
 fourth commandment, or that the Jews kept any such day. Had 
 any such day been kept, during the thousand years of which I am 
 
OF DLANDAFF 295 
 
 speaking, it certainly would have been mentioned frequently ; and 
 ' that it should never be .mentioned, is. strong, presumptive, and cir- 
 cumstantial evidence that no such day was kept. But mention ia 
 often made of the feasts of the new-moon, and of the full-moon ; 
 for the Jews, as before, shown, worshipped the moon ; and the 
 word sabbath was applied by the Jews to the feasts of that planet, 
 and to those of their other deities. It is said in Hosea, chap. 2, 
 verse- 11, in speaking of the Jewish nation, " And I will cause all 
 her mirth to cease, her feast-days, her new-moons, and her *a&- 
 baths, and all her solemn feasts." - Nobody will be so foolish as 
 to contend that the sabbatlis here spoken of are Mosaic sabbaths. 
 The construction of the verse implies they are lunar sabbaths, or 
 sabbaths of the moon. Tt ought also to be observed that Hosea 
 lived in the time of Ahaz and Hezekiah, about seventy years before 
 the time of Josiah, when the law called the law of Moses is said 
 to have been found ; and, consequently, the, sabbaths that Hosea 
 speaks of are sabbaths of the Idolatry. 
 
 When those priestly reformers, (impostors! should call them,) 
 Hilkiah, Ezra, and Nehemiah, began to produce books under the 
 name of the books of Moses, they found the word sabbath in use : 
 and as to the period of seven days, it is, like numbering arithmetic 
 cally by tens, from time immemorial. But having found4hem in 
 use, they continued to make them serve to the support of their 
 new imposition. They trumped up a story of the creation being 
 made in six days, and of the Creator resting on the seventh, to suit 
 with the lunar and chronological period of seven days ; and they 
 manufactured a commandment to agree with both. Impostors 
 always work in this manner. They put fables for originals, and 
 causes for effects. 
 
 There is scarcely any part of science, or any thing in nature, 
 * which those impostors and blasphemers of science, called priests, 
 as weirChristians as Jews, have not, at some time or other, per- 
 verted, or sought to pervert to the purpose of superstition and false- 
 hood. Everything wonderful in appearance, has been ascribed 
 to angels, to devils, or to saints. Every thing ancient has some 
 legendary tale annexed to it. The common opperationsj of nature 
 have not escaped their practice -of corrupting every thing. 
 
296 . AlEPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 FUTURE STATE. 
 
 The idea of a future state was an universal idea to all nations 
 except the, Jews. At the time and long . before Jesus Christ arid 
 the men called his disciples were born, it had been sublimely 
 treated of by Cicero in his book on old age, by Plato, Socrates, 
 Xenophon, and other of the ancient theologists, whom the abur 
 sive Christian church calls heathen. Xenophon represents the 
 elder Cyrus speaking after this manner ; — 
 
 " Think not, my "dearest children, that when I depart from you, 
 I shall be no more : but remember thafc my soul, even while I 
 lived among you, was invisible to you ; yet by my actions you 
 were sensible it existed in this body. Believe it therefore existing 
 still, though it be still unseen. How quickly would the honors of 
 illustrious men perish after death, if their souls performed nothing 
 to preserve their fame! For my own part, I could never think 
 that the soul, while in a mortal body, lives, but when departed from 
 it dies ; or that its consciousness is lost, when it is discharged 
 out of an unconscious habitation. But when it is freed from all 
 corporeal alliance,, it is then that it truly exists." 
 
 Since then the idea of a future existence was universal, it may 
 be asked, what new doctrine does the New Testament contain ? 
 I answer, that of corrupting the theory of the ancient theologists, 
 By annexing to -it the heavy and gloomy doctrine of the resurrec- 
 tion of the body. 
 
 As to the resurrection of the body, whether the same bodyor 
 ' another, it is a miserable conceit, fit only to be preached to man 
 as an animal. It is not worthy to be called doctrine. — Such an 
 idea never entered the brain of any visionary but~ those of the 
 Christian church ;— yet it is in this that the novelty of the Wew 
 Testament consists. All the other matters serve but as props to 
 this, and those props are most wretchedly put together. 
 
 —-^9 © at "" 
 
 JVIIRACLES. 
 
 The Christian church is full of miracles. In one of the churches 
 of Brabant, they show a Dumber of cannon balls, which, they say. 
 
OP LLANDAFF. 297 
 
 the virgin Mary in some former war, caugnt in her muslin apron 
 as they came roaring out of the cannon's mouth, to prevent their 
 hurting the saints of her favourite army. She does no such feats 
 now-a-days. Perhaps the reason is, that the infidels have taken, 
 away her muslin apron. They show also, between Montmatre 
 and the village of St. Dennis, several -places where they say St. 
 Dennis stopt with his head in his hands after it had been cut off 
 at Montmatre. The Protestants will call those things lies ; and 
 where is the proof that all the other things called miracles are not 
 as great lies as those. 
 
 {There appears to be an omission here in the copy.] 
 
 Christ, say those Cabalists, came in the fulness of time. And 
 pray what is the fulness of time? The words admit of no idea. 
 They are perfectly Cabalistical. Time is a word invented to de- 
 scribe to our conception a greater or less portion of eternity. 
 It may be a minute, a portion of eternity measured by the vibration 
 of a pendulum of a certain length ; — it may be a day, a year, a 
 hundred, or a thousand years, or any other quantity. Those por- 
 tions are only greater or less comparatively. 
 
 The word fulness applies not to any of them. The idea of 
 fulness of time cannot be conceived. A woman .with child and 
 ready for delivery, as Mary was when Christ was born, maybe 
 said to rjave gone her full time ; but it is the woman that is full, 
 not time. 
 
 It may also be said figuratively, in certain cases, that the times 
 are fulf of events ; but time itself is incapable of being full of itself. 
 Ye hypocrites ! learn to speak intelligible language. 
 
 It happened to be a time of peace when they say Christ was 
 born ; and what then 1 There had been many such intervals : 
 and have been many such since. Time was no fuller in any of 
 them than in the other. If he were he would b<=' fuller now than 
 he ever was before. If be was full then he rnusl be bursting now. 
 But peace pr war have relation to circumstances, and not to 
 time ; and those Cabalists would b<rat as much loss to make out 
 any meaning to fulness of circumstances, as to fulness of 'time ; 
 and if they could, it would be fatal ; for fulness of circumstances 
 would mean, when there are no more circumstances to happen ; 
 and fulness of time when there is no more time to fojlow. 
 
 38 
 
598 REPLY TO THE BISHOP 
 
 Christ, therefore,*ike every other person, was neither in the 
 fulness of one nor the other. 
 
 But though we cannot conceive the idea of fulness of time, be- 
 cause we cannot have conception of a time when there shall be no 
 time ; nor of fulness of circumstances, because we cannot con 
 ceive a state of existence to be without circumstances ; we can 
 often see, after a thing is past, if any circumstance, necessary to 
 give the utmost activity and success to that thing, was wanting at 
 the time that thing took place. If such a circumstance was want- 
 ing, we may be certain that the thing which took place, was not a 
 thing of Cfod's ordaining ; whose work is always perfect, and his 
 means perfect means. They tell us that Christ was the Son of 
 God ; in that case, he would have known every thing ; and he 
 came upon earth to make known the will of God to man through-' 
 out the whole , earth. If this had been true, Christ would have 
 known and would have been furnished with all the possible means 
 of doing it ; and would have instructed mankind, or at least his 
 apostles, in the use of such of the means as they could use them- 
 selves to facilitate the accomplishment of the mission ; conse- 
 quently he would have instructed them in the art of printing, for 
 the press is the tongue of the world ; and without which, his or 
 their preaching was less than a whistle compared to thunder. 
 Since, then, he did not do this, he had not the means necessary to 
 the mission ; and consequently had not the mission. 
 
 They tell us in the book of Acts, chap, ii, a very stupid story of 
 the Apostles' having the gift of tongues ; and cloven, tongues of fire 
 descended and sat upon each of them. Perhaps it was this story 
 of cloven tongues that gave rise to the notion of slitting Jackdaws 
 tongues to make them talk. Be that however as it may, the gift 
 ot tongues, even if it were true, would be but of little use without 
 the art of printing. I can sit in my chamber, as I do while writing 
 this, and by tho aid of printing, can send the thoughts I am writing 
 through the greatest part of Europe, to the East Indies, and over 
 all North America, in a few months, Jesus Christ and his apos 
 ties could not do this. They had not the means, and the want of 
 means detects -the pretended mission. 
 
 There are three modes of communication. Speaking, writing 
 and printing. The first is exceedingly limited. A man's voice 
 can be heard but a few yards of distance : and his person can be 
 but in one place. 
 
or LLANDAFF. 299 
 
 Writing is much more extensive ; but the thing written cannot 
 be multiplied but at great expense, and the multiplication will be 
 slow and incorrect. Were there no other means of circulating 
 what priests call the word of God (the Old and New Testament) 
 than by writing copies, those copies could not be purchased at less 
 than forty pounds sterling each ; consequently, but few people 
 could purchase them, while the writers could scarcely obtain a 
 livelihood by it. But the art of printing changes all the cases, and 
 opens a scene as vast as the world. It gives to man a sort of 
 divine attribute. It gives to .him mental omnipresence. He can 
 be every where and at the same instant ; for wherever he is read 
 he is mentally there. 
 
 The case applies not only against the pretended mission of 
 Christ and his apostles, but against every thing that priests call 
 the word of God, and against all those who pretend to deliver it ; 
 ' for had God ever delivered any verbal word, he would have taught 
 the means of communicating it. The one without the other is 
 inconsistent with the wisdom we conceive of the Creator. 
 
 The third chapter of Genesis, verse 21, tells us that God made 
 coats of skins and cloathed Adam and Eve. It was infinitely 
 more important that man should be taught the art of printing, than 
 that Adam should be taught to make a pair of leather breeches, or 
 his wife a petticoat. 
 
 There is another matters equally striking and important, that 
 connects itself with those observations against this pretended word 
 of God, this manufactured book, called Revealed Religion. 
 
 We know that whatever is of God's doing is unalterable by man 
 beyond the laws which the Creator has ordained. We cannot 
 make a tree grow with the root in the air and the fruit in the ground ; 
 we cannot make iron into gold nor gold into iron ; we cannot 
 make rays of light shine forth rays of darkness, nor darkness shine 
 forth light. If there Were such a thing, as a word of God, it would 
 possess the same properties which all his other works do. It would 
 resist destructive alteration. But we see that the book which 
 they call the word of God has not this property. That book says, 
 Genesis chap. 1, verse 27, " So God created man in his own 
 image ;" but the printer can make.it say, So man created God in 
 his own image. The words are passive to every transposition of 
 them, or can be annihilated and others put in their places. This 
 is not the case with any thing that is of God's doing ; and, there- 
 
300 REPLY TO THE BISHOP OF LLANUAFF. 
 
 fore, this book, called the word of God, tried by the same universal 
 rule which every other of God's works within our reach can be 
 tried by, proves itself to be a forgery. 
 
 The bishop says; that " miracles are proper proofs of a divine 
 mission." Admitted. But we know that men', and especially 
 priests, can tell lies and call them miracles. It is therefore neces- 
 sary, that the thing called a miracle be proved to be true, and also 
 to be miraculous ; before it can be admitted as proof of the thing 
 called revelation'; 
 
 The bishop must be a bad logician not to kiiow that one doubt- 
 ful thing cannot be admitted as proof that another doubtful thing 
 is true. It would be like attempting to prove a liar not to be a 
 liar, by the evidence of another, who Is as great a liar as himself. 
 
 Though Jesus Christ, by being ignorant of the art of printing, 
 shows^fe had not the means necessary to a divine mission, and 
 consequently had no such mission ; it does not follow that if he 
 had known that art, the divinity of what they call his mission would 
 be proved thereby, any more than it proved the divinity of the man 
 who invented printing. Something, therefore, beyond printing, 
 even if he had known it, was necessary as a miracle, to have 
 proved that what he delivered was the word of God ; and this was 
 that the book in which that word should be contained; which is 
 now called the Old and New Testament, should possess the mirac- 
 ulous property, distinct from all human books, of resisting altera- 
 tion. This Would be not only a rriiracle, but an ever existing and 
 universal miracle ;- whereas, those which they tell us of, even if 
 they had been true, were momentary and local ; they wouldleave no 
 trace behind, after the lapse of a few years, of having ever existed ; 
 but this would prove, in all ages and in all places, the book to be 
 divine and not human ; as effectually, and as conveniently, as 
 aquafortis proves gold to be gold by not being capable of acting 
 upon it; and detects all other metals and all counterfeit composi- 
 tion; by dissolving them. Since then the only miracle capable of 
 every proof is wanting, and which every thing that is of a divine 
 origin possesses ; all the tales of miracles with which the Old and 
 New Testament are filled, are fit only for impostors to preach and 
 fools to believe. 
 
ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY 
 
 OOJOC 
 
 PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 
 
 This tract is a chapter belonging to the third part of the Age of 
 Reason, as will be seen by the references made in it to preced- 
 ing articles, as forming a part of the same work. It was culled 
 from the writings of Mr. Paine, after his death, and published in a 
 mutilated state, by Mrs. Bonneville, his executrix. Passages hav- 
 ing a reference to the Christian religion she erased, with a view, 
 no doubt, of accommodating the work to the prejudices of bigotry, 
 These, however, have been restored from the original manuscript, 
 excepting a few lines which were rendered illegible. 
 
 The masonic society had committed nothing to print until the 
 year 1722, when Doctor Anderson's book of constitutions, &c. was 
 ordered by the Grand Lodge to be printed. Since that time the 
 masons have published many works respecting the fraternity, all of 
 which, through design or want of information, tend to obscure 
 and embarrass the subject ; and as the society had adopted the 
 custom of thepriests of the ancient Brit6*ns, called Druids, to keep 
 their proceedings an entire secret, mankind in general, including 
 the greater portion of the brethren themselves, have remained in 
 utter ignorance in regard to its establishment and'original intention. 
 Yarious speculations therefore continue to be made respecting the 
 origin of the society, and its views at the time of its formation ; 
 and Mr. Paine among the rest, with all his sagacity, has suffered 
 himself to be most egregiously deceived by such writings of the 
 masons as had falleQ into his hands. These writers, in giving an 
 account of the society, take up the history of architecture as far 
 back as any record of it has survived the wreck of time. Where- 
 ever they can trace in history, whether true or fabulous, any ac- 
 count of noble and grand structures, they presumptuously pro- 
 nounce them to have been raised by their society. The pyramids 
 of Egypt, the tower of Babel, whose existence is doubted, and So- 
 lomon's temple, about which there has probably been much lying, 
 
302 PREFACE; 
 
 are all claimed by them. For what is this ridiculous parade, but 
 to make the uninitiated, as well as their own members, few of whom 
 know any thing about it, wonder at ,the astonishing antiquity of 
 the institution 1 Would not the advice of Pope apply in this case 1 
 
 "Go! and pretend your family is young, 
 Nor own your fathers have been fools so long.'* 
 
 If the antiquity of a sect or society proved its utility, or that it 
 was founded in correct principles ; the religion taught by the an- 
 cient Egptians priests, or Judaism, ought to be preferred to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 There is no possible use to be derived from deception upon 
 this subject. The masonic society is undoubtedly very ancient ; 
 having commenced, in the city of York, in England, in the early 
 part of the tenth century of the Christian era ; and from thence it 
 spread into other parts of Europe. It was formed by men who 
 had some knowledge of rude architecture, such as it was at that 
 day, and working Masons ; and had no other view than improve- 
 ment in the art or craft of masonry. Which their writers dignify 
 with the title of royal craft, because some of their Kings have con* 
 descended to become members of the society* for the purpose) no 
 doubt, of flattering their subjects to persevere in improvements in 
 the art of building ; which was useful to them, as they always 
 stand~in need- of palaces^castles, and churches. The society is 
 composed of free men, none others are admitted, hence the term, 
 free masons. At first there, were but three degrees, apprentice ; 
 fellow-craft, that is, one who had served an apprenticeship, and 
 was entitled to wages as a journeyman ; and master-mason. The 
 latter degree entitled its possessor to contract for building on his 
 own account. It was not until the beginning of the eighteenth 
 century, that any one, according to the regulations of the society, 
 could be admitted a member, who did not labour at the trade of 
 masonry, or knew something of architecture ', although, perhaps, 
 through favour, some were smuggled in who had very little or no 
 knowledge of that art.* 
 
 * The author of this Preface, although he has thrown considerable light up* 
 on the subject, has been himself deceived by masonic writers in respect to the 
 origin of the existing society of Freemasons ; which is entirely speculative, ana 
 was instituted at the time' when, he says, persons not being masons by trade 
 were first admitted as members, viz. in the early part of the eighteenth centuryi 
 Late writers have shown, that the first Lurige ever established upon the exist* 
 
PREFACE. 303 
 
 As to the mysteries of the craft, so much talked of, they are of 
 the same nature as those of carpentry, or any other trade ; and 
 consist in a knowledge of the art of masonry ; which was thought 
 much more of at the time the spciety was instituted, than at the 
 present day. The trifling rifwi and ceremonies, which the ma- 
 sons borrowed from the ancient Druids, are mere allegories, and 
 symbolical signs and words, serving as a medium of secrecy, by 
 means of which the members of the society are enabled to recogr 
 nize each other. 
 
 There is no more propriety in prefixing the term free to mason- 
 ry, than there is to carpentry, smithery, or to any other trade. 
 It is inapplicable to any art or trade ; although it may be applied to 
 the professors of it. At the time the free masons' society was first 
 instituted in England there were in that kingdom both free men 
 and slaves in all the mechanical trades then in use, Doctor Hen- 
 ry, in his history of Great Britain, giving an account of the differ- 
 ent ranks of people, &c. from 449 to 1066, after stating that 
 slavery had been in some degree meliorated, observes, (' But after 
 all these mitigations of the severities of slavery, the yoke of servi- 
 tude was still very heavy, and the greater part of the labourers, 
 mechanics, and common people, groaned under that yoke at the 
 conclusion" of this period." - , 
 
 AH the writers upon this subject, who are members of the so- 
 ciety, endeavpur to conceal the origin and object of it. For what 
 reason it is dificult to imagine, except it be to keep the world in 
 amazement respecting it. Or, perhaps, their pride induces them 
 to contemn the humble, though laudable and useful purposes for 
 which the institution was formed. Enough, however, has appeared 
 in the old records which they have published to establish the view 
 I have taken of it, and which, when I commenced this preface, I 
 intended to haye inserted ; but finding they would extend to too 
 
 ing speculative plan, was formed in London, in 1717; and that a similar society 
 wad formed in Scotland, in 1736. These two lodges soon began to quarrel 
 about precedency ; each endeavouring to proye its priority by existing records 
 of the bumble mechanical societies of labouring masons, which had been es- 
 tablished in both kingdoms many centuries before. The Yorkites, in England, 
 it is believed, produced the oldest documents : both societies, however, continu- 
 ed to grant dispensations for forming lodges in foreign countries, 
 
 ' From these two sources all the Freemason societies, upon the present es- 
 tablishment, owe their origin. Nothing of the kind ever existed in Europe, or 
 any other quarter of the world, previously to 1 7 1 7. Although ostensibly found- 
 ed upon a society of real working masons, nothing is now taught in it, nor ever 
 has been, of that art, or any other art or science. — Ed. 
 
804 PREFACE. 
 
 great a length, I am under the necessity of omitting them. I will, 
 however, make a few extracts from the old charges of the Free and 
 Accepted Masons, collected from their old records, at the com- 
 mand of the Grand Master, by James Anderson, D. ~D. Apr 
 proved by the grand Lodge, and ordered to be printed in the first 
 edition of the book of constitutions, on March 25; 1722. 
 
 " Concerning God and religion. A mason is obliged, by his 
 tenure, to obey the moral law ; and if he rightly understands the 
 art, he will never be a stupid atheist, nor an irreligious libertine. 
 But though in ancient times masons were charged in every coun- 
 try to be of the religion of that country or nation, whatever it was f 
 yet it is now thought more expedient only to oblige them to that 
 Religion in which all men agree, leaving their particular opinions 
 to themselves ; that is, to be good men and true, or men of honor 
 and honesty, by whatever denominations or persuasions they may 
 be distinguished ; whereby masonry becomes the centre of union ? 
 and the means of conciliating true friendship among persons, that 
 must have remained at a perpetual distance.* 
 
 -',' Of lodges. A lodge is a place where masons assemble and 
 work i hence that assembly, or duly organized society of masons, 
 is called a lodge ; and every brother ought to belong to one, and 
 to be subject to its By-Laws and the general regulations. 
 
 " The persons admitted members of a lodge, must be good and 
 true men, free-born, and of mature and discreet age, no b,ond r 
 ,men ? mo women, no immoral or scandalous men, but of good 
 report. . 
 
 u Of apprentices. Candidates may know, that no master should 
 take an apprentice, unless he has sufficient employment for him, 
 .and unless he.be a perfect youth, having no maim or defect in his 
 body, that may render him incapable of learning the art, of serv- 
 ing his master's lord, and of being made a brother, and then a 
 fellow-craft in due time, even after he has served such a term of 
 
 * William Preston, past master of the lodge of antiquity, in his illustrations 
 of masonry, makes the following remarks on the same subject. " The spirit 
 of the fulminating priest will be tamed ; and a moral brother, though of a dif- 
 ferent persuasion, engage his esteem ^ for mutual toleration in religious opin- 
 ions is one of the most distinguishing and valuable characteristics of the craft. 
 As all religions teach'morality, if a brother be found to act the part of a. truly 
 holiest man, his private speculative opinions are left to God and himself. Thus 
 through the influence of masonry, which is reconcilable to the best policy, all 
 those disputes which imbitler life, and sour the tempers of men, are avoided.* 
 
PREFACE. 305 
 
 years, as the custom of the country directs ; and that he Bhould 
 be descended of honest parents. 
 
 " Of the management of the craft in working. All masons shall 
 y*ork honestly, on working days, that they may- live cjreditably on 
 feoly^da-ys ; and the time appointed by the law of the land, or con- 
 firmed by custom, shall be observed. 
 
 " The most expert of the fellow-icraftmen shall be chosen, or 
 appointed the master or overseer of the lord's work ; who is to 
 be called master by those that work under him. The craftsmen 
 are to avoid all ill language, and to call each other by no disoblig- 
 ing name, but brother or fellow ; and to behave themselves cour- 
 teously within and without the lodge. 
 
 " The master, knowing himself to be able of cunning, shall un- 
 dertake the lord's work as reasonably as possible, and truly dis- 
 pend -his goods as if they were his own ; nor give more wages to 
 any brother or apprentice, than he really may deserve. 
 
 " Both the master and the masons receiving their wages justly, 
 shall , be faithful to the lord, and honestly finish their work, whe- 
 ther task or journey ; nor put the work to task that hath been 
 accustomed to journey. 
 
 " None shall discover envy at the prosperity of a brother, nor 
 supplant ,him, or put him out of his work, if he be capable to 
 finish the same ; for no man can finish another's work so much to 
 the lord's profit, unless he be thoroughly acquainted with the de- 
 signs and draughts of him that began it. 
 
 "3Vhen a fellow-craftsman is chosen warden of the work under 
 the master, he shall be true both to master and fellows, shall care- 
 fully oversee the work in the master's absence, to the lord's profit ; 
 and his brethren shall obey him. 
 
 /" All masons employed, shall meekly receive their wages with- 
 outmurmuring or mutiny, and" not desert the master till the work is 
 finished. 
 
 " A younger brother shall be instructed in working, to prevent 
 spoilingthe materials for want of judgment, and for increasing 
 and continuing of brotherly love. 
 
 " AH the tools used in working shall be approved by the Grand 
 Lodge. 
 
 ;'.' No labourer shall be employed -in the proper work of masonry ; 
 nor shall Free Masons work with those that are not Free, without 
 
 39 
 
306 PREFACE. 
 
 an urgent necessity ; nor shall they teach labourers and unaccept- 
 ed masons, as they should teach a brother or fellow. 
 
 "Of behaviour in the Lodge while constituted. - If any complaint 
 be brought, the brother found guilty shall stand to the awarcLaud 
 determination of the lodge, who are the proper and competent 
 judges of all such controversies, (unless you carry it by appeal to 
 the Grand Lodge,) and to whom they ought to be referred,, unless 
 a lord's work be hindered the mean while, in which case a par- 
 ticular reference may be made ; but you must never go to law 
 about what concerneth masonry, without an absolute necessity ap- 
 parent to the lodge, 
 
 " Behaviour in presence of strangers not masons. You shall be 
 cautious in your words and carriage, that the most penetrating 
 stranger shall Hot be able to discover or find out^what is not pro- 
 per to be intimated ; and sometimes you shall divert a discourse, 
 and manage it prudently for the honour of the worshipful fra- 
 ternity. 
 
 "Behaviour at home, and in your neighbourhood. You are to act 
 as becomes a moral and wise man ; particularly, not to let your 
 family, friends, and neighbours know the concerns of the Lodge, 
 &c, but wisely to consult your own honour, and that of the an- 
 cient brotherhood. You must also consult your health, by not 
 continuing together too late, or too long from home, after lodge 
 hours are past ; and by avoiding of gluttony and drunkenness that 
 your families be not neglected or injured, nor you disabled from 
 working. 
 
 " Behaviour towards a strange brother. You are cautiously to 
 examine him, in such a method as prudence shall direct you, that 
 you may not'be imposed upon by an ignorant false pretender, 
 whom you are to reject with contempt and derision, and beware of 
 giving him any hints of knowledge. 
 
 '* But if you discover him to be a true and genuine brother, you 
 are to respect him accordingly ; and if he is in wanj, you must 
 relieve him if you can, or else direct him how he may be relieved; 
 you must employ him some days, or else recommend him to be 
 employed. But you are not charged to do beyond your. ability t 
 only to prefer a poor brother that is a good man and true, before 
 any other poof*people in the same circumstances.'' 
 
 AH the old charges have a reference to Free Masons in the - ca- 
 pacity of labourers, and as " good men and true," and, no doubt, 
 
"PREFACE. 307 
 
 had a beneficial effect. But the substance has been lost sight of, 
 and the skeleton, or shadow, only retained. The mummery of the 
 Druidical priests, with infinite additions of the same cast, is cher- 
 ished as the desideratum of knowledges calculated to complete the 
 sum of human happiness and perfection. The corruptions of the " 
 Society seem to have" kept pace with those of the Christian reli- 
 gion. It is at this day as different to what it was, as the Christian- 
 ity now professed is to the religion taught by Jesus Christ. In his 
 time there were no Doctors of Divinity — Right Reverend Fathers 
 in God, nor their Holinesses the Popes. Neither were there in 
 the Society of Free Masons, at its commencement,. any Grand 
 Secretaries — Grand 'Treasurers— Knights of Malta— Captain 
 Generals — Generalissamos— Most Excellent Scribes— Most Ex- 
 cellent High Priests^Most Excellent Kings, &c. &c* To 
 which might now, perhaps, very appropriately be added, Grand 
 bottle holder and cork drawer. 
 
 The admission into the society of kings, princes, noblemen, 
 bishops, and doctors in divinity, as patrons of the institution, has 
 probably been the cause of so great change. These men, it may 
 be presumed, brought much of their consequence with them into 
 the Lodge, and were, no doubt, addressed in a manner suitable 
 to their supposed dignity in other stationr. At any rate, by what' 
 ever means these high sounding titles may have been introduced, 
 they appear ridiculous when applied to members of an institution 
 founded for such purpose as that of the Masonic Society, and 
 ought to be abandoned. 
 
 It is difficult, at this time, for members of the Society, or any 
 body else, to say what benefit is to be derived from the magical 
 arts pretended to be practised in the Lodges. The mystic rites 
 and ceremonies of the Egyptian priests, handed ddwn to the Druids 
 by Pythagoras ; the . miraculous stories related of the ancient 
 Jews ; and the legendary tales of Roman Catholic superstition, 
 fruitful sources of imposition, have been ransacked to find subjects 
 for hew degrees to be tacked to the Society of Free Maspns. I 
 have in my possession a list of forty-three degrees in what is 
 called Free Masonry ; one of which is the order of the Holy 
 Ghost. 
 
 * This is true, if reference be made to what it wits, Tyhe'n under the manage* 
 mentof the real masons, the operatives previously to the year 171 7. 
 
308 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 If, as here represented, all this mystical nonsense has been ob- 
 truded into the Society, it may be asked, why do men of sense 
 attach themselves to it 1 I answer, many retire from it after taking 
 two or three degrees ; some have political or other sinister views 
 which retain tbemy and, furthermore* most men are fond of dis- 
 tinction in some way. Any man, of common understanding, by 
 being punctual at the meetings, and paying.strict attention to the 
 ceremonies, may become a Warden, that is, overseer, or some 
 other grand office, even that of Most Worshipful Grand Master; 
 and in the mean time, keep mounting up the ladder, from mystery 
 to mystery, till he arrives at the forty-third degree of perfection : 
 which, however, in my opinion, cannot be of the least possible ad- 
 vantage to him here or hereafter, any further than the consequence 
 it may give him. As to' those who serve in the ranks, they probably 
 consider themselves sufficiently honored by being hailed as broth 
 ers by those whom they think their superiors, and permitted to 
 parade the streets with ribbands and white aprons, to the amaze- 
 ment of the profane vulgar. 
 
 Notwithstanding the remarks I have made, I am by no means 
 inimical to the Masonic Society; for I believe it to be a liberal, 
 social institution, in which persons of the most opposite opinions 
 on religious and political subjects associate in the utmost harmony. 
 By these friendly meetings, it is" to be presumed, that party-spirit, 
 both in politics and religion, loses much of its asperity among the 
 members ; and that those, who otherwise might have entertained 
 hostile feelings towards each other, become friends. In this point 
 of view, the Society deserves to be held in the highest estimation ; 
 for however laudable zeal may be in a just cause, when carried to 
 excess, so as to excite personal ill-will towards others of contrary 
 opinions, it degenerates into its kindred vice, leading to hatred 
 and persecution. No good reason can be given why men of the 
 same or similar societies should entertain greater partiality for one 
 another, than for others of their fellow-men, any further than their 
 merits when known may deserve ; and to this it is generally limit- 
 ed among men of sense : still, in consequence of the obligations 
 by which Masons are bound to each other, and a sort of bigotry 
 in many, this partiality has had its good effects in mitigating the 
 evils of war; and, for men who travel, a diploma from a Lodge 
 has passed as a letter of recommendation in foreign countries. 
 
PREFACE. 309 
 
 As a charitable institution, the Masonic Society ought to be 
 neld in, high consideration. The relief it grants to its members 
 and their families in distress* is very considerable. But, unfortu- 
 nately, as I am told, its means are very much exhausted by ex- 
 penses incurred for refreshments at the regular meetings. If 
 each member were required to pay for what he consumes at those 
 meetings, the society, in consequence of its numbers, by its in- 
 come arising from annual contributions, fees of initiation, &c, 
 would be enabled to do more in charity, perhaps, than any private 
 society in existence. 
 
 As to what Mr. Paine has said upon this abstruse subject, I take 
 the liberty of observing, that, in my opinion, notwithstanding the 
 talents he has bestowed upon it, and the interest he has given to 
 it, his remarks, made doubtless in the utmost sincerity, are calcu- 
 lated to perplex and embarrass readers not conversant in these 
 matters, as much as those of any other author, whose design was 
 to involve it in unintelligible mystery. 
 
 "In thoughts more elevate, he reasoned high, 
 But found no end, in wand'ring mazes lost." 
 
ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 
 
 It is always understood that Free-Masons have a secret which 
 
 ' they carefully conceal ; s but from every thing that can be collected 
 
 from their own accounts of Masonry, their real secret is no other 
 
 than their origin, which but few of them understand ; and those 
 
 who do, envelope it in mystery. 
 
 The Society of Masons are distinguished into three classes or 
 degrees. 1st. The entered apprentice. 2d. The Fellow-Craft. 
 3d. The Master Mason. 
 
 The entered apprentice knows but little more of Masonry, than 
 the use of signs and. tokens, and certain steps and words, by which 
 Masons can recognize each other, without being discovered by 
 a person who is not a Mason. The fellow-craft is not much bet- 
 ter instructed in Masonry, than the entered apprentice. It is 
 only in the Master Mason's lodge, that whatever knowledge re- 
 mains of thfijjorigin of Masonry is preserved and concealed. 
 
 In 1730VSamuel Pritchard, member of a constituted lodge in 
 Fngland, published a treatise entitled Masonry Dissected ; and 
 made oath before the Lord Mayor of London, that it was a true 
 copy. 
 
 " Samuel Pritchard maketh oath that the copy hereunto annex- 
 ed is a true and genuine copy in every particular." 
 
 In his work he has given the catechism, or examination, in 
 question and answer, \jf the apprentices, the fellow-craft, and the 
 Master Mason. There was no difficulty in doing this, as it is 
 mere form. 
 
 In his introduction he says, " the original institution of Mason- 
 ry consisted in the foundation of the liberal arts and sciences, but 
 
ORIGIN OP FREE-MASONRY. 311 
 
 more especially in Geometry, for at the building of the tower of 
 Bable, the art and mysterpoi Masonry was first introduced, and 
 from thence handed down by Euclid, a worthy and excellent ma- 
 thematician of the Egyptians ; and he communicated it to Hiram, 
 the Master Mason concerned in building Solomon's Temple in 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 Besides the absurdity of deriving Masonry from the building of 
 Babel, where, according to the story, the confusion of languages 
 prevented the builders understanding each other, and~consequent- 
 ly of communicating any knowledge they had there, is a glaring 
 contradiction in point of chronology in the account he gives. 
 
 Solomon's Temple was built and dedicated 1004 years before 
 the Christian era ; and Euclid, as may be seen in the tables of 
 chronology, lived 277 years before the same era. It was there- 
 fore impossible that Euclid could communicate any thing tp 
 Hiram, since Euclid did not live till 700 years after the time of 
 Hiram. 
 
 In 1783, Captain George Smith, inspector of the Royal Artil- 
 lery Academy at Woolwich, in England, and Provincial Grand 
 Master of Masonry for the county of Kent,-publis.hed a treatise 
 entitled, The (Jse.and Abuse of Free-Masonry. 
 
 In his chapter of the antiquity of Masonry, he makes it to be co- 
 eval with creation. " When," says he, " the sovereign architect 
 raised on Masonic principles the beauteous globe, and commanded 
 that master science, Geometry, to lay the planetary world, and tp 
 regulate by its laws the whole stupendous system in just unerring 
 proportion, rolling round the central sun." 
 
 " But," continues he, " I am not at liberty publicly to undra\f 
 the curtain, and thereby to descant on this head ; it is sacred, and 
 will ever remain so ; those who are honoured with the trust will 
 not reveal it, and those who are ignorant of it cannot betray it." 
 By this last part of the phrase, Smith means the two inferior classr 
 es, the fellow-craft and the entered apprentice, for he says, in the 
 next page of his work, "It is not every one that is barely initiated 
 into Free-Masonry that is entrusted with all the mysteries thereto 
 belonging ; they are- not attainable as thiqgs of course, nor by every 
 capacity." 
 
 The learned, but unfortunate Doctor Dodd, Grand Chaplain of 
 Masonry, in his oration at the dedication of Free-Mason's-Hall, 
 London, traces Masonry through a variety of stages. Masons, 
 
312 ORIGIN OP FREMMASONIIY. 
 
 'says he, are 'well informed from their own private and interior re- 
 cords, that the building of Solomon's Temple is an importapt era, 
 from whence they derive many' mysteries of their art. " Now 
 (says he,) be it remembered that this great event took place above 
 1000 years before the Ghristian era, and consequently more than 
 a century before Homer, the first of the Grecian Poets, wrote ; 
 and above five centuries before Pythagoras brought from the east 
 his sublime system of truly masonic instruction to illuminate our 
 western world. 
 
 " But, remote as this period is, we date not from thence the 
 commencement of our art. For though it might owe to the wise 
 and glorious King of Israel, some of its many mystic forms and 
 hieroglyphic ceremonies, yet certainly the art itself is coeval with 
 man, the great subject of it. 
 
 " We trace," continues he, " its footsteps in the most distant, 
 the most remote ages and nations of the world. We find it amongst 
 the first and most celebrated civilizers of the East. We deduce it 
 regularly from the first astronomers on the plains of Chaldea, to 
 the wise and mystic kings and priests of Egypt, the sages of 
 Greece, and the philosophers of Rome." 
 
 From these reports and declarations of Masons ,of the highest 
 order in the institution, we see that Masonry, without publicly de- 
 claring so, lays claim to some divine communication from the 
 Creator, in a manner different from, and unconnected with, the 
 book which the Christians call the Bible ; and the natural result 
 from this is, that Masonry is derived from some very ancient re? 
 ligion, wholly independent of, and unconnected with that book. 
 
 To come then at once to the point, Masonry (as I shall show 
 from the customs, ceremonies, hieroglyphics, and chronology of 
 Masonry) is derived, and is the remains of the religion of the an- 
 cient Druids ; who, like the magi of Persia and the priests of 
 Heliopolis in Egypt, were priests of the sun. They paid worship 
 to this'great luminary, as the great visible agent of a'great inyisi? 
 ble first cause, whom they stiled. Time without limits. 
 
 The Christian religion and Masonry have one and the same 
 common origin, both are dejived from the worship of the sun ; the 
 difference between their origin is, that the Christian religion is a 
 parody on the worship of the sun, in which they put a man whom 
 they call Christ, in the place of the sun, and pay him the samo 
 
ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONHY. 813 
 
 adoration which was originally paid tp the sun, as I have shown ire 
 the chapter on the origin of the Christian religion.* 
 
 In Masonry many of the ceremonies of the Druids are preserv- 
 ed in their original state, at least without any parody. With them 
 the sun is still the sun ; and his image in the form of the sun, is 
 the great emblematical ornament of Masonic Lodges and -Masonic 
 dresses. It is the central figure on tt^eir aprons, and they, wear it 
 also -pendant on the breast in their lodges, and in their processions. 
 It has the figure of a man, as at the head of the sun,, as Christ is 
 always represented. 
 
 At what period of antiquity, or in what nation, this religion was 
 first established, -isiost in the labyrinth of unrecorded times. It is 
 generally ascribed to the ancient Egyptians, .the Babylonians and 
 Chaldeans, and reduced afterwards to a system regulated by the 
 .apparent progress of the sun through the-twelve signs of zodiac by 
 Zoroaster the lawgiver of Persia, from whence Pythagoras brought 
 it into Greece. It is to these matters Dr. Dodd refers in the pas- 
 sage already quoted from his oration. 
 
 The worship of the sun, as the great visible agent of a great in- 
 visible first cause, time without limits, spread itself over a consi- 
 derable part of Asia and Africa, from thence to Greece and Rome, 
 through all ancient Gaul, and into Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Smith, in his chapter on the antiquity of Masonry in Britain, 
 says, that " notwithstanding the obscurity which envelopes masonic 
 history in that country, various circumstances contribute to prove 
 that Free-Masonry was introduced into Britain about 1030 years 
 before Christ," 
 
 It cannot be Masonry in its present state that Smith here alludes, 
 to. The Druids flourished in Britain at the period he speaks of, 
 and it is from them that Masonry is descended. Smith has put 
 the child in the place of the parent. 
 
 It sometimes happens, as well in writing as in conversation, 
 that a person lets slip an expression that serves to unravel what he 
 intends to conceal, and this is the case with Smith, for in the same 
 chapter he says, " The Druids, when they committed any thing to 
 writing, used the Greek alphabet, and I am bold to assert that the 
 most perfect remains of the Druid's rites and ceremonies are 
 
 * Referring to an unpublished portion of the work of which thii chapter 
 forrnn a part. 
 
 40 
 
314 ORIGIN OF FUEE-MASONRV. 
 
 preserved inthe customs and ceremonies of the Masons tnat arc to 
 be found existing among mankind. " My brethren" says he, ".may 
 be able to trace them with greater exactness than I am at liberty 
 to explain to th# padaKe..?' 
 
 This is- a confession from a Master Mason,, without intending it 
 to be so understood by the public, that Masonry is the remains of 
 the religion of the. -Druids } the reasons for the Masons keeping 
 this a secret 1 shall explain in the course of this work. - 
 
 As the study* and* eontemplation of the Creator iu the worts of 
 the. creation, of which the sun, as the great visible agent of that 
 Being, was the visible object of the adoration of Druids,, all their 
 religious rites- and ceremonies had reference to the apparent pro- 
 gress of- the sun through the twelve signs of the Zodiac,, and his 
 influence upon the earth. The Masons adopt the same practices. 
 The roof of their temples or lodges is ornamented with a sun, and 
 the, floor is a representation of the variegated face of the ear* 1 *, 
 either by carpeting or by Mosaic work. 
 
 Free-Masons' HaH, in Great Queen-street, Lincoln's Tna 
 Fields, London, is a magnificent building, and cost upwards of 
 12,000 pounds sterling. Smith, in speaking of this building, says, 
 (page 152.) " The roof of this magnificent hall is, in all proba- 
 bility the highest piece of finished architecture in Europe. In the 
 centre of this roof, a most sesplendent sun is represented in burn- 
 ished gold, surrounded! with the twelve signs, of the Zodiac, with, 
 thei respective characters : 
 
 If Aries* 
 b Taurtrs 
 II Gemini 
 °d Cancer 
 £fc Leo 
 TT£Yirgc- 
 
 =2= Libra 
 TT( Scorpio 
 i Sagittarius * 
 Y3 Capricornus 
 £? Aquarius 
 3£ Pisces 
 
 After giving this descrfption,.he says,. " The emblematical mean- 
 ing of the sun is well known to the enlightened and inquisitive 
 Free-Mason, ; and as the real sun, is situated in the centre of the 
 universe, so» the emblematical sun* is. the centre of real Masonry. 
 We all know continues he, that the sun is the fountain of light, the 
 source of the seasons, the cause of the vicissitudes of day and 
 night, the, parent of vegetation, the friend of man ; henee the sci- 
 entific Free-Mason only knows the reason why the sun is placed 
 in the centre of this beautiful hall." 
 
ftltfGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 315 
 
 The Masons, in order to project themselves from the persecu 
 »ion of the Christian church, have always spoken in a mystical 
 manner of the figure of the sun in their lodges, or, like the astron- 
 omer Lalande, who is a rrrason, been silent upon the subject. It is 
 ■their secret, especially in Catholic countries, because the figure of 
 the sun is the expressive criterion that denotes they are descended 
 from the Druids, and that wise, elegant, philosophical, religion, was 
 the faith opposite to the faith of the "gloomy Christian church. 
 
 The lodges of the Masons, if built for the purpose, are con- 
 structed in a manner to correspond with the apparent motion of 
 the sun. They arc situated East and West. The master's place 
 is always in the East. In the examination of an entered appren- 
 tice, the master, among many other questions, asks him, • 
 Q. Howls the lodge situated 2 
 A. East and West. 
 
 Q. Whyeo? ; 
 
 A. Because ail churches and chapels are, or ought to be so. 
 This answer, which is mere catechismal form, is not an answer 
 to the question. It does no more than remove the question a pofnt 
 further, which is, -why ought all churches and chapels to be so? 
 But as the entered apprentice is not initiated into the Druidical 
 mysteries of Masonry, he is not asked any questions to which a 
 direct answer would lead thereto. 
 Q. Where stands your master! 
 
 A. In the East. ^ * 
 
 Q. Why so 1 
 
 A. As the sun rises in the East; and ' opens the day, so the master 
 stands in the East, (with his right hand upon his left breast, being 
 a sign, and the square about his neck,) to open the lodge, and set 
 his men at work. 
 
 Q. Where, stand your wardens ? 
 A. In the West. 
 Q. What is their business 1 
 
 A. As the sun sets in the West to dose the day, so the ward- 
 ens stand in the West, (with their right hands upon their left breasts 
 beting a sign, and the level and plumb rule about their necks*), to 
 close the lodge, and dismiss the men from labour, paying them 
 their wages. 
 
 Here the name of the sun is mentioned, but it is. proper to ob- 
 serve, that in this place it has reference only to labour or to the 
 
816 ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 
 
 time of labour, and not to any religious Druidical rite or ceremony, 
 as it would have with respect to the situation of lodges East and 
 West, - 1 have already observed in the chapter on the origin of 
 the Christian religion, that the situation of churches East .and 
 West is taken from the worship of the sun, which rises in the east, 
 and has not the least reference to the person called Jesus Christ. 
 The Christians never bury their dead on the North side of a 
 church ;* and a Mason's Lodge always has, or is supposed to 
 -have, three windows which are called fixed lights, to distinguish 
 them from the moveable lights of the sun and the moon. The 
 master asks the entered apprentice, 
 
 Q. How are they (the fixed lights) situated ? 
 
 A. East, West, and South. 
 
 Q. What are their uses ? . 
 
 A. To light the men to and from their work. 
 
 Q. Why are there no lights in the North 1 
 
 A. Because the sun darts no rays from thence. 
 
 This, among numerous other instances, shows that the Christian 
 religion, and Masonry, have one and the same common origin, the 
 ancient worship of the" sun. 
 
 The high festival of the Masons is on the day they call St. John's 
 day ; but every enlightened Mason must know that holding their 
 festival on this day has no reference to the person called St. John ; 
 and that it is only to disguise the true cause of holding it on this 
 
 * This may have beea the case formerly, but I believe, at present, very lit- 
 tle attention is paid to the position of burying grounds in respect to churches. 
 In regard to " the situation of Churches east and west," I find the rule was ob- 
 served as late as the time of building Saint Paul'3 Cathedral, which was finish- 
 ed in 1697. William Presten, in giving a description of this edifice, in his Illus- 
 trations of Masonry, says, " A strict regard to the situation of this Cathedral, 
 due east and west, hasgiven it an oblique appearance with respect to Ludgate-' 
 street in front; so that the great front gate in the surrounding iron rails, being 
 made to regard the street in front, rather than the church to which it belongs, 
 the statue of queen Ann, that is exactly in the middle of the west front, is 
 thrown on one side the straight approach from the gate to the ch urch, and gives 
 an idea of the whole edifice being awry." In 1707, Sir Christopher Wren, the 
 Architect of St. Paul's Cathedral, m a letter addressed to a joint commissioner 
 with himself for building fifty churches in addition to others already built, to sup- 
 ply the place of those destroyed by the conflagration of 166S,observcs, "Icould 
 wish that all the burials in churches should be disallowed, which is not only 
 unwholesome, but the pavements can never be kept even, nor pews upright ; 
 arid 'f the Church-yard is close about the church, this also is inconvenient. It 
 will be enquired, where then shall be the burials ? I, answer in cemeteries 
 seated in the out-skirts of the town. As to the situation of the churches, 1 
 should propose they be brought as forward as possible into the larger and more 
 open streets. Nor are we, I think, too nicely to observe East and West in the 
 position, unless it falls out pVoperly." See Anderson's Book of Constitutions 
 of the Free-Masons. — Editor. 
 
ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 317 
 
 day, that tbey call the day by that name. As "there were Masons, 
 or at least Druids, many centuries before the time of St. John, if 
 such person ever existed, the holding their festival on this day 
 must refer to some cause totally unconnected with John. 
 
 The case is, that the day called St, John's day, is the 24th of 
 June, and is what is called Midsummer«day. The sun is then ar- 
 rived at the summer solstice ; and, with respect to his meridional 
 altitude, or ..height at high noon, appears for some days to be of the 
 same height. The astronomical longest day, like the shortest day, 
 is not every year, on account of leap year, on the same numerical 
 day, and therefore the 24th of June is always taken for Midsum- 
 mer-day ; and it is in' honor of the sun, which has then arrived at 
 his greatest height, in Our hemisphere, and not any thing with 
 respect to St. John, that this annual festival of the Masons, taken 
 from the Druids, is celebrated on Midsummer-day. 
 
 Customs will often outlive.the remembrance of their origin, and 
 this is the case with respect to a custom still practised in Ireland, 
 where the Druids flourished at the time they flourished in Britain. 
 On the eve of Saint John's day, that is, on the eve of Midsummer 
 day,. the Irish light fires on the tops of the hills. This can have no 
 reference to St. John ; but it has emblematical reference to the 
 sun, which on that day is at his highest summer elevation, and 
 might in common language be said to have arrived at the top of 
 the hill. 
 
 As to what Masons, and books of Masonry, tell us of Solomon's 
 Temple at Jerusalem, it is no wise improbable .that some masonic 
 ceremonies may have been derived from the building of that tem- 
 ple, for the worship of the sun was in practice many centuries be- 
 fore the temple existed, or before the Israelites came out of Egypt. 
 And we learn from the history of the Jewish Kings, 2 Kings, chap, 
 xxii. xxiiL that the worship of the sun was performed by the Jews 
 in that temple. It is, however, much to be doubted, if it was done 
 with the same scientific purity and religious morality, with which it 
 was performed by the Druids, who, by all accounts that historically 
 remain of them, were a wise, learned, and moral class of men. 
 The Jews, on the contrary, were ignorant of astronomy, and of 
 science in general, and if a religion founded upon astronomy, fell 
 into their hands, it is almost certain it would 'be corrupted. We 
 do not read in the history of the Jews, whether in the Bible or 
 elsewhere, that they were the inventors or the improvers of any 
 
313 ORIGIN OF FREE MASONrtT. 
 
 one art or science. Even in the building of this temple, the Jews 
 did not know how to square and frame the timber for beginning 
 and carrying on the wtfrk, and Solomon was obliged to send to 
 Hiram, King of Tyre, (Zidon) to procure workmen ; " for thou 
 knowest, (says -Solomon to Hiram, 1 Kings, chap. v. ver. 6.) that 
 there is not among us -any that can skill to hew timber like unto 
 the Zidonians," This temple was more properly Hiram's temple 
 than Solomon's, and if the Masons derive any thing from the 
 building of it, they -owe it to the Zidonians and not to the Jews.- 
 But to return to the worship of the sun in this temple. 
 
 It is said, 2 Kings, chap, xxiii. ver. 8. " And king Josiah put 
 down all the idolatrous priests that burned incense unto the sun, 
 the moon, the planets, and all the host of heaven." — And it is said 
 at the lith ver. " and he took away the horses that the kings of 
 Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the 
 Lord, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire; ver. 13, and 
 the high plaees that were before Jerusalem, which were on the 
 right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of 
 Israel had builded for AstoretB, the abomination of the Zido- 
 nians (the very people that built the temple) "did the king defile. 
 
 Besides these things, the description that Josephiis gives of the 
 decorations of this temple, resembles on a large scale those of a 
 Mason's Lodge. He says that the distribution of the several 
 parts of the temple of the Jews represented all nature, particularly 
 the parts most apparent of it, as the sun, the moon, the planets, the 
 zodiac, the earth, the elements ; and that the system of the world 
 was retraced there by numerous ingenious emblems. These, in all 
 probability, are, what Josiah, in his ignorance, calls the abomina- 
 tions of the Zidonians.* Every thing, however, drawn from this 
 temple,| and applied to Masonry, still refers to the worship of the 
 
 * Smith; in speaking of a Lodge, says, when the Lodge is revealed to an en- 
 tering Mason, it discovers to him a representation of the world ; in which, from 
 the wonders of nature, we are led to contemplate her great Original, and wor- 
 ship him from his mighty works ; and we are thereby also moved to exercise 
 those moral and social virtues which become mankind as the servants of_the 
 great Architect of the world. 
 
 f It maynot be improper here to observe, that the law called the law of 
 Mos«s could not have been in existence at the time of building this temple. 
 Here is the likeness of things in heaven above and in the earth beneath. And 
 we read in 1, Kings, chap. 6, 7, that Solomon made cherubs and cherubims. that 
 he carved all the walls of the house "round about with cherubims and palm- 
 trees, and open flowers, and that he made a molten sea, placed on twelve oxen, 
 and the ledges of it were ornamented with lions, oxen, and cherubims ; all this 
 il contrary to the law, called thelaw of Moses. 
 
ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 319 
 
 sun, however corrupted or mi? understood by the Jews, and, con- 
 sequently, to the religion of the Druids. 
 
 . Another circumstance, which shows- tl at Masonry is derived 
 from some ancient, system, prior to, and unconnected with, the 
 Christian religion, is the chronology, or method of counting time, 
 used by the Masons in the records of their lodges. They make 
 no use of what is called the Christian era ; and they reckon their 
 months numerically, as the ancient Egyptians did, and as the 
 Quakers do 'now. I have by me, a record of a French lodge, 
 at the time the late Duke of Orleans, then Duke de Cliartres, was 
 Grand Master of Masonry in France. . It hegins as follows : 
 " Le irentkme jour du/sixieme mois deVan rfe la V. L, cinq, mil 
 sept cent soixante trois ;" that is, the thirteenth day of the sixth' 
 month of the year^jf the venerable Lodge, five thousand seven 
 hundred and se*e^fe&lEree. By what I observe in English books of 
 Masonry, the English Masons use the initials A. L. and not V. L. 
 By A. L. they mean in the year of the Lodge,* as the Christians 
 by A. D. mean in the- year of our Lord. But A. L. like V. L. 
 refers tq. the same chronological era, that is, to the supposed time 
 of the creation, In the chapter on the origin of, the Christian 
 religion, I havfe shown that the cosmogany, that is, the account of 
 the creation, with which the book of Genesis opens, has. been taken 
 and mutilated from the Zend-Avista of Zoroaster, and is fixed as 
 a prefa.ee to the Bible, aftei; the Jews returned from captivity in 
 Babylon, and that the rabbins of the Jews'-do not hold their account 
 in Genesis to be a fact, but mere allegory. The six thousand 
 years in the Zend-Avista, is changed or interpolated into six days 
 in the account of Genesis. The Masons appear to have chosen 
 the same period, and perhaps to avoid the suspicion and persecu- 
 tion of the church, have adopted the era of the world, as the era of 
 Masonry. The V. L. of the French, and A. L. of the English 
 Mason, answer to the A. M. Anno Mundi, or year of the world. 
 ' Though the Masons have taken many of their ceremonies and 
 hieroglyphics from the ancient Egyptians, it is certain they have 
 not taken their chronology from thence. . If they had, the church 
 would soon have sent them to the sta>kej as the chronology of 
 
 * V. L. used byFrench Masons, are the initials of Vraie Lumiere, true fight.;. 
 and A. L. used by the English, are the initials of Anno Lftcis; in the year of 
 tight. But, asin both cases, as Mr. Paine ^observes, reference is had to the sup- 
 posed tune of the creation, his mistake is of no consequence.— Editor. 
 
320 ORIGIN OF FREE-MASONRY. 
 
 the Egyptian's, like that of the Chinese, goes many thousand 
 years beyond the Bible chronology. 
 
 .The religion of the -Druids, as before said, was the same as the 
 religion of the ancient Egyptians. The priests oflEgyptwere the 
 professors" and teachers of science, a«d were styled priests of 
 Heliopolis, thatis, of the city of the sun. The Druids in Europe, 
 who were the" same order of men, have their name from the Teu- 
 tonic or ancient German language ; the Germans being anciently 
 called Teutones. The word Druid signifies a wise man. In 
 Persia they were called magi, which signifies the same thing. 
 
 " Egypt, ,r says Smithy " from whence we derive many of our 
 mysteries, has always liornea distinguished rank in history, and 
 was once celebrated above all others for its antiquities, learning, 
 opulence and fertility. In their system, their principal hero-gods r 
 Osiris and Isis, theologically -represented the Supreme Being and 
 universal nature ; and physically the two great celestial lumi- 
 naries, the sun and the moon, by whose influence all nature was 
 actuated: The experienced brethren of the society* (says Smith 
 in a note to this passage) are well informed what affinity these 
 symbols bear to Masonry, and why they are used in all Masonic 
 Lodges." 
 
 In speaking of the apparol Of the Masons in their Lodges, part 
 of which, as we see in their public processions, is a white leathel 
 apron, he says, " the Druids were; apparelled in white at the time 
 of their^sacrifices and solemn offices. ; The Egyptian priests ol 
 Osiris wore snow-white cotton. The Grecian and most othei 
 priests wore White garments. As Masons, we regard the princi- 
 ples of those ivho were the first worshipers of the true God\ imi- 
 tate their apparel,- and assume the badge of innocence." 
 
 "The Egyptians," continues Smith, "in jj>e earliest ages con- 
 stituted a .great number of Lodges, but with assiduous care kept 
 their-secrets of Masonry from all strangers. These secrets have 
 been imperfectly handed down to us by tradition only, and ought 
 to be kept undiscovered to the labourers, craftsmen, and 1 appren- 
 tices, till by good behaviour and long study, they become, better 
 acquainted in geometry and the liberal arts, and thereby qualified 
 for Masters and Wardens, which is seldom or ever the case with 
 English Masons." 
 
 Under the head of Free-Masonry, written by the astronomer 
 Lalande, in the French Encyclopedia, I expected from his great 
 
ORIGIN OP FREE-MASONRY. 321 
 
 knowledge in astronomy, to have found much information on the 
 origin of Masonry ; for what connection can there , be between 
 any institution and the sun and twelve signs of the zodiac, if there 
 be not something in that institution, or in its origin, that has refer- 
 ence to astronomyT Every thing used as an hieroglyphic, has 
 reference to the subject and purpose for which it is used; and we 
 are not to suppose the Free-Masons, among whom are many very 
 learned and scientific men, to be such idiots as to make use of 
 astronomical signs without some astronomical purpose. 
 
 But I was much disappointed in my expectation from Lalande. 
 In speaking of the origin of Masonry, he says, "£.' origine de la 
 maconnerie seperd, comme tanl d'autres dans I'obscurite des temps;" 
 that is, the origin of Masonry, like many others, loses itself in the 
 obscurity of time. When I came to this expression, I supposed 
 Lalande a Mason, and on enquiry found he was. This passing 
 over saved him from the embarrassment which Masons are under 
 respecting the disclosure of their origin, and which they are sworn 
 to conceal. There is a society of Masons in Dublin who take 
 the name of Druids ; these Masons must be supposed to have a 
 reason for taking that name. 
 
 I come now to speak of the cause of secrecy used by the 
 Masons. 
 
 The natural source of secrecy is fear. When any new religion 
 over-runs a former religion, the professors of the new become the 
 persecutors of the old. We see this in all the instances that his- 
 tory brings before us. When Hilkiah the priest, and Shaphan the 
 scribe, in the reign of King Josiah, found, or pretended to find, the 
 law,' called the law of Moses, a thousand years after the time of 
 Moses, and it does not appear from the 2d book of Kings, chap- 
 ters 22, 23, that such law was ever practiced or known before the 
 time of Josiah, he established that law as a national religion, and 
 put all the priests of the sun to death. When the Christian reli- 
 gion over- ran the Jewish religion, the Jews were the continual 
 subjects of persecution in all Christian countries. When the 
 Protestant religion in England over-ran the Roman Catholic reli- 
 gion, it was made death for a Catholic priest to be found in Eng- 
 land. As this has been the case in all the instances we have any 
 knowledge of, we are obliged to admit it with respect to the case 
 in question, and that when the Christian religion over-ran the reli- 
 gion of the Druids in Italy, ancient Gaul, Britain, and Ireland, the 
 
g 2 2 ORIGIN Or FREE-MASONB.T. 
 
 Druids became the subjects of persecution. Thia would naturally 
 and necessarily oblige such of them as remained attached to their 
 original religion to meet in secret, and under the strongest injunc- 
 tions of secrecy. Their safety depended upon it. A false bro- 
 ther might expose the lives of many of them to destruction ; and 
 from the remains of the religion of the Druids, thus preserved, 
 arose the institution, which, to avoid the name of Druid, took that 
 of Mason, and practised, under this new name, the rights and 
 ceremonies of Druids. 
 
LETTER 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS, 
 
 TP=*« 
 
 My dear and venerable friend, 
 
 I received with great pleasure your friendly and affectionate 
 letter of Nov. 30th, and I thank you also for. the frankness of it. 
 Between men in pursuit of truth, and whose objectis the happi- 
 ness of man both here and hereafter, there ought to be no reserve. 
 Even error has a claim to indulgence, if not to respect, when it is 
 believed to be truth. I am obliged to you for your affectionate 
 remembrance of what you style my services in awakening the pub- 
 lic mind to a declaration of independence, and supporting it after 
 it was declared. I also, like you, have often looked back on those 
 times, and have thought, that if independence had not been de- 
 clared at the time it was, the public mind could hot have been 
 brought up to it afterwards. It will immediately occur to you, 
 who were so intimately acquainted with the situation of things st 
 that time, that I allude to the black times of seventy-six ; for thoisga 
 I know, and you my friend also know, they were no other than the 
 natural consequences of the military blunders of that campaign 
 the country might have viewed them as proceeding from a - natural 
 inability to support its cause against the enemy, and have sunk un- 
 der the despondency of that misconceived idea. This was the 
 impression against which it was necessary the country should be 
 Btrongly animated. 
 
324 LETTER TO 
 
 I now come to the second part of your letter, on which I shall 
 be as frank with you as you are with me. " But (say you) when 
 I heard you had turned your mind to a defence of infidelity, I felt 
 myself much astonished," &c. What, my good friend, do you 
 call-believing in God infidelity ? for that is the great point mention- 
 ed in the Age of Reason against all divided beliefs and allegori- 
 cal divinities. The Bishop of Llandaff (Dr. Watson) not only ac- 
 knowledges this, but pays me some compliments upon it, in his 
 answer to the second part of that work. " There is (says he) a 
 philosophical sublimity in some of your ideas, when speaking of 
 the Creator of the Universe." 
 
 What then, (my much esteemed friend, for I do not respect 
 you the less because we differ, and that perhaps not much, in re- 
 ligious sentiments,) what, I ask, is the thing called infidelity ? If 
 we go back to your ancestors and mine, three or four hundred 
 years ago, for we must have fathers, gtid grandfathers or we should 
 not have been here, we shall find them praying to saints and yir 
 gins, and believing in purgatory and transubstantiation ; and there 
 fore, all of us are infidels according to our forefather's belief. 
 If we go back to times more ancient we shall again be infidels ac- 
 cording to the belief of some other forefathers. 
 
 The case, my friend, is, that the world has been overrun with 
 fable and creed of human invention, with sectaries of whole 
 nations against other nations, and sectaries of those sectaries in 
 each of them against each other. Every sectary, except the 
 Quakers, have been persecutors. Those who fled from perse- 
 cution, persecuted in their turn, and* it is this confusion of creeds 
 that has filled the world with persecution, and deluged it with 
 blood. Even the depredation on your commerce by the Barbary 
 powers, sprang from the crusades of the church against those 
 powers. It was a war of creed against creed, each boasting ef 
 God for its author, aud reviling each other with the name of in- 
 fidel. If I do not believe as you believe, it proves that you do 
 not believe as I beljeve, and this is all that it proves. 
 
 There is, however, one point of union wherein all religions 
 
 meet, and that is in the first article of every man's creed, and 
 
 of every nation's creed, that has any creed at all, I believe in 
 
 God. Those who rest here, and there are millions who do, can- 
 
 * . 
 not be wrong as far as their creed goes. Those who choose to go 
 
 further may be wrong, for it is impossible that all can be right, 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 325 
 
 since there is so much contradiction among them. The first, 
 therefore, are, in my opinion, on the safest side. 
 
 I presume'you are so far acquainted with ecclesiastical history 
 as to know, and the bishop who has answered me has been obliged 
 to acknowledge the fact, that the Books that compose the New 
 Testament, were voted by yeas andnai/s to be the.Word of God, 
 as you now vote a law, by the Popish Councils of Nice and Lao- 
 docia, about fourteen hundred and fifty years ago. With respect 
 to the fact there is no dispute, neither do I mention it for the sake 
 of controversy. This vote may appear authority enough to some, 
 and not authority enough to others. It is proper, however, that 
 every body should know the fact. 
 
 With respect to the Age of Reason, which you so much con- 
 demn, and that, I believe, without having read it, for you say only 
 that you heard of it, I will inform you of a circumstance, because 
 you cannot know it by other means. 
 
 I have said in the first page of. the first part of that work, (hat 
 it had long, been my intention to publish my thoughts upon re- 
 ligion, but that I had reserved it to a later time of life. I have 
 now to inform you why I wrote it, and published it at the time I 
 did. 
 
 In the first place, I saw my life in continual danger. My 
 friends were falling as fast as the guillotine could cut their heads 
 off, and as I expected every day the same fate, I resolved, to be- 
 gin my work.. I appeared to myself to be on my death bed,.for 
 death was on every side of me, and I had no time to lose. 
 This accounts for my writing at the time I (lid, and so nicely did 
 the time and intention meet, that I had not finished the first part of 
 the work more than six hours before I was arrested and taken to 
 prison. Joel Barlow was with. me, and knows the fact. 
 
 In the second place, the people of France were running head- 
 long into atheism, and I had the work translated and published in 
 theft- own language, to stop them in that career, and fix them to the 
 first article (as I have before said) of every man's creed, who has 
 any creed at all, J believe in God. I endangered my own life, in 
 the first place, by opposing in the Convention the executing of the 
 king, and labouring to show they were trying the monarch and not 
 the man, /and that the crimes imputed to him were the crimes of 
 the " monarchial system ; and endangered it a second time by 
 opposing atheism, and yet some of your priests, for I do not be* 
 
 -•#. 
 
326 LETTER TO 
 
 Here that all are perverse, cry out, in the loar-iclwop 6f monarchial 
 priest-craft, what an infidel! what a wicked man is Thomas 
 Paine .' They might as well add, for he believes in God, and is 
 against shedding blood. 
 
 But all this war-whoop of the pulpit has some concealed object. 
 Religion is not the cause, but is the stalking horse. They put it 
 forward to conceal themselves behind it. It is not a secret that 
 there has been a party composed of the leaders of the Federalists, 
 for I do not include all Federalists with their leaders, who have 
 been working by various means for several years past, to over- 
 turn the Federal Constitution established on the representative 
 system, and place government in the new world on the corrupt , 
 system of the old. To accomplish this a large standing army was 
 necessary, and as a pretence for such an army, the danger of a 
 foreign invasion must be bellowed forth, from the pulpit, from the 
 press, and by their public orators. 
 
 I am not of a disposition inclined to suspicion. It is in its na- 
 ture a mean and cowardly passion, and upon the whole, even admit- 
 ting error into the case, it is better, I am sure it is more generous 
 to be wrong on the side of -confidence, than on the side of sus- 
 picion. But I know as a fact, that the English Government dis- 
 tributes annually fifteen hundred pounds,sterling among the Pres- 
 byterian ministers in England, and one hundred among those of 
 Ireland ;* and when I hear of the strange discourses of some of 
 your ministers and professors of colleges I cannot, as the Quai 
 kers say, find freedom in my mind to acquit them. Their anti-Te- 
 volutionary doctrines invite suspicion, even against one's will, and 
 in spite of one's cnarity to believe well of them. 
 
 As you have given me one Scripture phrase, I will give you 
 another for those ministers. It is said iri Exodus chapter xxiii, 
 verse 28, " Thou shalt not revile the Gods, rior curse the ruler of 
 thy people." But those ministers, such I mean as Dr. Emmons, 
 curse ruler and people both, for the majority are, -politically, the 
 people, and it is those who have chosen the ruler whom they curse. 
 
 As to the first' part of the Verse that of not reviling the Gods, 
 it makes no part of my Scripture : I have but one God. 
 
 * There must undoubtedly be "k very gross mistake in respect to the amount 
 said to be expended-; the sums intended to be expressed were probably fifteen 
 hundred thousand, and one hundred thousand pounds.— Editor. 
 
SAMUEL ADAMS. 327 
 
 Since I began this letter, for I write it by piecemeals as I have 
 leisure, I have seen the four letters that passed between you and 
 John Adams. In your first letter you say. " Let divines and 
 philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavours to re- 
 novate the age, by inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and 
 love of the Deity and universal philanthropy." Why, my dear 
 friendi this is exactly my religion, and is the whole of it. That 
 you may have an idea that the Age of Reason (for I believe you 
 have not read it) inculcates this reverential fear and love of the 
 Deity, I will give you a paragraph.from.it. 
 
 " Do we want to contemplate his power 1 We see it in the im- 
 mensity of the Creation. Do we want to contemplate his wis- 
 dom 1 We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incom- 
 prehensible whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his 
 munificence ? We see it in the abundance with which he fills the 
 earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy ? We see it in his 
 not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful." 
 
 As I am fully with you in your first part, that respecting the 
 Deity, so am I in your second, that of universal philanthropy ; 
 by which I do not mean merely the sentimentaT benevolence of 
 wishing well, but the practical benevolence of doing good. We 
 cannot serve the Deity in the manner we serve those wno cannot 
 do without that service. He needs no services from us. We can 
 add nothing to'eternity. But it is in our power to render- a service 
 acceptable to him, and that is, not by praying, but by endeavouring 
 to make his creatures happy. A man does not serve God when 
 he prays, for it is himself he is trying to serve ; and as to hiring 
 or paying men to pray, as if the Deity needed-instruction, it is in 
 my opinion an abomination.^ One good school-master is of more 
 use and of more value than a load of such parsons as Dr. 
 Emmons, and" some others. 
 
 You, my dear and much respected friend, are now far in the 
 vale -of years ; I have yet, I believe, some years in store,- for I 
 have a good state of health and a happy mind : I take care of 
 both, by nourishing the first with temperance, and the latter with 
 abundance. 
 
 This I believe you will allow to be the true philosophy of life. 
 You will see Sy my third letter to the citizens of the United States, 
 that I have Deen exposed to, and preserved through many dan- 
 gers ; but, instead of buffeting the Deity with prayers, as if I dis- 
 
328 LETTER TO SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 
 trusted him, or must dictate to him, I reposed myself on his pro- 
 tection : and you, my friend, will find, even in your last moments, 
 more consolation in the silence of resignation than in the mur- 
 muring wish of prayer. 
 
 In every thing which you say in your second letter to John 
 Adams, respecting our rights as men and citizens in this world, I 
 am perfectly with you. On other points we have to answer to our 
 Creator and not to each other. The key of heaven is riot in the 
 keeping of any sect, nor ought the road to it to be obstructed by 
 any. Our relation to eacli other in this world is, as men, and the 
 man who is a friend to man and to his rights, let his religious 
 opinions be whai they may, is a good citizen, to whom I can give, 
 as I ought to do, and as every other ought, the right hand of fellow- 
 ship, and to none with more hearty good will, my dear friend, than 
 to you. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
 Federal City, Jan. 1, 1803. 
 
EXTRACT FROM A 
 
 LETTER TO ANDREW A. DEAN* 
 
 Respected Friend, 
 
 I received your friendly letter, for which I am obliged to you. It 
 is three weeks ago to day (Sunday, Aug. 15,) that I was struck 
 with a fit of an apoplexy, that deprived me of all sense and mo- 
 tion. I had neither pulse nor breathing, and the people about me 
 supposed me dead. I had felt exceedingly well that day, and had 
 just taken a slice of bread and butter, for supper, and was going to 
 bed. The fit took me on the stairs, as suddenly as if I had been 
 shot through the head ; and I got so very, much hurt by the fall, 
 that I have hot been able to get in and out of bed since that day; 
 otherwise than being lifted out in a blanket, by two persons ; yet 
 all this while my mental faculties have remained as perfect as I 
 ever enjoyed them. I consider the scene I have passed through 
 as an experiment on dying, and I find that death has no terrors for 
 me. As to the people called Christians, they have no evidence 
 that their religion is true.f There is no more proof that the Bible 
 is the word of God, than that the Koran of Mahomet is the word 
 of God. It is education makes all the difference. Man, before 
 he begins to think for himself, is as much the child of habit in 
 Creeds as he is in ploughing and sowing. Yet creeds, like opinions, 
 prove nothing. 
 
 * Mr. Dean rented Mr. Paine's farm at New Rochelle. 
 
 \ Mr. Paine's entering upon the subject of religion on this oecasibn, it may 
 be presumed was occasioned by the following passage in Mr. Dean's letter M 
 him, viz : * 
 
 " I have'read with good attention your manuscript on dreams, and examin- 
 ation on the prophecies in the Bible. I am now searching the old prophecies, 
 and comparing the same to those said to be quoted in the New Testament. 1 
 confess the comparison is a matter worthy of our serious attention ; I know not 
 the result till I finish'; then, if you be living, I shall communicate the same te 
 you ; I hope to be with you soon." 
 
 42 
 
330 LETTER TO MR. DEAflT. 
 
 Where is the evidence that the person called Jesus Christ is the 
 begotten Son of God? The case admits not of evidence either 
 .o our senses or our mental faculties : neither has God given to 
 man any talent by which such a thing is comprehensible. It can- 
 not therefore be an object for faith to act upon, for faith is nothing 
 more than an assent the mind gives to something it sees cause ti 
 believe is fact. But priests, preachers, and fanatics, put imagina- 
 tion in the place of faith, and it is the nature of the imagination to 
 believe without evidence. 
 
 If Joseph the carpenter dreamed, (as the book of Matthew, 
 chap. 1st, says he did,) that his betrothed wife, Mary, was with 
 child, by the Holy Ghost, and that an angel told him -so ; I am not 
 obliged to put faith in his dream, nor do I put any, for I put no 
 faith in my own dreams, and I should be weak and foolish indeed , 
 to put faith in the dreams of others. 
 
 the Christian religion is derogatory to the Creator in all its 
 articles: It puts the Creator in an inferior point of view, and 
 places the Christian Devil above him. It. is he, according to the 
 absurd story in Genesis, that outwits tb,e Creator, in the garden 
 of Eden, and steals from him his favorite creature, man, and, at 
 last, obliges him to beget a son, and put that son to death, to get 
 man back again, and this the priests of the Christian religion, call 
 redemption. 
 
 Christian authors exclaim against the practice of offering up hu- 
 man sacrifices, which, they say, is done in some countries ; and 
 those authors make those exclamations without ever reflecting that 
 their own doctrine of salvation is founded on a human sacrifice. 
 They are saved, they say, by the blood of Christ. The Christian 
 religion begins with a dream and ends with a murder. 
 
 As I am now well enough to sit up some hours in the day, 
 though not well enough to get up without help, I employ myself as 
 I have always done, in endeavouring to bring man to the right use 
 of the reason that God has given him, and to direct his mind im- 
 mediately to his Creator, and not to fanciful secondary beings 
 called mediators, as if God was superannuated or ferocious. 
 
 As to the book called the Bible, it is blasphemy to call it the 
 word of God. It is a book of lies and contradiction, and a history 
 of bad times and bad men. There is but a few good characters 
 in the whole book. The fable of Christ and his twelve apostles, 
 which is a parody off the sun and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, 
 
LETTER TO MR. DEAN. 331 
 
 copied from the ancient religions of the eastern world, is the least 
 hurtful part. Every thing told of Christ has reference to the sun. 
 His reported resurrection is at sunrise, and that on the first day of 
 the week ; that is, on the day anciently dedicated to the sun, and 
 from thence called,- Sunday.; in latin Dies Solis, £he,day. of the 
 sun ; as the next day, Mqnday, is Moon-day. But there is no room 
 in a letter to explain these things. 
 
 While, man keeps to the belief of one God, his reason unites 
 wjth his creed. He is not shocked with contradictions and .horrid 
 stor-ies.. His bible is the heavens and the earth. He beholds his 
 Creator in all his works, and .every thing he beholds inspires him 
 with reverence and gratitude. From the goodness of God to all, 
 he learns his. duty- to bis felloe-man) and stands self-repj;oved 
 when he transgresses it. Such a man is no persecutor. 
 
 But when he multiplies his creed with imaginary things, of 
 which he can have neither evidence nor conception, such as the 
 tale of the garden ofEden, the talking serpent, the fall- of man, 
 the dreams of Joseph .the carpenter, the.pretended resurrection 
 and ascension, of which there is even no, historical relation, for no 
 historian of those times mentions such a thing, he gets into the 
 pathless region of confusion, and turns either frantic or hypocrite. 
 He forces his. mind, and pretends to believe what he does not be- 
 lieve. This is in ge'neral the case with the methodists. Their 
 religion is all creed- and no morals. 
 
 I have now my friend given you a.fac simile of my mind on the 
 subject of religion and creeds, and my wish is, that you make this 
 letter as publicly known as you find opportunities of doing. 
 Yours, in friendship, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 N. Y Aug. 1806. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 EXTRACTED FROM THE " PROSPECT, OR VIEW OP THE MORAL 
 WORLD," A PERIODICAL WORK, EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY 
 ELIHU PALMER, AT NEW-YORK, IN THE YEAR 1804. 
 
 The following fugitive pieces were written by Mr. Paine occa 
 siohally to pass off an idle hour, and communicated for the Pros- 
 pect, to aid bis friend, Mr. Palmer, in support of that publication. 
 Perhaps, in some cases, it may appear that the same ideas have 
 been expressed in his other works ; but, if so, the various points 
 of view, in which they are here placed, it is presumed, will no; 
 fail to give an interest to these miscellaneous remarks. 
 
 The same signatures are continued as were subscribed to the 
 original communications. 
 
 REMARKS ON R. HALL'S SERMONS. 
 
 [The foihvnng piece, obligingly communicated by JVTr. Paine, for 
 
 the Prospect, is full of that acuteness of mind, perspicuity of 
 
 expression, and clearness of discernment for which this excellent 
 
 author is so remarkable in all his toritingsJ] 
 
 Robert Hall, a protestant minister in England, preached and 
 
 published a sermon against what he calls " Modern infidelity." A 
 
 copy of it was sent to a gentleman in America, with a request for 
 
 his opinion thereon. That gentleman sent it to a friend of his in 
 
 New-York, with the request written on the cover — and this* last 
 
 sent it to Thomas Paine, who wrote the following observations on 
 
 the blank leaf at the end of the sermon. 
 
 The preacher of the foregoing sermon speaks a great deal about 
 infidelity, but does not define what he means by it. His harangue 
 is a general exclamation. Every thing, I suppose, that is not in 
 
M1SCEI.1ANEOUS PIECES. 333 
 
 his creed is infidelity with him, and bis creed is infidelity with me. 
 Infidelity is believing falsely. If what christians believe is not 
 true, it is the christian's that are the infidels. 
 
 The point between deists and christians is not about doctrine, 
 but about fact — for if the things believed by the christians to be 
 facts, are not facts, the doctrine founded thereon falls of itself. 
 There is such a book as the Bible, but is it a fact that the bible is 
 revealed-religion ? The christians cannot prove it is. They put 
 tradition in place of evidence, and tradition is not proof. If it 
 were, the reality of witches could be proved by the same kind of 
 evidence. 
 
 The bible is a history of the times of which it speaks, and history 
 is not revelation. The obscene and vulgar stories in the bible 
 are as repugnant to our ideas of the purity of a divine Being, as the 
 horrid cruelties and murders it ascribes to him, are repugnant to 
 our ideas of his justice. ■ It Is the reverence of the Deists for the 
 attributes of the Deity, that causes them to reject the bible. 
 
 Is the account which the christian church gives of the person 
 called Jesus Christ, a fact or a fable 1 Is it a fact that he was be- 
 gotten by the'Holy Ghost 1 The christians cannot prove it, for the 
 case does not admit of proof. The things called miracles in the 
 bible, such, for instance, as raising the dead, admitted, if true, of 
 occular demonstration, but the story of the conception of Jesus 
 Christ in the womb is a case beyond miracle, for it did not admit 
 of demonstration. Mary, the reputed mother of- Jesus, who must 
 be supposed to know best,' never said so herself, and all the evi 
 dence of it is, that the book of Matthew says, that Joseph dreamed 
 an ano-el told him so. Had an old maid of two or three hundred 
 years of age, brought forth a child, it would have been much bet* 
 ter presumptive evidence of a supernatural conception, than Mat- 
 thew's story of Joseph's dream about his young wife. 
 
 Is it a fact that Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world, and 
 how is it proved 1 If a God he could not die, and as a man he 
 could not redeem, how then is this redemption proved to be fact? 
 It is said that Adam eat of the forbidden fruit, commonly called an 
 apple, and- thereby subjected himself and all his posterity for ever 
 to eternal damnation. '- This is worse than visiting the sins of the 
 fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth . generations^ 
 But how was the death of Jesus Christ to affect or alter the case ? — 
 Did God thirst for blood ? If so, would it not have been better to 
 
334 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 have crucified Adam at once upon the forbidden tree, and made a 
 new man 1 Would not this have been more creator like than re- 
 pairing the old one ? Or, did God, when he made Adam, suppos- 
 ing the story to be true, exclude himself from the right of mak- 
 ing another? Orimpose onhimself the necessity of breeding from 
 {he old stock ? Priests should first prove facts, and deduce doc- 
 trines from them afterwards. But, instead of this, they assume 
 everything and prove nothing. -Authorities drawn, from the bible 
 are no more than authorities drawn from other books, unless' it can 
 he proved that the bible is revelation. 
 
 This story of the redemption will not stand examination. That 
 man should redeem himself from the sin of eating an apple, by 
 committing a murder on Jesus Christ, is the strangest system of 
 religion ever set tip.. Deism is perfect purity compared with this. 
 It is an established principle with the quakers not to shed blood — 
 suppose, then, all Jerusalem had been quakers when Christ" lived, 
 there would have been nobody to crucify him, and in that case, if 
 man is redeemed by his blood, which is the belief of the church, 
 there could have been no redemption — and the people of Jerusa- 
 lem must all have been damned, because they were too good to 
 commit murder. The christian system of religion is an outrage 
 on common sense. Why is man afraid to think ? . 
 
 Why do not the christians, to be consistent, make saints of Ju- 
 das and Pontius Pilate, for they were the persons who accom- 
 plished the act of salvation. The merit of a sacrifice, if there can 
 be any merit in it, was never in the thing sacrificed, but in the per- 
 sons offering up the sacrifice — and, therefore, Judas and Pontius 
 Pilate ought to stand first on the calendar of saints. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 OF THE WORD RELIGION, 
 
 AND OTHER WORDS OF UNCERTAIN SIGNIFICATION- 
 
 The word religion is a word of forced application when used 
 with respect to the worship of God. The root of the word is the 
 latin verb ligo, to tie or bind. From ligo, comes religo t to tie or 
 bind over again, or make more fast — from religoi comes the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 335 
 
 Substantive religio, which, with the addition of n makes the Englisn 
 substantive religion. The French use the word properly- — when 
 a woman enters a convent she is called a novtct'a?,.that is, she is 
 upon trial or probation. When she takes the oath, she is called a 
 religieuse, that is, she is tied- or bound by that oath to the perform- 
 ance of it. tye use the word in the same kind of sense when we 
 say we will religiously perform the promise that we make. 
 
 But the word, without referring to its etymology, has, in the 
 manner it is used, no definitive meaning, because it does not desig- 
 nate what religion a man is of. There is the religion of the Chi- 
 nese, of the Tartars, ofthe,Bramins, of the Persians, of the Jews, 
 of the Turks, &c. 
 
 The word Christianity is equally as vague as the word religion. 
 No two sectaries can agree what it is. It is a lo here and lo there. 
 The two principal sectaries, Papists and Protestants, have often 
 cut each,other's throats about it : — The Papists call the Protest- 
 ants heretics, and the Protestants call the Papists idolaters. The 
 minor sectaries haye shown the same spirit of rancour, but, as the 
 civil law restrains them, from, blood, they content themselves with 
 preaching damnation against each other. 
 
 The word protesfant has a positive signification in the sense it is 
 used. It means protesting against the authority of the Pope, and 
 this is the only article in which the protestants agree. In every 
 Other sense, with respect -to religion, the word protestant is as 
 vague as the word christian. When we say an episcopalian, a 
 presbyterian, a baptist, a quaker, we know what those persons are, 
 and what tenets they hold — but when we say a christian, we know 
 he is not a Jew nor a Mahometan, but we know not if he be a 
 trinitarian or an anti-trinitarian, a believer in what is called the im- 
 maculate conception, or a disbeliever, a man of seven sacraments, 
 or of two sacraments, or of none. The word christian describes 
 what a man is not, but not what he is. 
 
 The word Theology, from Theos, the Greek word for God, and 
 meaning the study and knowledge of God, is a word, that strictly 
 speaking, belongs to Theists or Deists, and not to the christians. 
 The head of the christian church is the person called Christ— but 
 the head of the church of the Theists, or Deists, as they are more/ 
 commonly called, from Dews, the latin word for God, is God him- 
 self; and therefore the word Theology belongs to that church which 
 has Theos, or God, for its head, and not to the christian church 
 
336 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 which has the person called Christ for its head. Their technical 
 word is Christianity, and they cannot agree what Christianity is. 
 
 The words revealed religion, and natural religion, require also 
 explanation. They are both invented terms, contrived by the 
 church for the support of priest-craft. With respect to the first, 
 there is no evidence of any such thing, except in the universal 
 revelation that God has made of his power, his wisdom, his good- 
 ness, in the structure of the universe, and in all the works of crea- 
 tion. We have no cause or ground from any thing we behold in 
 those works, to suppose God Would deal partially by mankind, and 
 reveal knowledge to one nation and withhold it from another, and 
 then damn them for not knowing it. The sun shines an equal 
 quantity of light all over the world — and mankind in all ages and 
 countries are endued with reason, and blessed with sight, to read 
 the visible works of God in the creation, and so intelligent is this 
 book that he that runs may read. We admire the wisdom of the 
 ancients, yet they had no bibles, nor books, called revelation. 
 They cultivated the reason that God gave them, studied him in his 
 works, and arose to eminence. 
 
 As to the Bible, whether true or fabulous, it is a history, and 
 history is not revelation. If Solomon had seven hundred wives, 
 and three hundred concubines,, and if Samson slept in Delilah's 
 lap, and she cut his hair off, the relation of those"thmgs is mere 
 history, that needed no revelation from heaven to tell it ; neither 
 does it need any revelation to tell us that Samson was a fool for 
 his pains, and Solomon too. 
 
 As to the expressions so often used in the Bible, that the word 
 of the Lord came to such an one, or such an one, it was the 
 fashion of speaking in those times, like the expression used by a 
 quaker, that the spirit moveth him, or .that used by priests, that they 
 have a call. We ought not to be deceived by phrases because 
 they are ancient. But if we admit the supposition that God would 
 condescend to reveal himself in words we ought not to believe it 
 would be in such idle and profligate stories as are in the Bible, and 
 it is for this reason, among others which our reverence to God in- 
 spires, that the^ Deists deny that the book called the bible is the 
 word of God, or that it is revealed religion. 
 
 With respect to -the term natural religion, it is, upon the face a" 
 it, the opposite of artificial religion, and it is impossible for any 
 man to be certain that what is called revealed religion, is not arti- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 837 
 
 ficial. Man has the power of making books, inventing stories 
 of God, and calling them revelation, or the word of Gad. The 
 Koran exists as an instance that this can be done, and we must be 
 credulous indeed to suppose that this is the only instance, and Ma- 
 homet the only impostor. The Jews could match him, and the 
 church of Rome could overmatch the Jews. The Mahometans 
 believe the Koran, the Christians believe the Bible, and it is edu.- 
 cation makes, all the difference. 
 
 - Books, whether Bibles or Korans, carry, no evidence of being 
 the work of any other power than man. . It is only that which man 
 cannot do that carries the evidence of being the work of a superior 
 power. Man could not invent and make a universe— 4ie could not 
 invent nature, for nature is of "divine origin. . It is the laws by 
 'which the universe is governed. ^ When, therefore, we look through 
 nature up to nature'^ God, we are in the right road of happiness, 
 but .when we trust to books as the word of God," and confide in 
 them as revealed religion, we are afloat oil the ocean of uncer- 
 tainty, and shatter into contending factions. The term, therefore, 
 natural religion, explains itself to be divine religion, and the term 
 revealed religion involves in it the suspicion of being artificial. 
 
 To s.how the necessity of-understanding the meaning of words, 
 I will mention an instance of a minister, I believe of the epis- 
 cooalian church of Newark, in Jersey. He wrote and published a 
 book," and - entitled it,"" An Antidote to Deism." An antidote to 
 Deism, must be Atheism.' It has no other antidote-^ for what can 
 be an. antidote to the belief' of a God, but the disbelief of God. 
 Under the tuition of such pastors, what but ignorance and false 
 information can be expected. - T. P. 
 
 OF CAIN AND ABEL. 
 
 The story of Cain and Abel is told in the fourth chapter of Ge- 
 nesis ; Cain was the elder brother,, and Abel the younger, and 
 Cain killed Abel.. The Egyptian story of Typhon and Osiris, 
 and the Jewish story, in Genesis, of Cain and Abel, have the a{> 
 
 43 
 
338 MISCELLAIfEOB* PIECES. 
 
 pearance op being the same story differently told, and that it came 
 originally from Egypt. 
 
 In the Egyptian story, Typhon and Osiris are brothers ; Ty- 
 phon is the elder, and Osiris the younger, and Typhon kills Osiris. 
 The story is an allegory on darkness and light ; Typhon ? the elder 
 brother, is darkness, 'because darkness was supposed to be more 
 ancient than light : Osiris is the good light who-rules during the 
 summer months, and brings forth the fruits of the earth, and is 
 the favourite, as Abel is said to have been, for which Typhon 
 hates him ; and when the winter comes, and cold and darkness 
 overspread the earth, Typhon is represented as having killed 
 Osiris out of malice, as Cain is said to have killed Abel. 
 
 The two stories are alike in their circumstances and their event, 
 and are probably but the «ame story ; what corroborates this opin- 
 ion, is, that the ,fifth .chapter of Genesis historically contradicts 
 the reality of the story of Cain and Abel in the fourth chapter, for 
 though the name of Seth, a soil of Adam, is mentioned in the 
 fourth chapter, he is spoken of in the fifth chapter as if he was 
 the first born. of Adam. The chapter begins thus : — - 
 
 " This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that 
 God created man, in the likeness of God created he him. Male 
 and female created he .them, and blessed them, and called their 
 name Adam in the day when they were created. And Adam lived 
 an hundred and thirty years and begat a son, in his own likeness 
 and after his 6wn image, arid called his„name Seth." The rest of 
 the chapter goes on with the genealogy. 
 
 Any body reading this chapter, cannot suppose there were any 
 sons born before Seth. The'chapteT begins with what is called the 
 creation of Adam, and callsitself the book of the generations of 
 Adam, yet no mention is made of such persons as Cain and Abel ; 
 one thing, however, is evident on the face of these two chapters, 
 which is, that the same person is not the writer of both ; the most 
 blundering historian could not have committed himself in such a 
 manner. 
 
 Though I look on every thing in the first ten chapters of Gene- 
 sis to be fiction, yet fiction historically told should i be consistent 
 whereas these two chapters are not. The Cain and Abel of Gene- 
 sis appear to be no other than the ancient Egyptian story of Ty 
 phon and Osiris, the darkness and the light, which answered very 
 well as an allegory without being believed as a fact. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 333 
 
 THE TOWER OF BABEL. 
 
 The story of the tower of Babel is told in the eleventh chapter 
 of Genesis. It begins thus : — " And the whole earth (it was but 
 a very little part of it they knew) was of one language, and of one 
 speech. — And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, 
 that they found, a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 
 — And they said one to another, go to, let us make brick and burn 
 them thoroughly, and they had brick for stone, and slime ha,d they 
 for mortar.— And they said go to, let us build us a city, and a tow-, 
 er whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name, 
 lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. — And 
 the Lord cairie down to see the city and the tower which the chil- 
 dren of men buUded.— And the Lord said, behold the people is 
 one, and : they have all one language, and this they begin: to do, 
 andnow-jioth'ing will be restrained from them which they have 
 imagined to do. — Go to,, let us go down and there confound their 
 language, that they may not understand one another's speech. — 
 So (that is, by that means) the Lord scattered them abroad from 
 thence upon the face of all the. earth, Etnd they left off building the 
 city." 
 
 This is the story, and a very foolish inconsistent story it is. In 
 the first place, the familiar and irreverend manner in which the 
 Almighty is spoken of in this chapter, is offensive to a serious 
 mind. As to the project of building a tower whose top should 
 reach to heaven, there never could be a people so foolish as to 
 have such a notion ; but to represent the Almighty as jealous of 
 the attempt, as the writer of the story has done, is adding prophan- 
 ation to folly, M Go to," says the builders, " let us build us a tower 
 whose top shall reach to heaven." " Go to," says God* " let- us 
 go down and confound their language." This quaintness is inde- 
 cent, and the reason given for it is worse, for, " now nothing will 
 be restrained from them which they have imagined to do." This 
 is representing the Almighty as jealous of their getting into heaven. 
 
840 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES 
 
 The story ia too ridiculous, even as a fable, to account for the di- 
 versity oflanguages in the world, for which it seems to have been 
 intended. 
 
 As to the project of confounding their language for the, purpose 
 of making them separate, it is altogether inconsistent ; because, 
 instead of producing this effect, it would, by increasing theif diffi- 
 culties, render them more necessary to each other, and cause them 
 to keep together. Where could they go to better themselves ? 
 
 Another observation upon this story is, the inconsistency of it 
 with respect to the opinion that the bible is the word of God given 
 for- the information of mankind ; for nothing could so effectually 
 preyeiit such a word being known by mankind as confounding raeir 
 language. The people, who after this spoke different languages, 
 could no more understand such a word generally, than the builders, 
 of -Babel could understand one another. It would have been ne- 
 cessary, therefore, had such word ever been given or intended to 
 be given, that the whole earth should be, as they say it was at first, 
 -of one language and of one speech, and that it should never have 
 been confounded. 
 
 The case, however, is, that the bible will not bear examination in 
 any part pf it, which it would do if it was the word of God. Those 
 who most believe it are those who know least about it, arar"priests 
 always take care to keep the inconsistent and contradictpry parts 
 out of sight. T. P. 
 
 Of the. religion of: Deism compared with the Christian Religion, 
 and the superiority, of the former over the latter 
 
 Every person, of whatever religious denomination he may be, is 
 a Deist in the first article of his Creed. Deism, from the Latin 
 word Dens, God, is the belief of a God, and this belief is the first 
 article of every man's creed. 
 
 It is on this article, universally consented to by all mankind, that 
 the Deist builds his church, and here he rests. Whenever we 
 step aside from this article, by mixing it with articles of human in» 
 vention, we wonder into a labyrinth of uncertainty and fable and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 841 
 
 become exposed to every kind of imposition by pretenders to reve- 
 lation. The Persian shows the Zendavista of Zoroaster, the law- 
 giver of Persia, and calls it the divine law ; the Bramin shows the 
 Shaster, revealed," he says, by God to Brama, and given to him out 
 of a cloud ; the Jew shows what he calls the law of Moses, -given, 
 he says, by God, on the Mount Sinai ; the Christian shows a col- 
 lection of. books and epistles, written by nobody knows who, and 
 called the New Testament ; and the- Mahometan shows the Koran, 
 given, he says,, by God to Mahomet : each of these calls itself 
 revealed religion, and the only true word of God, and this the fol- 
 lowers ofeach profess to "believe from the habit of education, and' 
 each believes the others are imposed upon. 
 
 But when the divine gift of reason begins to expand itself in the 
 mind and calls man to reflection, he- then reads and contemplates 
 God in his works, and not in the books pretending to be revelation 
 The Creation is. the bible of the true believer in God. Every 
 thing in this vast volume inspires him with sublime ideas of the 
 Creator. The little and paltry, and often obscene, tales of the bible 
 sink into wretchedness when put in comparison with this mighty 
 work. The Deist needs none of those tricks and shows called 
 miracles to confirm his faith, for- what can be* a greater miracle 
 than the Creation, itself, and his own existence. 
 
 There is a happiness in Deism, when rightly understood, that is 
 not to be found in any other system of religion. All other systems, 
 have something in them that either shock our reason, or are repug- 
 nant to it, afid man;, if he thinks at all, must stifle his reason in 
 order to fQrce himself to believe them. But in Deism our reason 
 and our belief become happily united*. The woriderful structure 
 of the universe, and every thing we behold in the system of the 
 creation, prove to us, far better than books can do, the existence of 
 a God, and at the same time proclaim his attributes. It is by the 
 exercise of our reason that we are enabled to contemplate God in 
 his works, and imitate him in his ways. ' When we see his care 
 and. goodness extended over all his creatures, it teaches us our 
 duty towards each other, while it calls forth our gratitude to him. 
 It is by forgetting God in his works, arid running after the books 
 of pretended revelation that man has wandered from the straight 
 path of duty and happiness, and become by turns the victim of 
 doubt and the dupe of delusion. 
 
 Except in the first article in the Christian creed, that of believing 
 
342 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 in Gpd, there is not an article in it but fills the mind with doubt, 
 as to the truth of it, the instant man begins to think. Now every - 
 article in a creed that is necessary to the happiness and salvation 
 of man, ought to be as evident to the reason and comprehension of 
 man as the first article is, for God has not given us reason for the 
 purpose of confounding us, but that we should use it for our own 
 'happiness and his glory. 
 
 The truth of the first article is proved by God himself, and is 
 universal ; for the creation is of itself demonstration of the exist- 
 ence of a Creator. But the second article, that of God's begetting 
 a son, is not proved in like manner, and stands on no other autho- 
 rity than that of a tale, pertain books in what is called the New 
 Testament tell us that Joseph dreamed that- the angel told him so. 
 (Matthew chap 1. ver. 20.) ■ " And behold the Angel of the Lord 
 appeared to Joseph, in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, 
 fear not to take unto thee , Mary thy wife, for that which is cori*''^ 
 ceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." The evidence upon this ar- 
 ticle bears no comparison with- the evidence upon the first article 
 and therefore is not entitled to the same credit, and ought hot 
 to be made an article in a creed, because the evidence of it is de- 
 fective, and what evidence there is, is doubtful and suspicious.- 
 We do not believe 7 the first article on the authority of books, 
 whether called Bibles or Korans, nor yet on the visionary authori- 
 ty of dreams, but on the authority of God's own visible works in 
 the creation. The nations whomever heard' of such books, nor of 
 such people as Jews, Christians, or Mahometans, believe the exist- 
 ence of a God as fully as we do, because it is self evident. The 
 work of man's hands is a proof of the existence of man as fully as 
 his personal appearance would be. When we see a watch, we 
 have as positive evidence of the existence of a wateh-maker, as 
 if we saw him ; and in like manner the creation fs evidence to our 
 reason and our senses of the existence of a Qreator. ' .But there^ v 
 is nothing in the works of God that is evidence that he begat a son, 
 nor any thing in the system of creation that corroborates such an 
 idea, and, therefore, we are not authorized in believing it. 
 
 But presumption can assume any thing, and therefore it makes 
 Joseph's dream to be of equal authority with the existence of God, 
 and to help it on calls it revelation. It is impossible for the mind 
 of man in its serious moments, however it may have been entang- 
 led by education, or beset by priest-craft, not to stand still and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 343 
 
 doubt upon the truth of this article and of its creed. But this is 
 not all. 
 
 The second article of the Christian creed having brought the 
 , son of Mary into the world, (and this Mary, according to the chro- 
 nological tables, was a girl of only fifteen years of age when this 
 son' was born,) the next article goes on to account for his being 
 begotten, which was, that when'he grew a man he should be put to 
 death, to expiate, they say, the sin that Adam brought into the 
 world by eating an apple or some- kind of jbrbidden fruit. 
 
 But though this is the creed- of the church of Rome, from 
 whence the protestants borrowed it, it is a creed which that church 
 has manufactured of itself, for it is not ' contained in, nor derived 
 from, the. book called the New Testament. The four books cal- 
 led the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which give, 
 or pretend to give, the birth, sayings, life, preaching, and death of 
 Jesus Christ, make no mention of what is called the fall of man ; 
 nor is the name of Adam to be found in 'any of those books, which 
 it certainly would be if the jvriters of them believed that Jesus was 
 begotten,; born, and died for the purpose of redeeming mankind 
 from the sin which Adam had brought into the world. Jesus never 
 speaks of Adam himself, of the Garden of Eden, nor of what is 
 called-the fall^rf man. 
 
 But the Church of Rome having set up its new religion which it 
 called Christianity, and invented the creed which it named the 
 apostles' creed, in which it calls Jesus the only son of God, con- 
 ceiv$dbytheHoly Ghost, andborn of the Virgin Mary, things of 
 ' which it is impossible that man or woman can have any idea, and 
 consequently no belief but iri words ; and for which there is no au- 
 thority but the idle story of Joseph's* dream in the first chapter of 
 Matthew, which any designing imposter or foolish fanatic might 
 make. It then manufactured the allegories in the book of Genesis, 
 into fact, and the allegorical tree of life and the tree of knowledge 
 into' reartrees, contrary to the belief of the" first christians, and for- 
 which there is not the least" authpnty in any of the books of the 
 New Testament ; for in none of them is, there any mention made 
 of such place as the Garden of Eden, nor of any thing that is- said 
 to have happened there. 
 
 But the church of Rome could not erect the person called Jesus 
 into a Saviour of the world without making the allegories in the 
 book of Genesis into fact, though the New Testament, as before 
 
344 MISCELLANEOUS FIECES. 
 
 observed, gives no authority for it. All at once the allegorical 
 tree of knowledge became, according to the church, a real tree, the 
 fruit of it Teal fruit, and the eating of it sinful. As priest-craft waa 
 always the enemy of knowledge, because priest-craft supports 
 itselFby keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consist- 
 ent with its. policy to make, the acquisition of knowledge a real 
 sin. 
 
 The church of Rome having done this, it then brings forward 
 Jesus the son ofMary as suffering death to redeem mankind from 
 sin, which Adam, it says, had brought into the world by eating the 
 fruit of the tree of knowledge. But as it is impossible for reason 
 to believe such a story, because it can see no reason for it, nor 
 have any evidence of it, -the church then tells us we must not re- 
 gard our reason but must believe, as it were, and that through thick 
 and thin, as if God had given man reason like, a plaything, or a 
 rattle, on purpose to make' fun of him. Reason is the forbidden 
 tree of priest-craft, and may serve to explain the allegory of the 
 forbidden tree of knowledge, for we may reasonably suppose the 
 allegory had some meaning and application at the time it was in- 
 _ vented. It was the practice of the eastern nations to convey their 
 meaning by allegory, and relate it in the manner of fact. Jesus 
 followed the same method, yet nobody ever supposed the allegory 
 or parable of the rick man and Lazarus, the prodigal son, the 
 ten virgins, &c. were facts. Why then should the tree of know- 
 ledge, which is far more romantic in idea than the parables in the 
 New Testament are, be supposed to be a real tree.* The answer 
 to this is, because the" church could not make its new tangled sys- 
 tem, which it called Christianity, hold together without it. To 
 have made Christ to die on account of an allegorical tree would 
 have been too bare-faced a fable. 
 
 But the account, as it is given of Jesus in the New Testament, 
 even visionary as it is, does not support the creed of the church 
 that he, died for the redemption of- the world. According to that 
 account he was crucified and buried on the Friday, and rose again 
 in good health on the Sunday morning, for we do not hear that he 
 was sick. This cannot be called dying, and is rather making fun 
 
 * The remark of the Emperor Julien, on the story of The tree of Knowledge 
 is worth observing. " Ifjfsaid he, "there ever had been, or could be, a Tree of 
 Knowledge, instead of God forbidding man to eat thereof, it would be that of 
 which he would order him to eat the most." 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 345 
 
 of death than suffering it. There, are thousands of men and women 
 also, who if they could know they should come back again in good 
 health in about thirty-six hours, would prefer such kind of death 
 for the sake of the experiment, and to know what the other side of 
 the grave was* Why then should that which would be only a voy- 
 age of curious amusement to us be magnified into merit and suf- 
 fering in him 1 If a God he could not suffer death, for immortality 
 cannot die, and as a man his death' could be no more than the 
 death of any other person. . , ... 
 
 The belief of, the redemption of Jesus, Christ is altogether an 
 invention of the church of Rome, not the doctrine of the JVew 
 Testament. What the writers of the New Testament attempted 
 to prove by' the stovy of Jesus is tha resurrection of the same boily 
 from, (he grave, which was the belief of the Pharisees, in opposition 
 to the Sadducees (a sect of Jews)- who denied it. Paul, who was 
 brought up a- Pharisee, labours hard, at this point, for it was the 
 creed of his own Pharisaical church. The XV chap v 1st of Corin- 
 thians is full of supposed cases amLassertions about the resurrec- 
 tion of the same body* but there is not a wOrcTin it about redemp- 
 tion.. This chapter makes part of th# funeral service of {he Epis- 
 copal church. The dogma of the redemption is the fable of priest- 
 craft invented since the time the NewTestament was compiled, and 
 the agreeable delusion of it suited, with the depravity of immoral 
 livers. When men are taught jto ascribe all their crimes and yices to 
 the temptations of the Devil, and to'believe that JesuSj by.his death, 
 rubs all off and pays their passage, to heaven gratis, they become 
 as "careless in morals as a spendthrift would be of money, were he 
 told that his father bad engaged jto pay off. all bis. scores, .It is a. 
 doctrinej not only dangerous to morals in ibis world, but (o ; our 
 happiness in the next world, because 1t holds out such a cheap, 
 easy, and lazy way -of getting to heaven as has a tendency to'in- 
 duce men to hug the delusion of it to their own injury. 
 
 But there arc times when men have serious thoughts, and it is 
 at such times, when they begin to think, that they .begin to doubt 
 the truth of the Christian Religion, and well they may, for it is too 
 faneiful and, too full . of conjecture^ inconsistency, improbability, 
 and. irrationality, .to afford consolation to the thoughtful man. 
 His reason revolts against his creed. He sees that none of Us 
 articles arc proved, or can be proved. He may believe that such 
 a person ?.h is called Jesus (for' Christ was not his name) was 
 
 44 
 
34'6 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 bom and grew to be a timn, because it is no more than a natural 
 and -probable case. But who is- to prove he is the son of God, 
 that he was begotten by the Holy Ghost 1 Of these things 
 there can be no proof; atid that which admits not of proof, 
 and is against the laws of probability; aiuh the order of nature 
 which God himself has established, is not an object for belief. 
 jGod has not -given man reason to embarrass him, but to prove 
 his being imposed upon. ^ 
 
 He may believe that Jesus was crucified, ;beeause "many others 
 were crucified, but who is to prove he was .crucified for the sins of 
 the itiorld?-' This article has no evidence, not even in the New 
 Testament ; and if k had where is the proof that the New Tes- 
 tament, in relating things neither probable nor proveable, is to be 
 believed as true T When an article in a creed does not admit of 
 proof nor of probability, thesalvois to call it revelation ; but this 
 is' only putting one difficulty in the place of another* for it.is as 
 impossible to -prove a thing to" be revelation as it is to prove that 
 Mary- was gotten with child by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Here it is that the religion of Deism is superior to the Christian 
 religion. It is free from all those invented and torturing articles 
 that- shock our reason or injure our humanity, and with which the 
 Christian religion abounds. Its creed is pure and sublimely 
 simple. It believes -in God and there it rests. It honours reason 
 as the choicest gift of God to man, and the faculty by which he is 
 enabled to contemplate the power, 1 wisdom and goodness of the 
 Creator displayed in the creation; and reposing itself on his 
 protection, both here and hereafter, it avoids all presumptuous 
 beliefs, arid rejects, as- the fabulous inventions of men, all books 
 pretending to revelation. 
 
 T. P. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 347 
 
 TO THE MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY, STYLING 
 ITSELF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 
 
 The New-York Gazette of the 16th (August) contains the follow- 
 ing article — *' (?ra Tuesday^ a committee of the Missionary 
 Society, consisting chiefly of distinguished Clergymen, had an 
 interview, at the City Hotel, with 4he chiefs of the Osage tribe 
 of Indians, now in this City, (New-York) to whom they pre- 
 sented a Bible, together .with an Address, the object of which 
 teas, to inform them that this good book contained the will 
 and laws of the GREAT SPIRIT." 
 
 It is to be hoped some humane person will, on account of our 
 people on the frontiers, as well as of the Indians, undeceive them 
 with respect to the present the Missionaries have made them, and 
 which they call a • good "book, containing, they say, the will and 
 laws of the GREAT SPIRIT- Can those Missionaries suppose 
 that the assassination of men, women, and children, and sucking 
 infants, related in the books ascribed to Moses, Joshua, &c- and 
 blasphemously said to be done by the'command of the Lord, the 
 Great Spirhycan be edifying to our Indian neighbours, or advan- 
 tageous to us f Is not the Bible warfare the same kind of warfare 
 as the.Indians themselves carry on, that of indiscriminate destruc- 
 tion, and against which humanity shudders ; can the horrid exam- 
 ples and vulgar obscenity, with which the Bible abounds, improve 
 the morals or civilize the manners of the Indians? Will they learn 
 sobriety and decency from drunken Noah and beastly Lot ; or will 
 their daughters be> edified by the example, of Lot's daughters ? 
 Will the prisoners they take in war be treated- the better .by their 
 knowing the horrid story of Samuel's hewing Agag in pieces like 
 a block of wood, or David's putting them under harrows of iron? 
 Will not the shocking accounts of the destruction of the Cana- 
 
348 MlSCELI,AIfEOlj3 PIECES, . 
 
 anites, when the Israelites invaded their country, suggest the idea 
 that we may serve 'them _in the same manner, or the accounts stir 
 them up to do the. like to our people on the frontiers, and then 
 justify theiassass.inatioji ,by the Bible the Missionaries have given 
 them ? Will those Missionary Societies never leave off doing 
 mischief?" 
 
 In - the account which this missionary committee give of their 
 interview, they make the chief of the Indians to, say, that, "as 
 neither he fior his people could read it, hd beggeH that some good 
 white man migh^-be-Sent to instruct them." 
 
 Ikis necessary the General Government keep a strict eye over 
 those Missionary.Societies, who, under the pretence of instructing 
 the Indians, send- spies into their country to find out the best lands. 
 No society should be pefnritte'd to have intercourse with the Indian 
 tribes, nor send'any person among them, but with' the knowledge 
 and consent- of the Government. The present administration 
 has brought-the Indians into a good disposition, and is improving 
 them in the moral and, civil comforts of life ; but if these self- 
 created societies he suffered to interfere, and send their specula- 
 ting Missionaries among them, the laudable object of government 
 will be defeated. Priests, we know, are'not remarkable for doing 
 any thing gratis ; the^have in general some scheme in every thing 
 they do, either to' Impose on the ignorant, or derange the opera- 
 tions of government. 
 
 1 ' A FRIEND TO THE" INDIANS. 
 
 OF THE SABBATH DAY OF CONNECTICUT 
 
 The word Sabbath, means rest, that is, cessation from labour ; 
 but the stupid Blue Laws* of Connecticut make a labour of rest, 
 for they oblige a person to sit still from sun-rise to sun-set on a 
 Sabbath day, which is hard work. Fanaticism made those laws, 
 
 * They were called Blue Laws because they were originally printed on blu» 
 paper. 
 
•miscellaneous i-ieCes. 349 
 
 and hypocrisy pretends to reverence them, for where such laws 
 prevail hypocrisy will pisevail also. 
 
 One of those laws says, " No person shall run ona Sabbath- 
 day, nor walk in his garden, nor elsewhere, but reverently to and 
 from meeting." These fanatical hypocrites forgot that God dwells „ 
 not in temples made -with hands, and that the earth is full of his 
 glory. One of the finQs ; t scenes and subjects of religious con- 
 templation is to walk into the woods and fields, and survey the 
 works of the God of the Creation. The wide expanse of heaven, 
 the earth covered with verdure, the lofty forest, the waving corn, 
 the magnificent roll of mighty rivers, and the murmuring melody 
 of the cheerful brooks,, are scenes that inspire the .mind with grati- 
 tude and delight : but this tile gloomy Cjalvinist of Connecticut, 
 must not behold on a Sabbath-day. Entombed within the walls 
 of his dwelling, he shuts from his view the temple of creation. 
 The sun shines no joy to him. , The gladdening voice of nature 
 calls on him in vain. He is deaf, dumb,. and blind to every thing 
 around him that God has made. Such is. the Sabbath-day of Con- 
 necticut. 
 
 From whence could come this miserable notion of deyotion ? 
 It.comes from the gloominess of the Calvinistic creed. ■ If men 
 love darkness rather thari light, because th^jr works are evil, the 
 ulcerated mind of a Calvinist, who, sees God only in terror, and 
 sits brooding over the scenes of hell and, damnation, can have no 
 joy in beholding the glories of the creation. Nothing in that 
 mighty and wdndrpus system accords with his principles or his 
 deyotion. He sees nothing there that tells him, that God created 
 millions on purpose to be damned, and that the children of a span 
 long are borfl to burn forever in ,hell. The creation preaches a 
 different doctrine to this. We there see jjhat the care and good- 
 ness of God is extended impartially over all the creatures he has- 
 made. The worm of the earth shares his protection equally with 
 the elephant of the desert. The grass that springs beneath our 
 feet grows by his bounty as well as the cedars of Lebanon. Every 
 thing in the Creation reproaches the Calvinist with unjust ideas or 
 God, and disowns the hardness smd ingratitude, of his principles. 
 Therefore he shuns the sight of them on a.Sabbath-day. 
 
 AN ENEMY TO CANT AND IMPOSITION. 
 
350 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 Archbishop Tittotson says, '•' The difference between the style 
 of the Old and New Testament is so very remarkable, that one of 
 the greatest sects in the primitive times, did, upon this very ground, 
 found their heresy of two Gods, the 'one evil, fierce, and cruel, 
 •whom they called the God of the Old Testament ; the other good, 
 kind, and merciful, whom they called the God of the New Testa- 
 ment ; so great' a difference is there between the representations 
 that are given of God in the books of the Jewish and Christian 
 Religion, as to give, at least, some colour and pretence to an ima- 
 gination of two Gods." "Thus far Tiliotson. 
 
 But the case was, "that as the Church had picked out several 
 passages from the <3li Testament, which she most absurdly and 
 falsely calls prophecies -of Jesus Christ, (whereas there is no pro- 
 phecy of any such person, as any one may see by examining the 
 passages and the cases to which they apply,) she was under the 
 necessity of keeping up the credit of the Old Testament, because 
 if that fell the other would soOn follow, and the Christian system 
 of "faith would soon be at an end. As a-book of morals, there are 
 several "parts of the New Testament that are good ; but they are 
 no other than what had' been preached in the Eastern world seve- 
 ral hundred years "before Christ was born. Confucius, the Chi- 
 nese philosopher, who lived five hundred years before the time of 
 Christ, says, acknowledge thy benefits by the return of benefits but 
 never revenge injuries. 
 
 The clergy in Popish countries were cunning enough to knowj 
 that if the Old Testament was made public, the fallacy of the 
 New, with respect to Christ, would be. detected, and they pro- 
 hibited the use of it, and always took it away wherever they found 
 it. The Deists, on the contrary, always encouraged the reading 
 it, that people might see and judge for themselves, that a book so 
 full of contradictions and wickedness, could not be the word of 
 God, and that we dishonour God%y ascribing it to him. 
 
 A TRUE DEIST. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 351 
 
 Hints tbwaras forming a Society forinquirmg into the truth or 
 falsehood of ancient history y so fan as history is connected with 
 
 systems of religion ancient and modern. , 
 
 It has been customary to class history into three divisions, dis- 
 ttnguished-by the names of Sacred, Profane, and Ecclesiastical. 
 By the first" is meant the Bible ; by the second, the history of 
 nations", of men and things ; , and by the third, the history of the 
 church and its priesthood. 
 
 Nothing is more easy than to give names, and, therefore, mere 
 names signify nothing- unless they lead to the discovery" x)f some 
 cause for vfhich that name was given. For example, Sunday is 
 the "name given Jo the first day of the week, in the English lan- 
 guage, and it is the same in the Latin, that is, it has. the same 
 meaning, (Dies solis,) and also in the German, and in several other 
 languages. ' Why then was this, name given to that day? Because it • 
 was the day dedicated by the ancient world to the luminary, which 
 in English we call the Sun, and, therefore, the day Sun-day, or the 
 day of the Sun ; as" in the like manner we call the second day 
 Monday, the day dedicated to the Moon; 
 
 Here the name Sunday, leads to the cause of its being called 
 so, and we have visible evidence of the faet, because we behold 
 the Sun from whencethe name comes ; but this is not the case when 
 we distinguish one part of history from, another by the name of 
 Sacred. All histories have been written by men. We have no 
 evidence, nor any' cause to believe, that any have been written by 
 God. That part of the Bible called the Old Testament, is the 
 history of the Jewish nation, from the time of Abraham, which be- 
 gins in the 11th chap, of Genesis, to the downfall of that nation 
 by Nebuchadnezzar, and is no more entitled to" be called sacred 
 than any other history. It is altogether the contrivance of priest- 
 craft that has given it that. name. So far from its being sacred, 
 it has not the appearance of being true in many of the things it 
 relates. It must be better authority than a book, which any im- 
 postor might make, as Mahomet made the" Koran, to make a 
 thoughtful man believe that the sun and moon stood still, or that 
 
352 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 Moses and Aaron turned the Nile, which is larger than the Dela- 
 ware, into blood, and that the Egyptian magicians did the same. 
 These things have "too. much the appearance of romance to be be- 
 "leved For fact. , " 
 
 It weuld '-be of use to inquire, and ascertain the time, when that 
 part of the Bible called the Old Testament first appeared. From 
 all that can be collected there was no-such book till after the Jews 
 returned from captivity in Babylon, and that it'is the work of the 
 Pharisees of the Second Temple. How they came to make the 
 19 th chapter .of the 2d book of Kings, and the &7th of Isaiah, word 
 for word alike, can only be accounted for by their having no plan 
 to go by, and not knowing what they we're about,' The same is 
 the case with respect to the last verses in the 2d book of Chro- 
 nicles, and the first verses in Ezra, they also- are word for word 
 alike, which shows that the Bible has been put together at random. 
 But besides these things there isgreat reason to believe we have 
 been imposed upon, with respect to the antiquity of (he Bible, and 
 especially with respect to the books ascribed to Moses.' Herodo- 
 tus, who is called the father of history, and is the most ancient 
 historian whose works have reached to our time, and who travelled 
 into : Egypt, conversed with the priests, historians, astronomers, 
 and learned men of that country," for the purpose of obtaining all 
 the information of jt he could, and who gives an account of the 
 ancient state of it, makes no mention of such a man as Moses, 
 though the Bible makes him to have been the greatest hero there, 
 nor of any one circumstfhce mentioned in the book of Exodus, 
 respecting Egypt, such as turning the rivers into blood, the dust 
 into lice, the .death of the first born throughout all the land of 
 Egypt, the passage of the Red Sea, the drowning of . Pharaoh and 
 all his host, things which could not have been a secret in Egypt, 
 and must, have been generally known, had they been facts ; and, 
 therefore, as no such things were known in Egypt, nor any such 
 man as Moses, at the time Herodotus was there, which is about 
 two thousand two> hundred years ago, it shows that the account of 
 these things in thehooks ascribed to Moses is a made story of later 
 times, that is, after, the return* of the Jews from the Babylonian 
 captivity, and that Moses is not the author of the books ascribed 
 to him. 
 
 With respect to the cosmogony, or account of the creation, in 
 the first chapter of Genesis, of the Garden of Eden in the second 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES 353 
 
 chapter, and of what is called the fall of man in the third chapter, 
 there is something concerning them we are not historically" ac- 
 quainted with. In none of the books of the Bible, after Genesis, 
 are any of these things mentioned, or even alluded to. How is tnis 
 to be accounted for? The obvious inference is, that either they 
 •were- not known, or not believed to be facts, by the writers of the 
 other books of the Bible, and that Moses is not the author of the 
 chapters where these accounts are given. 
 
 The next question on the case is, how did the Jews come by 
 these notions, and at what time were they written. 
 
 To answer this question we must first consider what the state "of 
 the world was at the time the Jews began to be a people, for the 
 Jews are but a modern race compared with the antiquity of other 
 nations. At the time there were, even by their own account, but 
 thirteen' Jews or Israelites in the world, Jacob and his twelve sons, 
 and four of these were bastards, the nations of Egypt, Chaldea, 
 Persia, and India, were great and populous, abounding in learning 
 and science, particularly in the knowledge of astronomy, of which 
 the Jews Were always ignorant. The chronological tables men- 
 tion, that eclipses were observed at Babylon above two thousand 
 years before the Christian era, which was before there was a single 
 Jew or Israelite in the wbfld. 
 
 All those ancient nations had their cosmogonies, that is, their 
 accounts how the creation was made, long before there was such 
 people as Jews or .Israelites. An account of these cosmogonies 
 of India and Persia, is given by Henry Lord, Chaplain to the East 
 India Company, at Surat, and published in London in 1630. The 
 writer of this has seen a copy of the edition of 1630, and made ex- 
 tracts from it. The work, which is- now scarce, was dedicated 
 by Lord to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 
 
 We know that the Jews were carried captive into Babylon, by 
 Nebuchadnezzar, and remained ia captivity several years, when 
 they were liberated by Cyrus, king of Persia. During their cap- 
 tivity they would have had an opportunity of acquiring some know- 
 ledge' of the cosmogony of the Persians, or at least of getting some 
 ideas how to fabricate one to put at the head of their own history 
 after their return from captivity. This will account for the cause, 
 for some cause there must have been, that no mention, nor refer- 
 ence is- made to the cosmogony in Genesis in any of the books ; ,of 
 
 45 
 
354 MISCELLANEOUS IMECES. 
 
 the Bible, supposed ito : have been written before the captivity, nor 
 is tire name of Adam to. be found in any of those, books. ^ 
 r j The. books of 'Chronicles were written, after thfe return of tne 
 Jews from captivity, for the third chapter of the first book gives a 
 list of all the Jewish kings from Davidto Zedekiah, who.was car- 
 ried captive into Babylon, and to four generations beyond the time 
 of Zedekiah. In the-ikst vtSrse of ti^e- first chapter of thjts/ book 
 the name of Adam is mentioned, b,ut not in : any book jn the Bible, 
 written before that time, nor could it be, for Adam and. Eve are 
 names taken from the cosmogony of the Persians. Henry Lord, 
 in his bodk; written from Surat, and dedicated, as, I have already 
 said, to the Archbishop of .Canterbury^, says, that in. : the.Peisian 
 cosmogony, the name of the first man was Adamoh, and of -the 
 Woman Hevah.*. Erom whence comes the Adam and Eve of the 
 book of Genesis.- In the.ftiosmogbny of "india, of which I shall 
 speak in a future number, the name of the first man was Pour<ncs> 
 and of the woman Parcoutee. We want a knowledge of thejSanj- 
 scrit language of India to understand the meaning of the names, 
 and I mention it, in this: place, only to show that it js from th0 cos- 
 mogony of Persia, rather than? that of India, that the cosmogony in 
 Genesis-has been fabricated by the Jews, who returned from cap- 
 tivity "by the liberality of Cyrus, king of Persia. There is, however 
 reason icr voa&ludo, oa Jha authority of Sir William Jones, who 
 resided several years in India, that these names were very expres- 
 sive in the language .to which they belonged, for in speaking of 
 thisJanguage, he says, r (see the Asiatic researches,) '? The Sanscrit 
 language, whatever be .its' antiquity, is of .wonderful structure,; it 
 is more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and 
 more exquisitely refined, than either." 
 
 These hints, which are intended to be continued, will serve to 
 show that a society for inquiring into the ancient state of the world, 
 and the state of ancient history, so far as history is connected with 
 systems of religion ancient and. modern, may become a useful and 
 instructive institution. , There is good reason to believe we have 
 been in great error, with respect tothe antiquity of the Bible, as 
 well as imposed upon by its; contents. Truth, ought to be the ob 
 ject of every man ; for without, truth, therein be no .real happiness 
 
 * In an English edition of the Bible, in 1583, the first woman is called He- 
 TOj, ; / ,ii '. i i Editor of the Prospect. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 355 
 
 to a Ihaughtfiil mind, or any assurance of happiness hereafter. It 
 is the duty of man to obtain all the knowledge he can, and then 
 make the best use of it- ■><_■< T. P. 
 
 TO MR. MOORE, QV NEW-YORK, 
 
 COMMONLY CALLED 
 
 BISHOP MOORE. 
 
 I have read in the newspapers your account of the visit you, 
 made to the unfortunate General Hamilton, and of administering 
 to him a ceremony of your church which you call the Holy Com~ 
 miinioa. _, ^ _ . '*■•' 
 
 I regret the fate of General Hamilton, and I so far hope with 
 you that it will be a warning to thoughtless man not to sport away 
 the life that God has given him ; but with respect to other parts of 
 your letter I flunk it Very 'reprehensible, and betrays great ignorance 
 of what true religion is. But you- are a priest, you get your living 
 by it, and it is not your worldly interest to undeceive yourself. 
 
 After giving ah account of your administering to the deceased 
 what you call the Holy Communion, you add, "By reflecting on 
 this melancholy event let the 'humble believer be encouraged ever 
 tohold fast that precious faith which is the only source of true con- 
 solation in the last extremity of nature. Let the infidel be per- 
 suaded to abandon his opposition to the Gospel." 
 
 To show you, sir, that your promise of consolation from scrip 
 tore has no foundation to stand upon, I will cite to you one of the 
 greatest falsehoods upon record; and which was given, as the re- 
 cord says, for the purpose, and as a promise, of consolation. 
 
 In the'epistle called "the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalo 
 .niarfs," (chap. 4,) the writer consoles the' Thessalohians as to the 
 case of their friends who- were already dead. He does this byin- 
 forming them, and he does it he says, by the word of the Lori '• 
 
356 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 most notorious falsehood,) that the general resurrection of the dead 
 and the ascension of the living, will be in his and their days ; that 
 their friends will then come to life again ; that the dead in Christ 
 will rise first. — " Then we (says he, v. 17) which are alive and 
 remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet 
 iJie Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord — where- 
 fore comfort one another with.th.ese words." 
 
 Delusion and falsehood cannot be carried higher than they are 
 in this passage. You, sir, are but a novice in the art. The words 
 admit of no equivocation. The whole passage is in the first per- 
 son and the present tense, " We which are alive." Had the wri- 
 ter meant a future time, and a distant generation, it must have 
 heen in the third person and the future tense. " They who shall 
 then be alive." I am thus particular for the purpose of nailing 
 you down to the text, that you may not ramble from it, nor put 
 other constructions upon the words than they will bear, which 
 priests are very apt to do. 
 
 Now, sir, it is impossible for serious man, to whom God has 
 given the divine gift of reason, and who employs that reason to 
 reverence and adore the God that gave it, it is, I say, impossible 
 for such a man to put confidence in a book that abounds with fable 
 and falsehood as the New Testament does. This passage is but 
 a sample of what I could give you. 
 
 You call on those whom~you style -^ infidets, > ' (and theyin re- 
 turn .might call you an idolater, a worshipper of false gods, a 
 preacher of false doctrine,) i " to abandon their opposition to the 
 Gospel." Prove, sir, the Gospel to be true, and the opposition 
 will cease of itself ; but until you do this (which we know you can- 
 not da) you have no right to expect they will notice your call. If 
 by infidels you mean Deists, (and you must be exceedingly ignor- 
 ant of the origin of the word Deist, and , know but little of Deus, to 
 put that construction upon it,) you will find yourself over-matched 
 if you begin to engage in a controversy with them. Priests may 
 dispute with priests, and sectaries with sectaries, about the mean- 
 ing of what they ..agree to call scripture, and end as they began ; 
 but when.you engage with a Deist you must keep to fact. Now_, 
 sir,' you cannot prove a single article of your religion to be true, 
 and we tell you so publicly. Do it, if you can. The Deistical 
 article, the belief of a God, with which your creed begins, has been 
 borrowed by your church from the ancient Deists, and even this 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 357 
 
 article you dishonour by putting a dream-begotten phantom* which 
 vou call his son, over his head, and treating God as if he was super- 
 anuated. Deism is the only profession of religion that admits of 
 worshipping and reverencing God in purity, and the only one on 
 which the thoughtful mind can repose with undisturbed tranquillity. 
 God is almost forgotten in the Christian religion. Every thing, 
 eventhe creation, is ascribed to the son of Mary. 
 
 In religion, as in every thing else, perfection consists in simpli- 
 city. The Christian religion of Gods within Gods, like wheels 
 within wheels, is like a complicated machine that never goes right, 
 and every projector in the art of Christianity is trying to mend it." 
 It is its defects that have caused such . a number and variety of 
 tinkers to be hammering-at it, and still it goes wrong. In the vi- 
 sible world no time-keeper can go equally true with the sun .; and 
 in like manner, no complicated religion can be equally true with 
 the pure and unmixed religion, of Deism. -- -=-_i__ L . 
 
 Had you not offensively glanced at a description of men whom 
 you call by a false name, you would not have been troubled nor 
 honored with this address ; neither has" the writer of it any desire 
 or intention to enter into controversy with you. He thinks the 
 temporal establishment of your church politically unjust and offen- 
 sively unfair ; but with respect to religion itself, distinct from 
 temporal establishments, he is happy in. the enjoyment of his owry 
 and he leaves you to make the best you can of yours. 
 
 •A MEMBER OF THE- DEISTICAL CHURCH 
 
 - • 
 
 * -The first chapter of Matthew, relates that Joseph, the betrothed husband 
 of Mary, dreamed that the angel told him (hat his intended bride was with 
 child by the Holy Ghost. It is not every husband, 'Jwhether carpenter or 
 priest, that can be so easily satisfied, for lo ! it was a dream. Whether Mary 
 was in a dream when this was done we are not told. It is, however, a comical 
 story. There is no woman Jiving can understand it. 
 
33S MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 TO JOHN MASON, . 
 
 One of the Ministers of the Scotch Presbyterian Church; of JVeie- 
 Forki with remarks on hAs account of the visit he made to the 
 ■ late- General Hamilton. 
 
 -.' u Borne now, let us reason together saith the Lord." This is 
 one of the passages you quoted from your Bible, in your conver- 
 sation with. General Hamilton, as given in your letter, signed with 
 vour name, and published in the Commercial Advertiser, and 
 ether New-York papers, and I re-quote -the passage to show that 
 your ifcr/and yom Religion! contradict each other. 
 
 It is impossible to reason upon things not comprehensible by 
 reason ; and, therefore, if you keep to your text, which priests 
 seldom do, (for they are generally either above it, or below it, or 
 forget- it,) you must admit a religion to which reason can apply, 
 and this certainly is not the Christian religion. 
 
 There is not an article" in the Christian religion that is cog- 
 nizable by reason. r The Deistical article of your religion, the 
 belief of a God, is no more a Christian article, than it is a Maho- 
 metan article. It is an universal article, common to all religions, 
 ami which is. held in greaterjpurity by Turks than by Christians ; 
 but the Deistical church is the only one which holds it in real 
 purity ; because that church; acknowledges no co-partnership with 
 God. It believes in him solely; and knows "nothing of Sons', 
 married Virgins, nor Ghosts. It holds all these things to be the 
 fables of priest-craft. 
 
 , Why then do you talk of reason, or refer to it,' since your reli- 
 gion has nothing to do with reason, nor reason with that. You 
 tell people as you told Hamilton, that they must have faith ! 
 Faith in what 1 You ought to know that before the mind can 
 have faith in any thing, it must either know it as a fact, or see 
 cause to believe it on the probability of that kind of evidence that 
 is cognizable by reason ; but your religion is not within either 
 of these cases ; for, in the first place, you cannot prove it be 
 fact ; and in the second place, you cannot support it by reason, 
 not only because it is not cognizable by reason, but because 
 it is contrary to reason. What reason can there be in sup- 
 posing, or believing, that God put himself to death, to satisfy 
 
Miscellaneous pieces. 3f>& 
 
 himself, and be- revenged, on the Devil ort account of Ada/in? for 
 tell the story which ; way you will it comes to this at last. 
 
 As you can make no appeal to reason in support of an unrea- 
 sonable religion, you then (and others of your profession) bring 
 yourselves "off by telling people, they must not believe in reason 
 but in revelation." This is the artifice of habit without reflection. 
 It is putting words in the place of things ; for do' you not see that 
 whenyou tell people to believe in revelation,, you must first prove 
 that what you call revelation,. is revelation ; and as you cannot do 
 this,.yjou put the word which is easily spoken, in the place of 4he 
 thing you cannot prove. You have no more evidence that your 
 Gospel is revelation, than the Turks have that their Koran is reve- 
 lation, and the 6nly* difference between them and you is, that they 
 preach their' delusion and you preach yqiursV .1 
 
 In your conversation with General Hamilton, you say to him, 
 " The simple truths of the Gospel which- require no abstruse in- 
 vestigation, but faith in the: veracity of God, who cannot lie, are 
 best suited to your, present condition." 
 
 If those matters you* call " simple truths," are what you call 
 them, and require no abstruse investigation, they would ibe so ob- 
 vious that; reason would easily comprehend them ; ; yet the doc- 
 trine you preach at other times is, that the mysteries of ' the ffospel 
 are,beyond the reach of reason. If your first position be true, that 
 they are simple truths, priests are unnecessary, for we do not 
 want,- preachers to tell us the sun shines ; and if your second be 
 true, the. case, as tq effect, is the same, for it is waste of money to 
 pay a man to explain unexplainable things, and' loss of time to 
 listen! to him. That God cannot lie, is no advantage to your 
 argument, because, it is no proof that priests cannot, or that the 
 Bible does not. Did notPaul.Iie when he told the Thessalonians 
 that the general resurrection, of ,the dead wou]d : bean his life-time, 
 and that he should go up alive along with them into the clouds to 
 meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thes. chap. 4. v. 27. 
 ''■■ You spoke of what you call, " the prechus blood cf CHrtst." 
 This savage style of language belongs to the priests of the Chris- 
 tian religion. The professors; of this religion say they are shock- 
 ed at the accounts of -human sacrifices of which they read in the 
 histories, of some countries. Do they not see. that their own 
 religion is founded on a human sacrifice, the blood of man, of 
 which their priests talk like so many butchers. It is no wonder 
 
360 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 the Christian religion has been so bloody in its effects, for it began 
 in blood, and many thousands of human sacrifices have since been 
 offered on the altar of the Christian religion. 
 
 It is necessary to the character of a religion, as being true, and 
 immutable as God himself is, that the evidence of if be equally 
 the same through all periods of time and circumstance. This is 
 not the case with the Christian religion, nor with that of the Jews 
 that preceded it, (for there was a time and that within the know- 
 ledge of history, when these religions did not exist,) nor is it the 
 case with any religion we know of but the religion of Deism. In 
 this the evidences are eternal and universal. — " The heavens de- 
 clare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy work, 
 — Day unto day uttereth speech, and nighf- unto night showelh 
 knowledge."* But all other religions are made fo arise from 
 some local circumstance, end are introduced by some temporary 
 trifle which its partizans call a miracle, but of which there is no 
 proof but the story of it 
 
 The Jewish religion, according to the history of it, began in a 
 wilderness, and the Christian religion in a stable. The Jewish 
 books tell us of wonders exhibited upon mount Sinai. It happen- 
 ed that nobody lived there to contradict the account. The Chris- 
 tian books tell us of a star that hung over the stable at the birth of 
 Jesus. There is no star there now, nor any person living that 
 saw it. vBut all tine stars~in the heavens bear eternal evidence to 
 the truth of Deism. It did not begin in a stable, nor in a wilder- 
 ness. It began every where. The theatre of the universe is the 
 place of its birth. 
 
 As adoration paid to any being but GOD himself is idolatary, 
 the Christian religion by paying adoration to a man, born of a 
 woman, called Mary, belongs to the idolatrous class of religions, 
 consequently the consolation drawn from it is delusion. Between 
 you and your rival in communion ceremonies, Dr. Moore of the 
 
 * This Psalm (19) which is a Deislical Psalm, is so much in the manner of 
 some parts of the book of Job, (which is not a book of the Jews", and does not 
 belong to the bible,) that it has the appearance of having been translated »nto 
 Hebrew from the same language in wluch the book of Job was originally writ- 
 ten,' and brought by the Jews from Chaldea or Persia, when they returned 
 from captivity. The contemplation of the heavens made a great part of the 
 religious devotion of the Chaldeans and Persians, and their religious festivals 
 were regulated by the progress of the sun through the twelve signs of the Zo- 
 diac. But the Jews knew nothing about the Heavens, or they would no* 
 have told the foolish story of the sun's standing still upon a hill, and the moon 
 in a valley. What could they want the moon for in the day time. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 1'IECE?. gfil 
 
 Episcopal church, you have, in order to make yourselves appear 
 of some importance, reduced General Hamilton's character to 
 that of a feeble minded man, who in going out of the world want- 
 ed a passport from a priest.' Which of you was first or last ap- 
 plied to for this purpose is a matter of no consequence. 
 
 The man,- sir, who puts his trust and confidence in God, that 
 leads a just and moral life, and' endeavours to do good, does not 
 trouble himself about priests when his hour of departure comes, 
 nor permit priests to trouble themselves about him. They are in 
 genera] mischievous beings where character is concerned ; a con- 
 sultation of priests is worse- than a consultation of .physicians. 
 
 A MEMBER OF THE DEISTICAL CONGREGATION. 
 
 DN DEISM, AND THE WRITINGS OF THOMAS 
 PAINE. 
 
 The following reflections, written last winter, were occasioned 
 by certain expressions in some of the public papers against Deism 
 and the writings of Thomas Paine on that subject. 
 
 " Great is Diana of the EptiesiansJ' was the cry of the people 
 of Ephesus ;* and the cry of " our holy religion" has been the 
 cry of superstition in some inslahcess, and of hypocrisy in others, 
 from that day to this. . 
 
 The Brahmin, the follower of Zoroaster, the Jfew.the Maho- 
 metan, the church of Rome, the Greek church, the protestant 
 church, split into several hundred contradictory sectaries, preach- 
 in<r, in some instances, damnation against each other, all cry out, 
 ■»' our holy religion.'" The Calvinist, who damns children of a 
 span long to hell to burn for ever for the glory of God, (and this 
 is called Christianity,]. and the tfniversalist, who preaches that all 
 shall be saved and none shall be damned, (and this also is called 
 Christianity,) boasts afrke of their holy religion and their Christian 
 faith. Something more," therefore, 'is necessary than mere cry 
 and wholesale assertion, and that something is TRUTH ; and as 
 
 * Acts, chap. xix. ver. 28. 
 46 
 
362 MJSCELliASEOUS PIECES. 
 
 inquiry *Mhe road to truth* he that is opposed to inquiry is not a 
 friend to truth. 
 
 The God of Truth is not the God of fable ; when, therefore, 
 any book is introduced into the world as the word of God, and 
 made a ground-work for religion, it ought to be scrutinized more 
 than other books to see if it bear evidence of being what it is cal- 
 led. Our reverence to God demands thai we do this, lest we as- 
 cribe to God what is not his, and our duty to ourselves demand it 
 lest we take fable for fact, and rest our hope of salvation on a false 
 foundation. It is not our calling a book hohj that makes it so, any- 
 more than our calling a religion holy that entitles it to the name. 
 Inquiry* therefore, is necessary in order to arrive at truth. But 
 inquiry must have some principle to proceed on, some standard to 
 judge by, superior to. human authority. 
 
 When we survey the works of creation, the revolutions of the 
 planetary system, and the whole economy of what is called nature, 
 which is no other than the laws .the Creator has prescribed to mat- 
 ter, we see unerring order and universal harmony reigning through- 
 out the whole. No one part contradicts another. The sun does 
 not run against the moon, nor the moon against the sun, nor the 
 planets against each other. Every thing keeps its appointed time 
 and place. This harmony- in the works of God is -so obvious; that 
 the farmer of the field, though he cannot calculate eclipses, is as 
 sensible of it as the philosophical astronomer. He sees the God 
 of order in every part of the visible universe. 
 
 Here, then, is the standard to which every thing must be brought 
 that pretends to be the work or word of God, and by this standard 
 it must be judged, independently of any thing and -every thing that 
 man can say or do. His Opinion is like a feather in the scale com 
 pared with the standard that God himselfhas set up. 
 
 It is, therefore, by this standard, that the Bible, and all other 
 hooks pretending to be the word of God, (and there are many of 
 them in the world,) mustbe judged, and not by the opinions of men 
 or the decrees of ecclesiastical councils. These have been so 
 contradictory,, that they have often rejected in one council what 
 they had voted to be the word of God in another j and admitted • 
 what had been before rejected. In this state of uncertainty in, 
 which we are, and which is rendered still more uncertain, by the 
 numerous contradictory sectaries that have sprung up since the 
 time of Luther- and Calvin, what is man to do 1 The answer is 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 363 
 
 easy. Begin at the root^-begin with the Bible itself. Examine it 
 with the utmost strictness. It is our doty so to do. • Compare the 
 parts with each other, and the whole with the Harmonious, magni- 
 ficent order that reigns throughout the visible universe, and the 
 result will be, that if the same almighty wisdom that created the 
 universe, dictated also the Bible, the Bible will be as harmonious 
 and- as magnificent in all its parts, and in the whole, as the uni- 
 verse is. But if, instead of this, the parts are found to be discor- 
 dant, contradicting in one place what is said in another, (as in 2 
 Sam. chap.- xxiv. v. 1, and 1 Chron. chap. xxi. ver. 1, where the 
 same action is ascribed to God in one book and to Satan in the 
 other,) abounding -also in idle and obscene stories, and represent- 
 ing the Almighty as a passionate,, whimsical Being, continually 
 changing his mind, making arid unmaking his own works as if he 
 did not know what he was.about, we may -take it for certainty that 
 the Creator of the universe is not the author of sueh a book, that 
 it is not the word of God, and that to call it so is to dishonour his 
 name. The Quakers, who are a people more moral and regular in 
 their conduct than ..the people of other sectaries, and : generally al- 
 lowed so to be, do not hold the Bible to be the^wofd of God. They 
 call it a history of the times, and .a bad ''history it is, and also a history 
 of bad men and of bad" actions, and abounding with bad examples. 
 
 For several centuries past the dispute has been about doctrines. 
 Itis now about fact. Is the Bible the word of God, or is it not ? 
 for until this point is established, no doctrine drawn from the Bible 
 can afford real consolation to man, and he ought tp be careful he 
 does not mistake delusion for truth. This is a case that con- 
 cerns all men alike. 
 
 There has always existed in Europe, and also in America, since 
 its establishments, a numerous description ofLmen, (I do not here 
 •mean the Quakers,) who did not, and do not believe the Bible, to 
 be the word of God. These men never formed; themselves into 
 an established society, but are to be found in all the sectaries that 
 exist, and are more numerous than any, perhaps equal to all, and 
 are daily increasing. From Dew, the latin word for God, they 
 have been denominated Deists, that is, believers in God. It is the 
 most honourable appellation, that can be given to mail, because it 
 is derived immediately from the Deity. It is not an artificial name 
 like episcopalian* preabyterian, &c. but is a name of sacred signi 
 fication, and to revile it is to revile the name of God. 
 
36A MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 Since then there is so much doubt and uncertainty about the 
 Bible, some asserting, and others denying it to be the word of God, 
 it is best that the whole matter come out..- It is necessary, for the 
 information of the world, that it should. A better time- cannot of- " 
 fer than whilst the government, patronizing no one sect or opinion 
 in preference to another, protects equally the rights of all ; and 
 certainly every man must spurn the idea of- an ecclesiastical 
 tyranny, engrossing the rights of the press, and holding it free only 
 for itself. - - 
 
 Whilst the terrors of the church, and the tyranny of the state, 
 hung like a pointed sword over Europe, men were commanded to 
 believe what the church told them, or go to the stake. All in- 
 quiries into the authenticity of the Bible were shut out by the in- 
 quisition. We ought, therefore, to suspect, that a great mass of 
 information respecting the Bible, and the introduction of it into the 
 world, lias been suppressed by the united tyranny of church and 
 state, for the purpose of keeping people in ignorance, and which 
 ought to be known. 
 
 The Bible has been received by the protestants on the authority 
 of the church of Rome, and on no other authority. It is she that 
 has said it is the word of God. We do not admit the authority of 
 that church with respect to its pretended infallihUilij, its manufac- 
 tured miracles, its setting itself up to forgive sins, its amphibious 
 doctrine of fransiibstantiation, &c. f and we ought to be watchful 
 with respect to any book introduced »y her, or her ecclesiastical 
 councils, and called by her the word of God : and the more so, 
 because it was by propagating that belief and Supportingit-by.fire 
 and faggot, that she kept up her temporal power. That, the belief 
 of the Bible does no good in the world, may be seen by the irregu- 
 lar lives of those, as well priests as laymen, who profess to believe 
 it to be the word of God, and the moral lives of the- Quakers who 
 do not It abounds with too many ill examples to be made a rule 
 for moral life, and were a man to copy after the lives of some of 
 its most celebrated characters, he would come to the gallows. 
 
 Thomas Paine has written to show that the .Bible is not the 
 word of God, that the books it contains were not. written by the 
 persons to whom they are ascribed, that it is an anonymous hook, 
 and that we have no authority for calling it the word of God, or for 
 saying it was written by inspired penmen, since we do not know 
 who the writers were. This is the opinion not only of Thomas 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 365 
 
 Paine, hut of thousands and tens of thousands of the most respect- 
 able characters in the United States and in Europe, These men 
 have the same right to their' opinions as others have to contrary- 
 opinions, and the same right to publish them. Ecclesiastical 
 tyranny is not admissible in the United States. 
 
 With respect to morality, the writings of Thomas Paine are re- 
 markable for purity and benevolence; and though he often enli- 
 vens them with touches of wit and humour, he never loses sight of 
 the real solemnity of his subject. No man's morals, either with 
 respect to his Maker, himself, er his neighbour, can suffer by the 
 writings of Thomas Paine. 
 
 It is now too late to abuse Deism, especially in a country where 
 the press is- free, or where free presses can be established. It is a 
 religion that has God for its patron and derives its name from him; 
 The thoughtful mind of man, wearied with the endless contentions 
 of sectaries against sectaries, doctrines against doctrines, and 
 priests against priests, finds its repose at last in the contemplative 
 beliefand worship of one God and the, practice of morality, for as 
 Pope wisely says, 
 
 " He can't be wrons. whose life is in the right." 
 
 of the Books of the new testament 
 
 Address to.the believers in the book called, the Scriptures* . , 
 
 The New Testament contains twenty-seven books, of which 
 tour are called Gospels ; one called the Acts of the Apostles ; 
 fourteen called Epistles of Paul ; one of James ; two of Peter ; 
 throe of John; one of Jude ; and one called the Revelation. 
 
 None of those books have the appearance of being written by 
 the persons whose names they bear, neither do we know who' the 
 authors were. They come to us on no other authority. than the 
 church of Rome, which the Protestant Priests, especially those of 
 New England, call the Whore of Babylon. This church appoint- 
 ed sundry councils to be held, to compose creeds for the people, 
 and to regulate church affairs. Two of the principal of these 
 councils were that of Nice, and of Laodocia, (names of the places 
 where the councils were held,) about three hundred and fifty years 
 
366 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 after tbe time that Jesus is said to have lived. -Before this time 
 there was no such book as theJVew Testament. But the church 
 could not well go on without haying something to show, as the 
 Persians showed the Zendavista, revealed, they. say, by God to 
 Zoroaster ; the Bramins of India, the Shaster^ revealed, they say, 
 by God to Bruma, and given to him out of a dusky cloud ; the 
 Jews, the books they call the Law" of Moses, given they say- also 
 out of a cloud on Mount Sinai; the church set about forming a 
 code for itself out of such materials as it could find or pick up. 
 But where they got those materials, in what language they were 
 written, or whose hand writing they were, or whether they were 
 originals or copies, or. on what authority they stood we know noth- 
 ing of, nor does the New Testament tell us. The church was 
 resolved to have a New Testament,- and as after the lapse of more 
 than three hundred years, no hand-writing could be proved or dis- 
 proved, the church, who like former impostors, had then gotten 
 possession of the*state, had every thing its own way. It invented 
 creeds, such as that called the Apostle's Creed, the Nicean Creed 
 the Athanasian Creed, and out of the loads of rubbish that were 
 presented, it voted four to be Gospels, and others to be Epistles, 
 as we now find them arranged. 
 
 Of those called Gospels, above Forty were presented, each pre- 
 tending to be genuine. Four only were voted in, and entitled, 
 the Gospel according to St. Matthew — -the Gospel according to 
 St. Mark— the Gospel according to St. Luke— the Gospel ac- 
 cording to St. John. s 
 
 This word according, shows that those books have not been 
 written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, but according to some 
 accounts or traditions, picked up concerning them. The word 
 according means agreeing with, and necessarily includes the idea 
 of two-things, or two persons. We cannot say, The Gospel wit- 
 ten by Matthew according to Matthew ; but we might say, the 
 the Gospel of some other person according to what was reported 
 to have been the opinion of Matthew. Now we do not know 
 who those other -persons were,- nor whether what they wrote ac- 
 corded with any thing- that Matthew,*Mark, Luke and John might 
 have said. There is too little evidence, and too much contrivance, 
 about those books to merit credit. 
 
 The next book after those called Gospels,' is that called the. Acts 
 of the Apostles. This book is anonymous ; neither do the coun- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS FIECES. 367 
 
 cila that compiled. or contrived the .New Testament tell us how 
 they came by it. The church, to supply this defect, say it was 
 written by Luke, which shows that. the church and its priests have 
 not Compared that called the Gospel according to St. Luke, and 
 the Acts together, for the two contradict each other. The book 
 of Luke, chap. 24, makes Jesus ascendlnto-heaven the very samo 
 day that it makes him rise from the grave. The book of Acts, 
 chap. i. v. 3', says, that he remained on the earth forty days after 
 his crucifixion. There is ; no believing what either of them says. 
 
 The next to the book of Act's is that entitled. " The Epistle of 
 Paul the Apostle* to the Romans." This is not an Epistle, or let- 
 ter written by Paul or signed by him. It is an Epistle, or letter, 
 written by a person. "who signs himself Tertius, and sent, as it is 
 said at the end, by a servant woman called Phebe. The last chap- 
 ter, v. .22, says.. " I Tertius, who wrote this Epistle, salute you." 
 Who Tertius or Phebe were, we know nothing of. The Epistle 
 is not dated. The whole of it is written in the first person, and 
 that person is Tertius, not Paul. But it suited the church to 
 ascribe it to Paul. There is nothing in it that is interesting ex 
 cept it be to contending and wangling sectaries. The- stupid 
 metaphor of the potter and the clay is, in the 9th chap. 
 
 The next book is entittled f The first Epistle of Paul the Apos- 
 tle, to the Corinthians.''^ This,, like the former, is not an Epistle 
 written by Paul, nor sigaed.byhim. The conclusion of the Epis- 
 tle says, " The first epistle to the Corinthians was written from 
 Philippi, by Stephenas and Fortunatus, and Achaicus and Timo- 
 theus." Thesecond epistle entitled, " The. second, epistle, of 
 Paul the-, Apostle, to the Corinthians," is in thesame case with the 
 first. The conclusion of it says, " It was written from Philippi, 
 a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas. 
 
 A question may arise upon these cases, which is, are these per- 
 sons the*writers of the epistles, originally, or are they the writers 
 and attestors of copies sent to the councils who compiled the code 
 or canon of the New Testament ? If the epistles had been dated 
 this question could be decided; but in either of the cases the 
 evidences of Paul's hand writing and of their being written by him 
 
 * According to the criterion of the church, Paul was not an apostle ; that 
 appellation being given only to those called the. twelve. Two sailors belong* 
 ing to a man of war, got into a dispute upon this point) whether Paul was an 
 apostle or not, and they agreed to refer it to the boatswain, who decided Very 
 canonicdly that Paul was an acting apostle but not rated. 
 
SC8 MISCELLANEOUS 1'IECES. 
 
 ia wanting, and, therefore,' there is no authority for calling them 
 Epistles of Paul. We know not whose Episles'they were, nor 
 whether they are genuine or forged. ' 
 
 The next is entitled, " The Epistle.of Paul the Apostle to the 
 Galatians." It contains six short chapters. But short as the epis- 
 tle is, it does not carry the appearance of being the work or com- 
 position of one person. The fifth chapter, ver. 2, says, " If ye 
 be circumcised Christ shall avail you nothing.'' It does not say 
 circumcision shall profit you nothing,' but Christ shall profit you 
 nothing. Yet in the sixth chap. v. 15, it says, " For in Christ 
 Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision, 
 but a new creature-." These are not reconcileable passages, nor 
 can contrivance make them so. The conclusion of the epistle 
 says, it was written from Rome, but it is not dated, nor is there any 
 signature to it, neither do the compilers of the New Testament 
 say how they came by it. We are in the dark upon all these 
 matters. 
 
 The next is entitled, " the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the 
 Ephesians." Paul is not the writer. The conclusion of it says, 
 " Written from Rome unto the Ephesians by Tychicos." 
 
 The next is entitled, "the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the 
 Philippians." Paul is not the writer. The conclusion of it says, 
 " It was written to the Philippians from Rome by-Epapbroditus." 
 It is not dated. Query, were those men who wrote and signed 
 those Epistles journeymen Apostles, who undertook to write in 
 Paul's name, as Paul is said to have preached in Christ's name ! 
 
 The next is entitled, " tbe'Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the 
 Colossians." Paul is not the writer. Doctor Luke is spoken of 
 in this Epistle as sending his compliments. "Luke, the beloved 
 physician and Demas greet you." Chap.iv. v. 14. It does not 
 say a word about his writing any Gospel. The conclusion of the 
 Epistle says, "Written from. Rome to the Collossians, by Tychi 
 cus and Onesimus." 
 
 The next is entitled, " The first and the second Epistles of Paul 
 the Apostle, to the Thessaldnians." Either the writer of these 
 Epistles was a visionary enthusiast, or a direct impostor, for he 
 tells the Thessalonians, and, he says, he tells them by the word, of 
 the Lord, that the ' world will be at an end in his .and their time ; 
 and after telling them that those who are already dead shall rise, 
 he adds, chapter 4, verse 17, " Then we which are alive and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 369 
 
 remain shall be caugbJup with them into (he clouds to meet the Lord 
 in the air, and so shall we be ever with the. Lord." Such detected 
 lies as these, ought to fill priests with confusion, when they preach 
 such books to be the word of God. These two Epistles are said 
 in the conclusion of them, to be written from Athens. They are 
 without date or signatures. 
 
 The next four Epistles are private letters. • Two of them are to 
 Timothy, one to Titus, and one to Philemon. Who they were, 
 nobody knows. 
 
 The first to Timothy, is said to be written from Laodicea. It is 
 without date or signature. ^ The second to Timothy, is said to be 
 written from Rome, and is without date 6r signature. The Epistle 
 to Titus is said to be written from Nicopolis in Macedonia. It is 
 without date or signature. The Epistle to Philemon is said to be 
 written from Rome by Onesimus. It is without date. • * 
 
 The last Epistle ascribed to Paul is entitled, " The Epistle of 
 Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews,'.' and is said in the conclusion 
 to be written from Italy, by Timothy. This Timothy (according 
 to the conclusion of the Epistle called the second Epistle of Paul 
 to Timothy) was bishop of the church of the Ephesians, and con- 
 sequently this is not an Epistle of Paul. ^ 
 
 On what slender cob.-web evidence, do the priests and profes- 
 sors of the Christian religion hang their faith ! The same degree 
 of hearsay evidence, and that at third and fourth hand, would not, 
 in a court of justice, give a man title to a cottage, and yet the 
 priests of this profession presumptuously promise their deluded 
 followers the kingdom of Heaven. A little reflection would teach 
 men that those books are not to be trusted to ; that so far from 
 there being any proof they are the word of God, it is unknown who 
 the writers of them were, or at what time they were written, within 
 three hundred years after the reputed authors are said to have lived. 
 It is not the interest of priests, who get their living by them, 
 to examine into the insufficiency of the evidence upon which those 
 books were received by the popish councils who compiled the New 
 Testament. 
 
 The cry of the priests that the church is in danger, is the cry of 
 men who do not understand the interest of their own craft, for 
 instead of exciting alarms and apprehensions for its safety, as they 
 expect, it excites suspicion that the foundation is not sound, and 
 tha* it is necessaiy to take down and build it on a surer founda- 
 
 47 
 
370 - MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 tion. Nobody fears for the safety of a mountain, but a hillock of 
 sand may be washed away ! Blow then, O ye priests, " the Tram- 
 pet in ZioD/' for the Hillock is in danger. 
 
 DETECTOR— P. 
 
 COMMUNICATION. 
 
 The church tells us that the books of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment are divine revelation, and without this revelation we could 
 not have true ideas of God. 
 
 The Deist, on the contrary, say, that those books are not divine 
 revelation, and that were itnot for the light of reason, and the reli- 
 gion of Deism, those bookgpinstead of teaching us true ideas of God, 
 would teach us not only false but blasphemous ideas of him. 
 
 Deism teaches us that God is a God of truth and justice 
 Does the Bible teach the same doctrine ? It does not. 
 
 The Bible says, (Jeremiah, chap. 20, verses 5, 7,) that God is a 
 deceiver. " O Lord (says Jeremiah) thou hast deceived me, and 
 I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed." 
 
 Jeremiah not only upbraids God with deceiving him, but in 
 chap. 4, verse 9, he upbraids God with deceiving the people of 
 Jerusalem. " Ah ! Lord God, (says he,) surely thou hast greatly 
 deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, ye shall have peace, 
 whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul." 
 
 In chap. 15, verse 8, the Bible becomes more impudent, and 
 calls God in plain language, a liar. " Wilt thou, (says Jeremiah) 
 to God,) be altogether unto me as a liar and as waters that fail." 
 
 Ezekiel chap. 14, verse 9, makes God to say — " If the prophet 
 be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, J the Lord hath deceived 
 that prophet." All this is downright blasphemy. 
 
 The prophet Micaiah, as he is called, 2 Chron. chap. 18, verse 
 18, tells another blasphemous story of God. — " I saw, says he, the 
 Lord sitting on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven standing on 
 his right hand and on his left. And the Lord said, who shall en- 
 tice Ahab, king of Israel, to go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead 1 And 
 one spoke after this manner, and another after that manner. Then 
 there came out a spirit (Micaiah does not tell us where he came 
 from) and stood before the Lord, (what an impudent fellow this 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 371 
 
 spirit was,) and said, I will entice him. And the Lord said unto 
 him, wherewith ? and he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit 
 in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said thou shalt 
 entice him, and thou shalt also prevail ; go out and do even so. 
 
 We often hear of a gang of thieves plotting to rob and murder a 
 man, and laying a plan to entice him out that they may execute 
 their design, and we always feel shocked at the wickedness of such 
 wretches ; but what must we think of a book that describes the 
 Almighty acting in the same manner, and laying plans in heaven 
 to entrap and ruin mankind. Our ideas of his justice and good- 
 ness forbid us to believe such stories, and, therefore, we say that a 
 lying spirit has been in the mouth of the writers of the books of the 
 Bible. T. P. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE PROSPECT. 
 
 In addition to the judicious remarks in your 12th number, on 
 the absurd story of Noah's flood, in the 7th chapter of Genesis, I 
 send you the following : 
 
 The 2d verse makes God to say unto Noah, " Of every clean 
 beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, 
 and of every beast that are not clean, by two, the male and his 
 female." 
 
 Now, there was no such thing as beasts clean and unclean in 
 the time of Noah. Neither were there any such people as Jews 
 or Israelites at that time, to whom that distinction was a law. The 
 law, called the law of Moses, by which a distinction is made, 
 beasts clean and unclean, was -not until several hundred 
 years after the time that Noah is said to have lived. The story, 
 therefore, detects itself, because the inventor forgot himself, by 
 making God make use of an expression that could not be used at 
 the time. The blunder is of the same kind, as if a man in telling 
 a story about America a hundred years ago s should quote an ex- 
 pression from Mr. Jefferson's inaugural speech as if spoken by 
 him at that time. 
 
 My opinion of this story is the same as what a man once said 
 to another, w|io asked him in a drawling tbne of voice, " Do you 
 believe the account about No-ah?" The other replied in the samo 
 .lone of voice, ah-no. T. P. 
 
372 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 RELIGIOUS INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 The following publication, which has appeared in several news- 
 papers in different parts of the United States, shows in the most 
 striking manner the . character and effects of religious fana- 
 ticism, and to what extravagant lengths it will carry its unruly 
 and destructive operations. We give it a place in the Prospect, 
 because we think the perusal of it will be gratifying to our sub- 
 scribers ; and, because, by exposing the true character of such 
 frantic zeal, we hope to produce some influence upon the rea- 
 son of man, and induce him to rise superior to such dreadful 
 illusions. The judicious remarks at the end of this account 
 were communicated to us by a very intelligent and faithful friend 
 to the cause of Deism. 
 
 Extract from a Letter of the Rev. George Scott, of Mitt Creek, Washington 
 County, Pennsylvania, to Col. William M'Farran, of Mount Bethel, North 
 ampton County, P. dated November 3, 1802. 
 
 My Dear Friend, 
 
 We have wonderful times here. God has been pleased to visit 
 this_barren corner with abundance of his grace. The work began 
 in a neighbouring congregation, at a sacramental occasion, about 
 the last of September. It did not make its appearance in my con- 
 gregation till the first Tuesday >of October. After society in the 
 night, there appeared an evident stir among the young people, but 
 nothing of the appearance of what appeared afterwards. On Sa- 
 turday evening following we had society, but it was dull throughout. 
 On Sabbath-day one cried out, but nothing else extraordinary ap- 
 peared. — That evening I went part of the way to the Raccoon 
 congregation, where the sacrament of the supper was administered ; 
 
 * It becomes necessary to insert Mr. Scott's letter, for the due understanding 
 of the comments made upon it, by Mr. Paine. It has also in itself much in- 
 terest, as exhibiting a true picture of the awful condition in which priestcraft 
 has involved human nature, by inculcating " the doctrines of our fallen state 
 by nature, and the way of recovering through Christ." A more childish and 
 besotted dogma, I will venture to say, was never taught in the most barbarous 
 nation that ever existed in the world. — Ed. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 373 
 
 but on Monday morning a very strong impression of daty con- 
 strained me to return to my congregation in the Flats, where the 
 work was begun. We met in the afternoon at the meeting-house, 
 where we had a warm society. In the evening we removed to a 
 neighbouring house, where we continued in society till midnight ; 
 numbers were falling all the time of society. — After the people 
 were dismissed, a considerable number staid and sung hymns, till 
 perhaps two o'clock in the morning, when the work began to the 
 astonishment of all. Only five or six were left able to take care 
 of the rest, to the number perhaps of near forty. — They fell in all 
 directions, on benches, on beds, and on the floor. Next morning 
 the people began to flock in from all quarters. One girl came 
 early in the morning, but did not get within one hundred yards of 
 the house before she fell powerless, and was carried in. We could 
 not leave the house, and, therefore, continued society all that day 
 and all that night, and on Wednesday morning I was obliged to 
 leave a number of them on the spat. On Thursday evening we 
 met again, when the work was amazing ; about twenty persons lay 
 to all appearance dead for near two and a half hours, and a great 
 number cried out with sore distress. — Friday I preached at Mill 
 Creek. Here nothing appeared more than an unusual solemnity. 
 That evening we had society, where great numbers were brought 
 under conviction, but none fell. On sabbath-day I preached at 
 Mill Creek. This day and evening was a very solemn time but 
 none fell. On Monday I went to attend presbytery, but return- 
 ed on Thursday evening to the Flats, where society was ap- 
 pointed, when numbers were struck down. On Saturday evening 
 we had society, and a very solemn time — about a dozen persons 
 lay dead three and a half hours by the watch. On sabbath a num- 
 ber fell, and we were obliged to continue all night in society, as we 
 had done every evening we had met before. On Monday a Mr. 
 Hughes preached at Mill Creek, but nothing extraordinary appear 
 ed, only a great deal of falling. We concluded to divide that even- 
 ing into two societies, in order to accommodate the people. Mr. 
 H. attended the one and I the other. Nothing strange appeared 
 where Mr. H. attended ; but where I attended God was present 
 in the most wonderful maimer. I believe there was not one pre- 
 sent but was more or less affected. A considerable number fell 
 powerless, and two or three, after laying some time, recovered 
 with joy, and spoke near half an hour. One, especially, declared 
 
374 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 in a surprising manner the wonderful view she had of the person 
 character, and offices of Christ, with such accuracy of language, 
 that I was astonished to hear it. Surely this must be the work of 
 Ge'd ! On Thursday evening we had a lively society, but not much 
 falling down. On Saturday we all went to the Cross Roads, and 
 attended a sacrament. Here were, perhaps, about 4000 people 
 collected. The weather was uncomfortable ; on the Sabbath-day 
 it rained, and on Monday it snowed. We had thirteen ministers 
 present. The exercises began on Saturday, and continued on 
 night and day with little or no intermission. Great numbers fell ; 
 to speak within bounds, there were upwards of 150 down at one 
 time, and some of them continued three or four hours with but lit- 
 tle appearance of life. Numbers came to, rejoicing, while others 
 were deeply distressed. — The scene was wonderful ; the cries of 
 the distressed, and the agonising groans, gave some faint represen- 
 tation of the awful cries and the bitter screams which will no doubt 
 be extorted from the damned in helL But what is to me the most 
 surprising, of those who have been subjects among my people 
 with whom I have conversed, but three had any terrors of hell dur- 
 ing their exercise. The principal cry is, O how long have I reject- 
 ed Christ ! O how often have I embrued my hands in his precious 
 blood ! how often have I waded through his precious blood by 
 stifling conviction ! O this dreadful hard heart ! O what a dreadful 
 monster sin is ! It was my sin that nailed Jesus to the cross, &c. 
 The preaching is various ; some thunder the terrors of the law 
 — others preach the mild invitation of the gospel. For my part, 
 since the work began, I have confined myself chiefly to the doc- 
 trines of our fallen state by nature, and the way of recovery through 
 Christ ; opening the way of salvation ; showing how God can be 
 just and yet be the justifier of them that believe, and also the na 
 ture of true faith and repentance ; pointing out the difference be- 
 tween true and false religion, and urging the invitations of the gos- 
 pel in the most engaging manner that I am master of, without any 
 strokes of terror. The conviotions and cries appear to be, per-» 
 haps, nearly equal under all these different modes of preaching, but 
 it appears rather most when we preach on the fulness and freeness 
 of salvation. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 375 
 
 REMARKS BY MR. PAINE. 
 
 In the fifth chapter of Mark, we read a strange story of the 
 Devil getting into the swine after he had been turned out of a man, 
 and as the freaks of the Devil in that story and the tumble-down 
 descriptions in this are very much alike ; the two stories ought to 
 go together. 
 
 " And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the 
 country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the 
 ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an un- 
 clean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs ; and no man 
 could bind him, no, not with chains : because that he had been 
 often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been 
 plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces ; neither 
 could any man tame him. And always night and day, he was in 
 the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with 
 stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off", he ran and worshipped 
 him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, what have I to do with 
 thee, Jesus, thou son of the most high God 1 I adjure thee by God, 
 that thou torment me not. (For he said unto him, come out of the 
 man, thou unclean spirit.) And he asked him, what is thy name ] 
 and he answered, saying, my name is Legion : for we are many. 
 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out 
 of the country. Now there was there, nigh unto the mountains, a 
 great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, 
 saying, send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And 
 forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went 
 out, and entered into the swine ; and the herd ran down a vio- 
 lently steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand,) 
 and were choaked in the sea." 
 
 The force of the imagination is capable of producing strange ef- 
 fects. — When animal magnetism began in France, which was while 
 Doctor Franklin was minister to that country, the wonderful ac- 
 counts given of the wonderful effects it produced on the persons 
 who were under the operation, exceeded any thing related in the 
 foregoing letter from Washington County. They tumbled down, 
 fell into trances, roared and rolled about like persons supposed to 
 be bewitched. The government, in order to ascertain the fact, or 
 detect the imposition, appointed a committee of physicians to in- 
 
376 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 quire into the case* and Doctor Franklin was requested to accom- 
 pany them, which he did. 
 
 The committee went to the operator's house, and the persons 
 on whom an operation was to be performed were assembled. 
 They were placed in the position in which they had been when 
 under former operations, and blind-folded. In a little time they 
 began to show signs of agitation, and in the space of about two 
 hours they went through all the frantic airs they had shown before ; 
 but the case was, that no operation was performing upon them, 
 neither was the operator in the room, for he had been ordered out 
 of it by the physicians ; but as the persons did not know this, they 
 supposed him present and operating upon them. It was the effect 
 of imagination only. Doctor Franklin, in relating this account to 
 the writer of this article, said, that he thought the government might 
 as well have let it gone on, for that as imagination sometimes pro- 
 duced disorders it might also cure some. It is fortunate, however, 
 that this falling down and crying out scene did not happen in New 
 England a century ago, for if it had the preachers would have been 
 hung for witchcraft, and in more ancient times the poor falling 
 down folks would have been supposed to be possessed of a devil, 
 like the man in Mark, among the tombs. The progress that rea- 
 son and Deism make in the world, lessen the force of superstition, 
 and abate the spirit of persecution. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 377 
 
 THE STRANGE STORY OP 
 
 KORAH, DATHAN, AND ABIRAM, 
 
 Numbers, chap, xvi., accounted for. 
 
 Old ballads sing of Chevey Chase, 
 Beneath whose rueful shade, 
 
 Full many a valiant man was slain, 
 And many a widow made. 
 
 But I will tell of one much worse, 
 That happ'd in days of yore ; 
 
 All in the barren wilderness, 
 Beside the Jordan shore. 
 
 Where Moses led the children forth, 
 Call'd chosen tribes of God, 
 
 And fed them forty years with quails, 
 And ruled them with a rod. 
 
 A dreadful fray once rose among 
 These self named tribes of I am ; 
 
 Where Korah fell, and by his side 
 Fell Dathan and Abiram. 
 
 An earthquake swallowed thousands up, 
 And fire came down like stones, 
 
 Which slew their sons and daughters all, 
 Thejr wives and little ones. 
 
 'Twas all about old Aaron's tythes 
 This murdering quarrel rose ; 
 
 For tythes are worldly things of old, 
 That lead from words to blows. 
 48 
 
378 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 A Jew of Venice has explained, 
 In the language of his nation, 
 
 The manner how this fray began, 
 Of which here is translation. 
 
 There was a widow old and poor, 
 Who scarce herself could keep ; 
 
 Her stock of goods was very small, 
 Her flock one single sheep. 
 
 And when her time of shearing came, 
 She counted much her gains ; 
 
 For now, said she, I shall be blest 
 With plenty for my pains. 
 
 When Aaron heard the sheep was shear'd 
 And gave a good increase, 
 
 He straitway sent his tything man 
 And took away the fleece. 
 
 At this the weeping widow went 
 
 To Korah to complain, 
 And Korah he to Aaron went 
 
 In order to explain. 
 
 But Aaron said, in such a case 
 There can be no forbearing, 
 
 The law ordains that thou shalt give 
 The first fleece of thy shearing. 
 
 When lambing time was come about, 
 This sheep became a dam ; 
 
 And bless'd the widow's mournful heart, 
 By bringing forth a Iamb. 
 
 When Aaron heard the sheep had young, 
 
 He staid till it was grown, 
 Then be sent his tything man, 
 
 And took it for his own. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS PIEpES. 879 
 
 Again the weeping widow went 
 
 To Korah with her grief, 
 But Aaron said, in such a case 
 
 There could be no relief. 
 
 For in the holy law 'tis writ, 
 
 That whilst thou keep'st the stock, 
 Thou shalt present unto the Lord 
 
 The firstling of thy flock. 
 
 The widow then, in deep distress, 
 
 And having nought to eat, 
 Against her will she killed the sheep, 
 
 To feed upon the meat. 
 
 When Aaron heard the sheep was killed, 
 
 He sent and took a limb ; 
 Which by the holy law, he said, 
 
 Pertained unto him ; 
 
 For in the holy law 'tis writ, 
 
 That when thou kill'st a beast, 
 Thou shalt a shoulder and a breast 
 
 Present unto the priest. 
 
 The widow then, worn out with grief, 
 
 Sat down to mourn and weep ; 
 And in a fit of passion said, 
 
 The devil take the sheep. 
 
 Then Aaron took the whole away, 
 
 And said, the laws record 
 That all and each devoted thing 
 
 Belongs unto the Lord. 
 
 The widow went among her kin, 
 
 The tribes of Israel rose ; 
 And all the widows, young and old, 
 
 Pull'd Aaron by the nose. 
 
380 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 But Aaron called an earthquake up, 
 And fire from out the sky ; 
 
 And all the consolation is — 
 The Bible tells a lie; 
 
 A COMMENTARY OK 
 
 THfi EASTERN WISE MEN, 
 
 Travelling to Bethlehem, guided by a Star, to see the little Jesus 
 in a Manger, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, c. xxii. 
 
 Three pedkrs travelling to a fair, 
 To see the fun and what was therej 
 
 And sell their merchandize ; 
 They stopp'd upon the road to chat, 
 Refresh and ask of this and that, 
 
 That they might be more wise. 
 
 " And pray," the landlord says to them, 
 " Whence go ye, sirs % " " To Bethlehem," 
 
 The citizens replied. 
 " You're merchants, sirs," to them said he, 
 " We are," replied the pedlars three, 
 
 " And eastern men beside." 
 
 " I pray, what have you in your packs, 
 If worth the while I Will go snacks," 
 
 To them quoth Major Domo ; 
 " We've buckles, buttons, spectacles, 
 And every thing a merchant sells}" 
 
 Replied the travelling trio: 
 
 " These things are very well," said he, 
 
 " For beaux and those who cannot see, 
 
 Much further than their knuckles ; 
 
mJscellaneous pieceIs. 381 
 
 But Bethlehem's fair's for boys and girls, 
 Who never think of spectacles, 
 And cannot buy your buckles'." 
 
 " I have a pack of toys," quoth he, - 
 "A travelling merchant left with me, 
 
 Who could not pay his score, 
 And you shall have them dn condition 
 You sell them at a cheap commission, 
 
 And make the money sure." 
 
 "There's one of Us will stay in pawn, 
 Until the other two return, 
 
 If you suspect our faith," said they ; 
 The landlord thought this was a plan 
 To leave upon his hands the man, 
 
 And therefore he said "Nay." 
 
 They truck'd however for the pack, 
 Which one of ihem took on his back, 
 
 And off the merchants travelled. 
 And here the tale the aposlles told 
 Of wise men and their gifts of gold, 
 
 Will fully be unravelled. 
 
 The star in the east that shines so bright, 
 As might be seen both day and night, 
 
 If you will credit them, 
 It was no other than a sign 
 To a public house where pedlars dine, 
 
 In East Street, Bethlehem. 
 
 These wise men were the pedlars three, 
 As you and all the world may see, 
 
 By reading to the end ; 
 For commentators have mistaken, 
 In paraphrasing on a book 
 
 They did not understand. 
 
382 MISCELLANEOUS PIECES4 
 
 Our travellers coming to a house, 
 Scarce fit to entertain a mouse, 
 
 Enquired to have a room. 
 The landlord said he was not able, 
 To give them any but a stable, 
 
 So many folks were come. 
 
 " I pray, who have you here," say they, 
 " And how much money must we pay 1 
 
 For we have none to spare." 
 " Why there's one Joseph and a wench, 
 Who are to go before the bench, 
 
 About a love affair. 
 
 " Some how or other, in a manger, 
 A child exposed to every danger 
 
 Was found, as if 'twas sleeping. 
 The girl she swears that she's a maid, 
 So says the man, but I'm afraid 
 
 On me will fall the keeping. 
 
 " Now if you'll set your wits about _ 
 To find this knotty matter out, 
 
 I'll pay whate'er it may be." 
 Then on the traveling pedlars went, 
 To pay their birthday compliment, 
 
 And talk about the baby. 
 
 They then unpack'd their pack of toys, 
 Some for show and some for noise, 
 
 But mostly for the latter ; 
 One gave a rattle, one a whistle, 
 One a trumpet made of gristle, 
 
 To introduce the matter. 
 
 One squeaked away, the other blew, 
 The third played on the rattle too, 
 To keep the bantling easy ; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 1'IECES. 383 
 
 Hence this story comes to us, 
 Of which some people make such fuss, 
 About the eastern Magi. 
 
 THE TALE OF THE MONK AND JEW 
 
 VERSIFIED. 
 
 An unbelieving Jew one day- 
 Was skating o'er the icy way, 
 Which being brittle let him in, 
 Just deep enough to catch his chin ; 
 And in that woful plight he hung, 
 With only power to move his tongue. 
 
 A brother skater near at hand, 
 A Papist born in foreign land., 
 With hasty strokes directly flew 
 To save poor Mordecai the Jew — 
 But first, quoth he, I must enjoin 
 That you renounce your faith for mine ; 
 There's no entreaties else will do, 
 k'Tis heresy to help a Jew 
 
 " Forswear mine fait ! No ! Cot forbid! 
 Dat would be fery base indeed, 
 Come never mind such tings. as deeze, 
 Tink, tink, how fery hard it freeze, 
 More coot you do, more coot you be, 
 Vat signifies your fait to me. 
 Come tink agen, how cold and vet, 
 And help me out von little bit." 
 
 By holy mass, 'tis hard, I own, 
 To see a man both hang and, drown, 
 And can't relieve him from his pligh 
 Because he is an Israelite ; 
 The church refuses all assistance, 
 Beyond a certain pale and distance; 
 
38* MISCELLANEOUS PIECES. 
 
 Is praying for your soui my friend. 
 
 "Pray for mine soul, ha! ha! you make me laugh, 
 You pelter help me out py half: 
 Mine soul I farrant vill take care, 
 To pray for her own self my tear ; 
 So tiak a little now for me, 
 'Tis I am in de hole, not she." 
 
 The church forbids it, friend, and saith 
 That all shall die who have no faith. 
 
 " Veil, if I must pelieve, I must, 
 But help me out von little first." 
 
 No, not an inch without Amen. 
 That seals the whole — "Veil, hear me den, 
 I here renounce for coot and all, 
 De race of Jews both great and small ; 
 'Tis de varst trade penealh the sun, 
 Or varst religion ; dat's all vun. 
 Dey cheat, and get deir living py't,, 
 And lie, and swear de lie is right. 
 I'll co to mass as soon as ever 
 I get to toder side de river. 
 So help me out, dow Christian friend, 
 Dat I may do as I intend." 
 
 Perhaps you do inten4 to cheat. 
 If once you get upon your feet. 
 
 " No, no, I do intend to be 
 A Christian, such a one as dee." 
 
 For, thought the Jew, he is as much 
 A Christian man as I am such. 
 
 The bigot Papist joyful hearted 
 To hear the heretic converted, 
 Replied to the designing Jew, 
 This was a happy fall for you : 
 You'd better die a Christian now, 
 For .if you live you'll break your vow. 
 Then said no more, but in a trice 
 Popp'd Mordecai beneath the ice. 
 
 ATLANTICUS, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS 
 
 LETTERS AND ESSAYS, 
 
 ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS. 
 
 B¥ 
 
 THOMAS^PAINE 
 
 GRANVILLE, M1DDLETOWN, N. J. 
 GEORGE H. EVANS. 
 
 1844 
 
CASE OF THE OFFICERS OF EXCISE; WITH RE- 
 MARKS ON THE QUALIFICATIONS OF OFFICERS* 
 AND ON THE NUMEROUS EVILS ARISING TO THE 
 REVENUE, FROM THE INSUFFICIENCY OF THE 
 PRESENT SALARY : HUMBLY ADDRESSED TO THE 
 MEMBERS OF BOTH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. 
 
 Introduction: 
 
 As a design among the Excise officers throughout! the kingdom 
 Is on foot, for an humble application to parliament next session, to 
 have the state of their salaries- taken into consideration ; it has been 
 judged not only expedient, but highly necessary, to present a state 
 of their case, previous to the presentation of 'their petition. 
 
 There are some cases so singularly reasonable, that the more 
 they are considered, the more weight they obtain. It is a strong 
 evidence both "of simplicity and honest confidence, when petitioners 
 in any case ground their hopes of relief on having their case fully 
 and perfectly known and understood. 
 
 Simple as this subject may appear at fii'St, it is a matter, in my 
 humble opinion, root unworthy a parliamentary attention. It is a 
 subject interwoven with a variety of reasons from different causes. 
 New matter will arise on every thought. If the poverty of the 
 officers of Excise, if the temptations arising from their poverty, if 
 the qualifications of persons to be admitted into employment,, if 
 the security of the revenue itself, are matters of any weight, then I 
 am conscious that my voluntary services in this business, will pro- 
 duce some good effect or other, either to the better security of the 
 revenue, the relief of the officers, or both. 
 
 WheS a year's Salary is mentioned in the gross, it acquires a 
 degree of consequence from its sound, which it would not if sepa- 
 rated into daily payments, and if the charges attending the receiving, 
 
4 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 and other unavoidable expenses were considered with it. F'ifty 
 pounds a year, and one shilling and nine pence farthing a day, 
 carry as different, degrees of significancy with them, as n||r Lord's 
 steward, and the steward's laborer; and yet an outride officer in 
 the Excise, under the name of fifty pounds a year, receives for 
 himself no more tha» one shilling and nine pence farthing a day. 
 
 After tax, charity, and sitting expenses are deducted, there re- 
 mains very little more than forty-six pounds ; and the expenses of 
 horse keeping, in many places, cannot be brought under fourteen 
 pounds a year, besides, the purchase at first, and the hazard of lifej 
 which reduces it to thirty-two pounds per annum, or one shilling 
 and nine pence farthing a day. 
 
 I have spoken more particularly of the outrides s as they are by 
 far the most numerous, being in proportion to the foot walk as 
 eight is to five throughout the kingdomi Yet in the latter, the 
 same misfortunes exis^ ; the channel of them only is altered. The 
 excessive dearness of house rent, the great burthen of rates and 
 taxes, and the excessive price of all necessaries of life, in cities and 
 large trading towns, nearly counterbalances the expenses of horse 
 keeping. - Every office has its stages of promotions, but the pecu- 
 niary advantages arising from a foot walk are so inconsiderable, 
 and the loss of disposing of effects, or the charges of removing 
 them to any considerable distance, so great, that many outride offi- 
 cers with a family remain as they are, from an inability to bear the 
 loss, or support the expense. 
 
 The officers resident in the cities of London atid Westminster, 
 are exempt from the particular disadvantages of removals. This 
 seems to be the only circumstance whitt 'they enjoy superior to 
 their country brethren. In every other respect they lie under the 
 same hardships, and suffer the same distresses. 
 
 There are no perquisites or advantages ill the least annexed to 
 the employment. A few" officers who are stationed along the coast, 
 may sometimes have the good fortune to fall in with a seizure of 
 contraband goods, and that frequently at the hazard of their lives: 
 but the inland officers can have no such opportunities. Besides, 
 the surveying duty in the excise it is so continual, that without 
 remissness from the real business itself, there is no time to seek 
 after them. With the officers of the customs it is quite otherwise, 
 their whole time and care being appropriated to that service, and 
 their profits are in proportion to their vigilance. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 5 
 
 If the increase of money in the kingdom is one cause of the high 
 price of provisions, the case of the Excise officers is peculiarly pitia- 
 ble. No increase comes to them — they are shut out from the gene- 
 ral blessing — they behold it like a map of Peru. The answer of 
 Abraham to Dives is somewhat applicable to them. " fhere is a 
 great gulf fixed." 
 
 To the wealthy and humane, it is a matter worthy of concern, 
 that their affluence should, become the misfortune of others. Were 
 the money in the kingdom to be increased double, the salary would 
 in value be reduced one half. Every step upwards, is a step 
 downwards with them. Not to be partakers of the increase would 
 be a little hard, but to be sufferers by it exceedingly so. The me- 
 chanic and the laborer may in a great measure ward off the distress, 
 by raising the price of their manufactures or their work, but the 
 situation of the officers admit of no such relief. 
 
 Another consideration in their behalf, (and which is peculiar to 
 the Excise,) is, that as the law of their office., removes them far 
 from their natural friends and relations, it consequently prevents 
 those occasional assistances from them, which are serviceably felt 
 in a family, and which even the poorest, among the poor, enjoys. 
 Most poor mechanics, or even common laborers, have some rela- 
 tions or friends, who, eithefout of benevolence or pride, keep their 
 children from nakedness, supply them occasionally with perhaps 
 half a hog, a load of wood, a chaldron of coals^ or something or 
 other, which abates the severity. of their distress; and yet those 
 men thus relieved, will frequently earn more than the daily pay of 
 an Excise officer. 
 
 Perhaps an officer will appear more reputable with the same pay, 
 than a mechanic or laborer. The difference arises from sentiment, 
 not circumstances. A something like reputable piide makes all 
 the distinction, and the thinking part of mankind well knows, that 
 »none suffer so much as they who endeavor to conceal their neces- 
 sities. 
 
 The frequent removals which unavoidably happen in the Excise, 
 are attended with such an expense, especially where there is a - 
 family,' as few officers are able to support. About two years ago, 
 an officer with « family, Under orders for removing, and rather 
 embarrassed in circumstances, made his application to me, and 
 from a conviction of his distress, I advanced a small sum, to enable 
 him to proceed. He ingenuously declared, that without the assist- 
 
6 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 ance of some friend, he should be driven to do injustice to his 
 creditors, ''and compelled- to desert the duty of his office. He has 
 since honestly 'paid me, and does as well as the narrowness of such 
 circumstances can admit of. 
 
 There js one general' allowed truth, which will always operate 
 in their favor ; which is, that no set of men, under his Majesty, 
 earn their salary with any comparison of labor and fatigue, with 
 that of the officers of Excise. The Station may rather be called a 
 seat of constant work, than either a place or an employment: Even 
 in the different departments of the general revenue, they are un- 
 equalled in the burthen of business ; a riding officer's place in the 
 customs, whose salary is sixty pounds a year, is ease to theirs ; and 
 the work in the window light duty, Compared- with the Excise, is 
 lightness itself; yet their salary is subject to no tax, they receive 
 forty-nine pounds twelve shillings and six pence, without deduction. 
 
 The inconveniences which affect an Excise officer, are almost 
 endless ; even the land tax assessment- upon their salaries, which, 
 though the government pays, falls often with hardship upon them: 
 The place of their residence* on account of the land tax, has, in 
 many instances, created frequent contentions between parishes, in 
 which the officer,, though the innocent and unconcerned cause of the 
 quarrel, has been the greater sufferer* • 
 
 To'point out particularly the impossibility of an Excise officer 
 supporting himself and family, with any proper, degree of credit 
 and reputation, on so scanty a pittance, is altogether unnecessary; 
 Tl» timesj the voice of general want, are proofs themselves. 
 Where facts are sufficient, arguments are useless ; and the hints 
 which I have produced, are such as affect the officers of Excise 
 differently to any other set of men. A single man may barely 
 live ; but as it is not the design of the legislature, or the Hon. 
 Board of Excise* to impose a state of celibacy on them, the con- 
 dition of much the greater part is truly wretched and pitiable. fc 
 
 Perhaps it may be said, why do the Excise officers complain 1 
 They are not pressed into the service, juid may relinquish it when 
 they please ; if they can mend themselves why don't they ? Alas '. 
 what a mockery of pity. would it be, to give such an answer to an 
 honest, faithful, old officer in the Excise, who had,spent the prime 
 of his life in the service, and was become unfit for any thing else ! 
 The-time limited for an admission into an Excise employment, is 
 between twenty-one and thirty years of age, the very flower of 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 7 
 
 life. Every other hope and consideration are then given up, and 
 the chance of establishing ' themselves in any other business, be- 
 comes in a few years not only lost to them, but they become lost 
 to it. t 
 
 " There is a tide in the affairs of men, which if embraced, leads 
 ok to fortfine-r-that neglected, all heyond is misery or want." 
 
 When we consider how few in the Excise arrive at any com- 
 fortable eminence, and the date of life when such promotions only 
 can happen, the great hazard, there is of ill, rather than .good for- 
 tune in the attempt, and that all the years antecedent to that is a 
 state of mere existence, wherein, they are shut out from the common 
 chance of success in any other way t a reply like that can be only 
 a derision of their wants. It is almost impossible, after ; any long 
 continuance in the Excise, that they can live any other way. Such 
 as are of trades, would have their trades to learn over again ; and 
 people would have but little opinion of their abilities in any calling, 
 who had been ten, fifteen, or twenty years absent from it. Every 
 /ear's experience gained in the Excise, is a year's experience 
 lost in trade ; and by the time they become wise officers, they be- 
 come foolish workmen. • s 
 
 Were the reasons for augmenting the salary grounded only on 
 the charitableness of so doing, they would have great weight with 
 the compassionate. But there are auxiliaries of such a powerful 
 cast, that in the opinion of policy, they obtain the rank of originals. 
 The first js- truly the case of the officers, but this is rather the case 
 of the revenue. 
 
 The distresses in. the Excise are so generally known, that num- 
 bers of gentlemen, and oilier inhabitants in places where officers 
 are resident, have generously and humanely recommended their 
 case to the members of the hon. house of commons: and numbers 
 of traders of opulence and reputation, well knowing that the poverty 
 of an officer may subject him to the fraudulent designs of 'some 
 selfish persons under his survey, to the great injury of the fair 
 trader, and trade in general, have, from principles of generosity 
 and justice, joined in the^ame recommendation. 
 
8 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 Thoughts on the corruption of principles, and on the numerous 
 evils arising to the revenue, from the too great poverty of the 
 officers of Excise. 
 
 It has always been the wisdom of government, to consider the 
 situation and circumstances of persons in trust. Why are large 
 salaries given in many instances, but to proportion it to the trust, 
 to set men above temptation, and to make it even literally worth 
 their while to be honest? The salaries of the judges have been 
 augmented, and their places made independent even of the crown 
 itself, for the above wise purposes. 
 
 Certainly there can be nothing unreasonable in supposing there 
 is such an instinct as frailty among the officers of Excise, in 
 common with the rest of mankind ; and that the most effectual 
 method to keep men honest is to enable them to live so. The 
 tenderness of conscience is too often overmatched by the sharpness 
 of want; and principle, like charity, yields with just reluctance 
 enough to excuse itself. There is a powerful rhetoric in necessity, 
 which exceeds even a Dunning or a Wedderburne. No argument 
 can satisfy the feelings of hunger, or abate the edge of appetite. 
 Nothing tends to a greater corruption of manners and principles, 
 than a too great distress of circumstances ; and the corruption is 
 of that kind, that it spreads a plaster for itself: like a viper, it 
 carries a cure, though a false one, for its own poison. Agur, 
 without any alternative, has made dishonesty the immediate conse- 
 quence of poverty, "Lest I be poor and steal." A very little 
 degree of that dangerous kind of philosophy, which is the almost 
 certain effect of involuntary poverty, will teach men to believe, that 
 to starve is more criminal than to steal, by as much as every species 
 of self murder exceeds every other crime ; that true honesty is 
 sentimental, and the practice of it dependent upon circumstances. 
 If tile gay find it difficult to resist the allurements of pleasure, the 
 great the temptations of ambition, or the miser the acquisition of 
 wealth, how much stronger are the provocations of want and po- 
 verty? The excitements to pleasure,* grandeur, or riches, are 
 mere "shadows of a shade," compared to the irresistible necessities 
 of nature. " Not to be led into temptation," is the prayer of divinity 
 itself; and to guard against, or rather to prevent, such insnaring 
 situations, is one of the greatest heights of human prudence: in 
 private life it is partly religious ; and in a revenue sense, it is 
 truly political. 
 
miscellaneous letters and essays. 9 
 
 The rich, in ease and affluence, may think I have drawn an un- 
 natural portrait; but could they descend to the- cold, regions of 
 want, the circle of polar poverty, they would find their opinions 
 changing with the climate. There are habits of thinking peculiar 
 to different conditions, and to find them out is truly to study man- 
 kind, 
 
 That the situation of an Excise officer is of this dangerous kind, 
 must be allowed by every one who will consider the trust unavoid- 
 ably reposed in him, and compare the narrowness of his circum r 
 stances with the hardship of the limes. If the salary was judged 
 competent an hundred years ago, it cannot be so now. Should it 
 be advanced, that if the present set of officers are dissatisfied with 
 the salary, -that enow maybe procured, not only for the present 
 salary, but for less ; the answer is extremejy easy. The question 
 needs only to be put; it destroys itself. Were twow three thou- 
 sand men to offer to execute the office without any salary, would 
 the government accept them? No. Were the same number to 
 offer the same service for a salary less than can possibly support 
 them, would the government accept them 1 Certainly not ; for 
 while nature, in spite of law or religion, makes it a ruling principle 
 not to starve, the event would be this, that a^ they could not live 
 on the salary, they would , discretionally live out of the duty. 
 Quere, whether poverty has not too great an influence now? 
 Were the employment a place of direct labor, and not of trust, then 
 frugality in the salary would be sound policy : but when it is con- 
 sidered that the greatest single branch of the revenue, a duty 
 amounting to near five millions sterling, is annually charged by a 
 set of men, most of whom are wanting even the common necessa r 
 ries of life, the thought must, to every friend to honesty, to every 
 person concerned in the management of the public money, be 
 strong and striking. Poor and in power, are powerful temptations ; 
 I call it power, because they have it in their power to defraud. 
 The trust unavoidably reposed in an Excise officer is so great, that 
 it would be an act of wisdom, and perhaps of interest, to secure 
 him from the temptations of downright poverty. To relieve their 
 wants would be charity, but to secure the revenue by so doing, 
 would be prudence. Scarcely a week passes at the office but some 
 detections are made of fraudulent and collusive proceedings. The 
 poverty of the officers is the fairest bait for a designing trader that 
 can possibly be ; such introduce themselves to the officer under the 
 
10 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 common plea of the insufficiency of tho salary. Every considerate 
 mind must allow, that poverty and opportunity corrupt many an 
 honest man. I am not at all surprised that so many opulent and 
 reputable traders have recommended the case of the officers to the 
 good favor of their representatives. They are sensible of the 
 pinching circumstances of the officers, and of the injury to trade in 
 general, from the advantages which are taken of them. The wel- 
 fare of the fair trader, and the security of the revenue, are so 
 inseparably one, that their interest or injuries are alike. It is the 
 opinion of such whose situation give them a perfect knowledge in 
 the matter, that the revenue suffers more by the corruption of a 
 few officers in a country, than would make a handsome addition to 
 the salary of the whole number in the same place. 
 
 I very lately knew an instance where it is evident, on compari- 
 son of the duty charged since, that the revenue suffered by one 
 trader, (and he not a very considerable one,) upwards of one hun- 
 dred and sixty pounds per annum for several years ; and yet the 
 benefit to the officer was a mere trifle, in consideration of the trader's. 
 Without doubt the officer would have thought himself much happier 
 to have received the same addition another way. The bread of 
 deceit is a bread of bitterness ; but alas ! how few in times of want 
 and hardship are capable of thinking so : objects appear under new 
 colors, and in shapes not naturally their own ; hunger sucks in the 
 deception, and necessity reconciles it to conscience. 
 
 The commissioners of Excise strongly enjoin, that no officer ac- 
 cept any treat, gratuity, or, in short, lay himself under any kind of 
 obligation to the traders under their survey : the wisdom of such an 
 injunction is evident; but the practice of it, surrounded with 
 children and poverty, is scarcely possible ; and such obligations, 
 wherever they exist, must operate, directly or indirectly, to the 
 injury of the revenue. Favors will naturally beget their likenesses, 
 especially where the return is not at our own expense. « 
 
 I have heard it remarked, by a gentleman whose knowledge" in 
 excise business is indisputable, that there are numbers of officers 
 who are even afraid to look into an unentered room, lest they should 
 give offence. Poverty and obligation tie up the hands of office, 
 and give a prejudicial bias to the mind. 
 
 There is another kind of evil, which, though it may never amount 
 to what may be deemed criminality in law, yet it may amount to 
 what is much worse in effect, and that is, a constant and perpetual 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 11 
 
 leakage in tho revenue : a sort of gratitude in the dark, a distant 
 requital for such civilities as only the lowest poverty would accept, 
 and which are a thousand per cent, above the value of the civility 
 received. Yet there is no immediate collusion; tho trader and 
 officer are both safe ; the design, if discovered, passes for error. 
 
 These, with numberless other evils, have all their origin in the 
 poverty of the officers.. Poverty, in defiance of principle, begets a 
 degree of meanness that will stoop to almost any thing. A thou- 
 sand refinements of argument may be brought to prove, that the 
 practice of honesty will be still the same, in the most trying and 
 necessitous circumstances. He who never was an hungered man 
 may argue finely on the subjection of his appetite ; and he who never 
 was dislrcssed, may harangue as beautifully on the power of princi- 
 ple. But poverty, like grief, has an incurable deafness, which 
 never hears ; the oration loses all its edge ; and " To be, or not to 
 be" becomes the only question. 
 
 There is a striking difference between dishonesty arising from 
 want. of food, and want of principle. The first is worthy of com- 
 passion, the other of punishment. Nature never produced a man 
 who would starve in a well stored larder, because the provisions 
 were not his own : but he who robs it from luxury of appetite de- 
 serves a gibbet. 
 
 There is another evil which tho poverty of the salary produces, 
 and which nothing but an augmentation can remove ; and that is, 
 negligence and indifference. These may not appear of such dark 
 complexion as fraud and collusion, but their injuries to the revenue 
 are the same. It is impossible that any office of business can be 
 regarded as it ought, where this ruinous disposition exists. It re- 
 quires no sort of argument to prove, that the value set upon any 
 place or employment, will be in proportion to the value of it; and 
 that diligence or negligence will arise from the same cause. The 
 continual number of relinquishments and discharges always happen- 
 ing in the Excise^ are evident proofs of it. 
 
 Persons first coming into the Excise, form very different notions 
 ■of it, to what they have afterwards. The gay ideas of promotion 
 soon expire; continuance of work, the strictness of the duty, and 
 the poverty of the salary, soon beget negligence and indifference 5. 
 the course continues for a while, the revenue suffers, and the officer 
 is discharged : the vacancy is soon filled up, new ones arise to 
 produce the same mischief, and share the same fate. 
 
12 MISCELLANEOUS 1E+TEBS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 What adds still more to the weight of this grievance is, that this 
 destructive disposition reigns most among such as are otherwise the 
 most proper and qualified for the employment ; such as are neither 
 fit for the Excise, or any thing else, are glad to hold in by any 
 means : but the revenue lies at as much hazard from their want of 
 judgment, as from the others' want of diligence. 
 
 In private life; no man would trust the execution of any important 
 concern, to a servant who was careless whether he did it or riot, 
 and the same rule must hold good in a revenue sense. The com- 
 missioners may continue discharging every day, and the example 
 will have no weight while the salary is an object so inconsiderable, 
 and this disposition has such a general existence. Should it be 
 advanced, that if men will be careless of such bread as is in their 
 possession, they will still be the same were it better; I answer that, 
 as the disposition I am speaking of is not the effect of natural 
 idleness, but of dissatisfaction in point of profit, they would n'ot 
 continue the same. A good servant will be careful of a good place, 
 though very indifferent abotit a bad one. Besides, this spirit of in- 
 difference, should it procure a discharge, is no way affecting to 
 their circumstances. The easy transition of a qualified officer to a 
 compting house, or at least a school master, at any time, as it na- 
 turally supports and backs his indifference about the Excise, so it 
 takes off all punishment from the order whenever it happens. 
 
 I. have known numbers discharged from the Excise, who would 
 have been a credit to their patrons and the employment, could they 
 have found it worth their while to have attended to it. No man 
 enters into the Excise with any higher expectations than a compe- 
 tent maintenance; but not to find even that, can produce nothing 
 but corruption, collusion, and neglect. < 
 
 Remarks on the qualification of Officers. 
 In employments where direct labor only is wanted, and trust 
 quite out of the question, the service is merely animal or mechanical. 
 In cutting a river, or forming a road, as there is no possibility of 
 fraud; the merit of honesty is of but little weight. Health, strength, 
 and hardiness, are the laborer's virtues. But where property de- 
 pends on the trust, and lies at the discretion of the servant, the 
 judgement of the master takes a different channel, both in the choice 
 and the wages. The honest and dissolute have here no comparison 
 of merit. A known thief may be trusted to gather stones; but A. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 18 
 
 'steward 1 ought to be proof against the temptations of uncounted 
 gold. 
 
 The Excise is so far from being of ihe nature of the first, that it 
 is all, and more than can commonly be put together in the last: 
 it is a place of poverty, of trust, of opportunity, and temptation. 
 A compound of discords, where the more they harmonize, the more 
 they offend. 
 
 To be properly qualified for the employment, it is not only ne- 
 cessary that the person be honest, but that he be sober, diligent, 
 and skilful ; sober, that he may be always capable of business ; 
 diligent, that he may be always in his business ; and skilful, that he 
 may be able to prevent or detect frauds against the revenue. The 
 want of any of these qualifications is a capital offence in the Excise. 
 A complaint of drunkenness, negligence, or ignorance, is certain 
 death by the law's of the board'. It Cannot then be all sorts of per- 
 sons who are proper for the office. The very notion of procuring 
 a sufficient number for even less than the present salary, is so des- 
 titute of every degree of sound reason* that it needs no reply. The 
 employment, from the insufficiency of the salary, is already become 
 so inconsiderable in the general opinion, that persons of any capa- 
 city or reputation will keep out of it ; for where is the mechanic, or 
 even the laborer, who cannot earn at least Is. 9j|d. per day 1 It 
 certainly cannot be proper totake the dregs of every calling, and 
 to make the Excise the common receptacle for the indigent, the 
 ignorant, and the calamitous. 
 
 A truly worthy commissioner, lately dead, made a public offer, a 
 few years ago, of putting any of his neighbors' sons into the Excise ; 
 btit though the offer ambuiited almost to an invitation, one only, 
 whom seven years apprenticeship could not make a tailor, accepted 
 it ; who, after a twelvemonth's instruction, was ordered off, but in 
 a few days finding the employment beyond his abilities, he prudently 
 deserted it, and returned home, where he now remains in the 
 character of an husbandman. 
 
 There are very few instances of rejection even of persons 
 who can scarce write their own names legibly ; for as there is 
 neither law to compel, nor encouragement to excite, no other can 
 be had than such as offer, and none will offer who can see any 
 other prospect of living. Every one knows that the Excise is a 
 place of labo'r, not of ease ; of hazard, not of certainty ; and that 
 downright poverty finishes the character. 
 
14 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAtSi 
 
 It must strike every considerate mind, to hear a man with a large 1 
 family, faithful enough to declare, that he cannot support himself 
 on the salary with that honest independency he could wish. There 
 is a gre,at degree of affecting honesty in an ingenuous confession. 
 Eloquence may strike the ear, but the language of poverty strikes 
 the heart; the first may charm like music, but the second alarms 
 like a knell. 
 
 Of late years there has been such an admission of improper and 
 unqualified persons in the Excise, that the orfice is not only become 
 contemptible, but the revenue insecure. Collectors, whose long 
 services and qualifications have advanced them to that station, 
 are disgraced by the wretchedness of new supers continually. 
 Certainly some regard ought to be had to decency, as well as 
 merit. 
 
 These are some of the capital evils which arise from the wretch- 
 ed poverty of the salary. Evils they certainly are ; for what can 
 be. more destructive in a revenue office, than corruption, collusion, 
 neglect, and ill qualifications. 
 
 Should it be questioned whether an augmentation of salary would 
 remove them, I answer, there is scarce a doubt to be made of it* 
 Human wisdom may possibly be deceived in its wisest designs; but 
 here, every thought and circumstance establishes the hope. They 
 are evils of such a ruinous tendency, that they must, by some 
 means or other, be removed. Rigor "and severity have been tried 
 in vain ; for punishment loses all its force where men expect and 
 disregard it. 
 
 Of late years, the board of Excise has shown an extraordinary 
 tenderness in such instances as might otherwise have affected the 
 circumstances, of their officers. Their compassion has greatly 
 tended to lessen the distresses of the employment ; but as it cannot 
 amount to a total removal of them, the officers of Excise throughout 
 the kingdom have (as the voice of one man) prepared petitions to 
 be laid before the honorable house of commons on the ensuing 
 parliament. 
 
 An augmentation of salary, sufficient to enable them to live 
 honestly and competently, would produce more good effect than all 
 the laws of the land can enforce. The generality of such frauds 
 as the officers have been detected in, have appeared of a nature as 
 remote from inherent dishonesty as a temporary illness is from aa 
 incurable disease. Surrounded with want, children, and despair, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 15 
 
 what can the husband or the father do 1 No laws compel like na^ 
 ture — no connections bind like blood. 
 
 With an addition of salary, the Excise would wear a new aspect, 
 and recover its former constitution. Languor and neglect would 
 give place to care and cheerfulness. Men of reputation and abili- 
 ties would seek after it, and finding a' comfortable maintenance 
 would stick to it. . The unworthy and incapable would be rejected, 
 the power of superiors be reestablished, and laws and instructions 
 receive new force. The officers would be secured from the temp- 
 tations of poverty, and the revenue from the evils of it; the cure 
 would be as extensive as the complaint, and new health outroot the 
 present corruptions. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
16 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 PETITION TO THE BOARD OF EXCISE, 
 
 Honorable Sirs : 
 
 In humble obedience to your honors' letter of discharge, bearing 
 date August 29, 1765, I delivered up my commission, and since 
 that time have given you no trouble. 
 
 I confess the justice of your honors' displeasure, and humbly beg 
 leave to add my thanks for the candor and lenity which you at tffat 
 unfortunate time indulged me with. 
 
 And though the nature of the report and my own confession cut 
 off all expectations of enjoying your honors' favor then, yet I 
 humbly hope it has not finally excluded me therefrom ; upon which, 
 hope I humbly presume to intreat your honors to restore me. 
 
 The time I enjoyed my former commission was short and unfor-. 
 tunate — an officer only a single year. No complaint of the least 
 dishonesty, or intemperance, ever appeared against me ; and if I 
 am so happy as to succeed in this my humble petition, I will en- 
 deavor that my future conduct shall as much engage your honors' 
 approbation, as my former has merited your displeasure. 
 I am your honors' most dutiful 
 humble servant, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE t 
 
 London, July 3, 1766, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 17 
 
 LETTER TO DR. GOLDSMITH. 
 
 Honored Sir : 
 
 Herewith I present you with the case of the officers of Excise. 
 A compliment of this kind from an entire stranger may appear 
 somewhat singular ; but the following reasons and information will, 
 I presume, sufficiently apologize. I act myself in the humble 
 station of an officer of Excise, though somewhat differently circum- 
 stanced to what many of them are, and have been the principal 
 promoter of a plan for applying to parliament this session for an 
 increase of salary. A petition for this purpose lias been circulated 
 through, ever}' part of the kingdom, and signed by all the officers 
 therein. A subscription of three shillings per officer is raised, 
 amounting to upwards of £500, for supporting the expenses. The 
 Excise officers in all cities and corporate towns, have obtained let- 
 ters of recommendation from the electors to the members in their 
 behalf, many or most of whom have promised their support. The 
 enclosed case we have presented to most of the members, and shall 
 to all, before the petition appear in the house. The memorial be- 
 fore you, met with so much approbation while in manuscript, that 
 I was advised to print 4000 copies : 3000 of which were subscribed 
 for the officers in general, and the remaining 100O reserved for 
 presents. Since the delivering them I have received so many 
 letters of thanks and approbation for the performance, that were I 
 not rather singularly modest, I should insensibly become a little 
 vain. The literary fame of Dr. Goldsmith has induced me to pre- 
 sent one to him, such as it is. It is my first and only attempt, and 
 even now I should not have undertaken it, had I not been particu- 
 larly applied to by some of my superiors in office. I have some 
 few questions to trouble Dr. Goldsmith with, and should esteem his 
 company for an hour or two, to partake of a bottle of wine, or any 
 thing else, and apologize for this trouble, as a singular favor con- 
 ferred on 
 
 His unknown 
 Humble servant and admirer, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 Excise Coffee House, 
 
 Broad Street, Dec. 21, 1772. 
 
 P. S. Shall take the liberty of waiting on you in a day or two. 
 
18 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRST NUMBER OF THE 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE. 
 
 To the Public. 
 
 The design of this work- has been so fully expressed in the 
 printed proposals, that it is unnecessary to trouble the reader now 
 with a formal preface ; and Instead of that vain parade with which, 
 publications of this kind are introduced to the public, we shall con- 
 tent ourselves with soliciting their candor, till our more qualified 
 labors shall entitle us to their praise. 
 
 The generous and considerate will recollect, that imperfection is. 
 natural to infancy ; and that nothing claims their patronage with a 
 better grace than thbse undertakings which, besides their infant 
 state, have many formidable disadvantages to oppress them. 
 
 We presume it is unnecessary to inform our friends that we en- 
 counter all the inconveniences which a Magazine can possibly start 
 with. Unassisted by imported materials, we are destined to create, 
 what our predecessors, in this walk, had only to compile. And 
 the present perplexities of our affairs have rendered it somewhat 
 difficult for us to procure the necessary aids. 
 
 Thus encompassed with difficulties, the first number of The 
 Pennsylvania Magazine entreats a favorable reception; of which 
 we shall only say, like the snowdrop, it comes forth in a barren 
 season, and contents itself with foretelling, that choicer flowers 
 are preparing to appear. 
 
 Philadelphia, January 24, 1775. 
 
MlBCElAXNEftUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 19 
 
 FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE. 
 
 Cupid and Hymen. An Original. 
 
 As the little amorous deity was one day winging his way over a 
 village in Arcadia, he was drawn by the sweet sound of the pipe 
 and tabor, to descend and see what was the matter. The gods 
 themselves are sometimes ravished with the simplicity of mortals. 
 The groves of Arcadia were once the country seats of the celestials, 
 where they relaxed from the business of the skies, and partook of 
 the diversions of the villagers. Cupid being descended, was charm- 
 ed with the lovely appearance of the place. Every thing he saw 
 had an air of pleasantness. Every shepherd was in his holyday 
 dress, and every shepherdess was decorated with a profusion of 
 flowers. The sound of labor was not heard among them. The 
 little cottages had a peaceable look, and were almost hidden with 
 arbors of jessamine and myrtle. The way to the temple was strewed 
 with flowers, and enclosed with a number of garlands and green 
 ■arches. " Surely," quoth Cupid, " here is a festival today. I'll 
 hasten and inquire the matter." 
 
 So saying, he concealed his bow and quiver, and took a turn 
 through the village : As he approached a building distinguished 
 from all the rest by the elegance of its appearance, he heard a 
 sweet confusion of voices mingled with instrumental music. " What 
 is the matter," said Cupid to a swain who was sitting under a syca- 
 more by the way-side, and humming a very melancholy tune, "why 
 are you not at the feast, and why are you so sad T" " I sit here, 
 answered the swain, " to see a sight, and a sad sight 'twill be." 
 " What is it," said Cupid, " come tell me, for perhaps I can, help 
 you." "I was once happier than a king," replied the swain, " and 
 was envied by all the shepherds of the place, but now every thing 
 is dark and gloomy, because" — " Because what?" said Cupid — 
 "Because I am robbed of my Ruralinda; Gothic, the lord of the 
 manor, hath stolen her from me, and this is to be the nuptial day." 
 "A wedding," quoth Cupid, " and I know nothing of it ! you 
 
20 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS "AND ESSAYS. 
 
 must be mistaken, shepherd, I keep a record of marriages, and no 
 such thing has come to my knowledge ; 'tis no wedding, I assure 
 you, if I am not consulted about it." " The lord of the manor," 
 continued the giii-pherdj " consulted nobody but Ruralinda's mother, 
 and she longed to see her fair daughter the lady of the manor : he 
 hath spent a deal of money to make all this appearance, for money 
 will do any thing; I only wait here to see her come by, and theri 
 farewell to the hills and dales." Cupid bade him not be rash, and 
 left him. " This is another of Hymen's tricks," quoth Cupid to 
 himself, "he hath frequently served me thus, but I'll hasten to him, 
 and have it out with him." So saying, he repaired to the mansion. 
 Every thing there had an air of grandeur rather than of joy, sump- 
 tuous but not serene. The company were preparing to walk in 
 procession to the temple. The lord of the manor looked like the 
 father of the village, and the business he was upon gave a foolish 
 awkwarkness to his age and dignity. Ruralinda smiled, because 
 she would smile, but in that smile was sorrow. Hymen with a 
 torch faintly burning on one side only stood ready to accompany 
 them. The gods when they please can converse in silence, and in 
 that language Cupid began on Hymen. 
 
 " Know, Hymen," said he, " that I am your master. Indulgent . 
 Jove gave you to me as a clerk, not as a rival, much less a superior. 
 'Tis my province to form the union, and yours to witness it. But 
 of late you have treacherously assumed to set up for yourself. 'Tis 
 true you may chain couples together like criminals, but you cannot 
 yoke them like lovers ; besides you are such a dull fellow when I 
 am no.t with you, that you poison the felicities of life. You have 
 not a grace but what is borrowed from me. As well may the moon 
 attempt to enlighten the earth without the sun, as you to bestow 
 happiness when 1 am absent. At best you are but a temporal and 
 a temporary god, whom Jove has appointed hot to bestow, but to 
 secure happiness, and restrain the infidelity of mankind. But as- 
 sure yourself that I'll complain of you to the synod." 
 
 "This is very high indeed," replied Hymen, "to be called to an 
 account by such a boy of a god as you are. You are not of such 
 importance in the world as your vanity thinks ; for my own part I 
 have enlisted myself with another master, and can very well do 
 without you. Plutus* and I are greater than Cupid ; you may 
 Complain and welcome, for Jove himself descended in a silver 
 * God of riches. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS ' LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 2l 
 
 shower and conquered : and by the same power the lord of the 
 manor hath won a damsel, in spite of all the arrows in your quiver." 
 Cupid, incensed at this reply, resolved to support his authority, 
 and expose the folly of Hymen's pretensions to independence. As 
 the quarrel was carried on in silence, the company were not inter- 
 rupted by it. The procession began to set forward to the temple, 
 Where the ceremony was to be performed. The lord of the manor 
 led the beautiful Ruralinda like a lamb devoted to the sacrifice. 
 Cupid immediately despatched a petition forassislance to his mother 
 ou one of the sun-beams, and the same messenger returning in :;n 
 instant, informed him that whatever he wished should be done. He 
 immediately cast the old Lord and Ruralinda into one of the most 
 extraordinary sleeps ever known. They continued walking in the 
 procession, talking to each other, and observing every ceremony 
 with as much order as if they had been awake; their souls had in 
 a manner crept from their bodies, as snakes creep from their skin, 
 and leave a perfect appearance of themselves behind. And so 
 Vapidly drtes imagination change the landscape of life, that in the 
 Same space of time which passed. over while they Were walking to 
 the temple, they both ran through, in a strange variety of dreams, 
 seven years of wretched matrimony. In which imaginary time, 
 Gothic experienced all the mortification which age wedded to youth 
 Vnust expect ; and she all the infelicity which such a sale and sacri- 
 fice of her person justly deserved. 
 
 In this state of reciprocal discontent they arrived at the temple : 
 Cupid still continued them in their slumber, and in order to expose 
 the consequences of such marriages* he wrought so magically on tiie 
 imaginations of them both, that he drove Gothic distracted at the 
 supposed infidelity of his wife, and she mad with joy at the supposed 
 death of her husband; and just as the ceremony was about to be 
 performed, each of them broke out into such passionate soliloquies, 
 as threw the Whole company into confusion. He exclaiming, she 
 rejoicing; he imploring death to relieve him, and she preparing to 
 bury him ; gold, quoth Ruralinda, may be bought too dear, but the 
 grave has befriended. The company believing them mad, convey- 
 ed them away, Gothic to his mansion, and Ruralinda to her cottage. 
 The next day they awoke, and being grown wise without loss of 
 time, or the pain of real experience, they mutually declined pro- 
 ceeding any farther. The old Lord continued as he was, and ge- 
 nerously bestowed a handsome, dowry on Ruralinda, who was soon 
 
22 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 after Wedded to the young shepherd, that had so piteously bewailed 
 the loss of her. The authority of Cupid was reestablished, and 
 Hymen ordered never more to appear in the village, unless Cupid 
 introduced him. i Esop. 
 
 ANECDOTE OF LORD MALMSBURY WHEN MINISTER 
 AT PARIS. 
 
 New Rochette, April 26, 1806. 
 Mr. Duane, 
 
 I see, by the English papers, that some conversations have lately 
 taken place in Parliament in England, on the subject of repealing 
 the act that incorporated the members elected in Ireland with the 
 Parliament elected in England, so as to form only one Parliament. 
 
 As England could not domineer Ireland more despotically than 
 it did through the Irish Parliament, people were generally at a loss, 
 (as well they might be,), to discover any motive for that union, more 
 especially as it was pushed with unceasing activity against all oppo- 
 sition. The following anecdote, which was known but to few per- 
 sons, and to none, I believe, in England, except the former minister, 
 will unveil the mystery. 
 
 " When Lord Malmsbury arrived in Paris, in the time of the 
 Directory Government, to open a negociation for a peace, his cre- 
 dentials ran in the old style of " George, by the grace of God, of 
 Great Britain, France, and Ireland, king" — Malmsbury was in- 
 formed that although the assumed title of Icing of France, in his 
 credentials, would not. prevent France opening a negociation, yet 
 that no treaty of peace could be concluded until that assumed title 
 was renounced. Pit then hit on the Union Bill, under which the 
 assumed title of king of France was discontinued." 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS* LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 23 
 
 TO A FRIEND. 
 
 New Rochelk, Jan. 16, 1805. 
 Esteemed Friend, 
 
 1 have received two letters from you, one giving an account of 
 your taking Thomas to Mr. Fowler, the other dated Jan. ,12 ; I 
 did not answer the first, because I hoped to see you the next Sa- 
 turday or the Saturday after. What you heard of a gun being 
 fired into the room is true ; Robert and Rachel were both gone out 
 to keep Christmas Eve, and about eight o'clock at night the gun 
 was fired ; I ran immediately out, one of Mr. Dean's boys with me, 
 but the person that had done it was gone ; I directly suspected 
 who it was, and hallowed to him by name, that he was discovered. 
 I did this that the party who fired might know I was on the watch. 
 I cannot find any ball, but whatever the gun was charged with 
 passed through about three or four inches below the window, making 
 a hole large enough for a finger to go through ; the muzzle must 
 have been very near, as the place is black with the powder, and 
 the glass of the window is shattered to pieces. Mr. Shule, after 
 examining the place, and getting what information could be had, 
 issued a warrant to take up Derrick, and after examination commit- 
 ted him. He is now on bail (five hundred dollars) to take his trial 
 at the Supreme Court in May next. Derrick owes me forty-eight 
 dollars, for which I have his note, and he was to work it out in 
 making stone fence, which he has not even begun, and besides this 
 1 have to pay forty-two pounds eleven shillings, for which I had 
 passed my word for him at Mr. Pelton's store. Derrick borrowed 
 the gun under pretence of giving Mrs. Bayeaux a Christmas gun. 
 He was with Purdy about two hours before the attack on the house 
 was made, and he came from thence to Dean's half drunk, and 
 brought with him a bottle of rum, and Purdy was with him when he 
 was taken up. Yours, in friendship, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
84 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 A MATHEMATICAL QUESTION PROPOSED, 
 
 Mr. Aitken : 
 
 Wherever the arts and sciences have been cultivated, a parties 
 lar regard has been deservedly paid to the study of Mathematics. 
 A practice has long prevailed among mathematicians of real disser- 
 vice to the science. When they have propounded questions in 
 periodical publications of this kind, they have generally made choice 
 of such as had nothing to recommend them, but their difficulty of 
 solution, and in which they seem rather to have aimed at victory 
 over their cotemporary rivals, than the advancement of knowledge. 
 It were to be wished, indeed, that all questions might be suppress- 
 ed, but such as may be applicable to some useful purpose in life. 
 The following question, I hope, is of that class. If you should be 
 of the same opinion, your sticking it in a niche in your Magazine, 
 will oblige 
 
 Your humble servant, 
 
 P. 
 
 In surveying a piece of land I found the dimensions as follows: 
 
 1 side N. 25° 30' E. 100 pers. 
 
 2 S. 84° 30' E. 60 
 
 3 S. 36° 0' E. 96 
 
 4 S. 26° 15' W. 85 
 
 5 ...... N. 59° 30' W. 140 to the place of heginning. 
 
 But upon calculating the contents from a table of difference of 
 latitude and departure, I found I had made some error in the field ; 
 for my Northings and Southings, Eastings and Westings, were not 
 exactly equal. Now supposing this error to have been equally 
 contracted in every part of the survey, both from the inaccuracy of 
 talcing the bearings and lengths of the boundary lines, (which is the 
 most probable supposition,) it is required to correct this error, and 
 tell the contents of this piece of land without making a resurvey. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 25 
 
 FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE. 
 See the Plate. 
 
 Description of a new Electrical Machine, with Remarks. 
 
 There is no place where the study of electricity has received 
 .more improvement than in Philadelphia: but in the construction 
 ,of the machines the European philosophers have rather excelled. 
 The opportunity of getting glasses blown or made in what form 
 .they please, and the easiness of finding artists to execute any new 
 .or improved invention, are perhaps the reasons of the difference. 
 
 I look on a globe to be the worst form for a glass that can be 
 .used, because when in motion you cannot touch any great part of 
 its surface, without having the cushion concave, which, if it is, will 
 ,be very apt. to press unequally ; a circumstance which ought to be 
 guarded against. 
 
 The cylinder is an improvement on the globe, because nearly all 
 the surf.ice may be touched, and that equally, by a plain cushion; 
 yet both these forms exclude us from the inside, and only one or 
 two, cushions can be applied outside.. 
 
 Those machines whose glasses are planes, and revolve vertically, 
 £X^ite stronger than any other I have yet seen ; as there are not, 
 I believe, any in this part of the world; and as tho construction is 
 a late one, I have added a description thereof, that if the glass can 
 be. procured, any gentleman inclined to- have them, may easily get 
 the other parts executed. 
 
 Let A B represent a board of convenient length and breadth, 
 into which I insert the upright pillar, B C, which must be cut down 
 the middle, or two single ones must be joined, so as to receive the 
 glass plate, D E F G, and also a thin cushion on each side, between 
 the glass plate and the insides of the pillar. In the centre of the 
 pillar, and on each side thereof, insert the arms, D E H I F G, so 
 that the plate may go down between the whole. The cushions are 
 thin pieces of board or brass, covered loosely with red leather, and 
 stuffed, and slipped in on each, side between the plate and the arms, 
 
 0. 
 
26 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS, 
 
 so that the plate mny turn between the eight cushions on each side 
 of it.* The arras are generally thinned away as far as the cushions 
 go, to receive them the more conveniently ; and in the back of each 
 cushion is a brass pin at each end, and which lodge in a notch in; 
 the pillar, and prevent their being displaced by the motion of the. 
 glass; for the cushion should be made to take out, to be cleaned, &c, 
 
 K L is a phial, and in order to have it ready, 3 circle is cut in 
 the board, A B, to receive it. In the top of the phial is a wood 
 stopper, M N, round the edge of which is glued a piece of woollen 
 .cloth to make it fix tight. Into the wood stopper, insert the brass 
 stem, O P, to the end of which is fixed a chain, P Q. The con- 
 ductor, R S, is a brass tube, which screws on the slem, O P, to 
 which is fixed eight branches, though four are only represented in 
 -the plate, to avoid confusion, the branches terminate in points, di- 
 rected in the spaces in the glass plate between the cushions, and col- 
 lecting the fire from thence, convey it by means of the conductor 
 and chain to the receiver, K L. The glass plate is turned by a 
 winch made fast to an axis, which goes through the plate and pil- 
 lars, (I presume that a square hole struck through the centre of the 
 plate while it is hot, at the time of making it,) and the better to fas-, 
 ten the plate on the axis, a piece of wood, the size of a small saucer, 
 is cemented to each side of the plate at the centre, and the axis 
 passes through the whole. 
 
 If the coating comes to the bottom of the receiver, there needs 
 no chain round it, to carry off the fire that will unavoidably steal 
 down the outside, that being supplied by the phial being in contact 
 with the board, the board with the table it stands on, &c. ; but 
 this communication must by some means be cut off, in order to 
 charge the phial on the outside, which the machine that I saw was 
 not supplied with, Any non-conducting body interposed between 
 the phial and board will supply that defect. 
 
 This is an exact description, as far as my memory can recollect, 
 of that which I saw. I think the plate was about eighteen inches 
 diameter, and about two-tenths of an inch in thickness, and had a 
 greenish cast.t A less plate requires fewer arms. 
 
 I am inclined to think, but I offer it only as a conjecture, that if 
 
 * The cushions are represented as fixed between the plate and the arms, 
 by the figures 1, 2, 3, 4. 
 
 t I think if a cylinder was cut open while hot, and flexible in making, and 
 spread on a plane surface, it would be sufficient for the purpose. Glass 
 excites the stronger by not being too smooth 
 
tol'sCELi,Af)EOUS LETTERS AND ESSAY?. 2f 
 
 additional branches were fixed to those represented in the figure, 
 and brought over the edge of the glass, and pointed to the other 
 side in the same manner as thfe first set does, a greater if not a 
 double quantity of fire would be collected. My reasons are, 
 
 1. That the friction being on both sides equal, the quantity of 
 matter excited on each side, may be supposed to be equal like i 
 Wise. 
 
 2. That as glass is not pervadeable by electrical matter, the 
 union of the two quantities cannot be effected that way. 
 
 3. That as glass will not conduct on its surface, the edge of the 
 plate will act as a barrier between the two quantities. 
 
 Perhaps endeavoring 'to charge two phials from the different 
 sides of the plate at one time, will bestdemonstrate this point. 
 
 ATLANTICUS. 
 ■Philadelphia, January 10. 
 
28 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 NEW ANECDOTES OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 
 
 In one of those calm and gloomy days, which have a strange' 
 effect in disposing the mind to pensiveness, I quitted the busy town 
 and withdrew into the country. As I passed towards the Schuylkill, 
 my ideas enlarged wirh the prospect, and sprung from place to place 
 with an agility for which nature hath not a simile. Even the eye 
 is a loiterer, when compared with the rapidity of the thoughts. 
 Before I could reach the ferry I had made the tour of the creation, 
 and paid a regular visit to' almost every country under the sun ; 
 and while I was crossing the river, I passed the St}'x and made 
 large excursions into the shadowy regions ; but my ideas relanded 
 with my person, and taking a new flight inspected the sta'.e cf 
 things unborn ; this happy wildness of imagination makes a man 
 a. lord of the world, and discovers to him the value and the vanity 
 of all its passions. Having discharged the two terrestial Charonsj 
 who ferried me over the Schuylkill, I took up my staff and walked 
 into the woods. Every thing conspired to hush me into a pleasing 
 kind of melancholy, the trees seemed to sleep, and the air hung 
 round me with such unbreathing silence, as if listening to my very 
 thoughts. Perfectly at rest from care or business, I suffered my 
 ideas to pursue their own unfetterred fancies ; and in less time than 
 what is required to express it in, they had again passed the Styx 
 and toured round many miles into the new country. 
 
 As the servants of great men always imitate their masters abroad, 
 so my ideas, habiting themselves in my likeness, figured away with 
 all the consequence of the person they belonged to ; and calling 
 themselves when united I and me wherever they went, brought me, 
 on their return, the following anecdotes of Alexander ; viz. 
 
 Having a mind to see in what manner Alexander lived in the 
 Plutonian world, I crossed the Styx, (without the help of Charon, 
 for the dead only are his fare,) and enquired of a melancholy look- 
 ing shade who was sitting on the banks of the river, if he could 
 give me any account of him ; yonder he comes, replied the shade, 
 get out of the way or you'll be run over. Turning myself round I 
 saw a grand equipage rolling towards me which filled the whole 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 29 
 
 avenue. Bless me ! thought I, the gods still continue this man in 
 his insolence and pomp ! The chariot was drawn by eight horses in 
 golden harness, and the whole represented his triumphal return, 
 after he had conquered the world. It passed me with a splendor 
 I had not seen before, and shined so luminously up into the country, 
 that I discovered innumerable shades sitting under the trees, which 
 before were invisible. As there were two persons in the chariot 
 equally splendid, I could not distinguish which was Alexander, and 
 on requiring that information of the shade who still stood by, he 
 replied, Alexander is not there. Did you not, continued I, tell me 
 that Alexander was coming, and bid me get out of the way? Yes, 
 answered the shade, becuse he was the fore horse on the side next 
 to us. Horse ! I mean Alexander the Emperor. I mean the same, 
 replied the shade, for whatever he was on the other side of the 
 water is nothing now, he is a horse here ; and not always that, 
 for when he is apprehensive that a good licking is intended for 
 him, he watches his opportunity to roll out of the stable in the 
 shape of a piece of dung or in any other disguise he can escape,. 
 On this information I turned instantly away, not being able to bear 
 the thoughts of such, astonishing degradation notwithstanding the 
 aversion I have to his character. But curiosity got the better of 
 my compassion, and haying a mind to see what sort of a figure the 
 conqueror of the world cut in the stable, I directed my flight thither. 
 He was just returned with the rest of the horses from the journey, 
 and the groom was rubbing him down with a large furze bush, but 
 turning himself round to get a still larger and more prickly one that 
 was newly brought in, Alexander catched the opportunity, and in- 
 stantly disappeared, on which I quitted the place, lest I should be 
 suspected of stealing him. When I had reached the banks of the 
 river, and was preparing to take my flight over, I perceived that I 
 had picked up a bug among the Plutonian gentry, and thinking it 
 was needless to increase the breed on this side the water, was going 
 to dispatch it, when the little wretch screamed out, Spare Alexan- 
 der the Great. On which I withdrew the violence I was offering 
 to his person, and holding up the emperor between my finger and 
 thumb, he exhibited a most contemptible figure of the downfall of 
 tyrant greatness. Affected with a mixture of concern and compas* 
 sion [which he was always a stranger to) I suffered him to nibble 
 on a pimple that was newly risen on my hand, in order to refresh 
 him ; after which I placed him on a tree to hide him, but a tom-tit 
 
30 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 coming by, chopped him up with as little ceremony as he put whole 
 kingdoms to the sword. On which I took my flight» reflecting with 
 pleasure that I was not Alexander the Great; 
 
 Esop; 
 
 TO THOMAS CLIO RICKMAN; 
 
 New York, March 8,- 180& 
 My dear friend, 
 
 Mr. Munrob, who is appointed Minister Extraordinary to France; 
 takes charge of this, to be delivered to Mr; Este, banker, in Parisj 
 to be forwarded to you. 
 
 I arrived at Baltimore on the 30th October, and you can have 
 no idea of the agitation which my arrival occasioned. From New 
 Hampshire to Georgia, (an extent of 1500 miles,) every newspaper 
 was filled with applause or abuse. 
 
 My property in this country has been taken care of by my friends^ 
 and is now worth six thousand pounds sterling, which put in the 
 funds will bring me four hundred pounds sterling a year. 
 
 Remember me in friendship and affection td yourwife and family, 
 and in the circle of our friends. 
 
 I am but just arrived here, and the minister sails Sil a few hours, 
 so that I have but just time to write you thisi If he should not sail 
 this tide, I will write to my good friend Colonel B'osville, but ill 
 any case, I request you to wait on him for me. 
 Yours, in friendship, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE: 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS, 81 
 
 REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE AND DEATH OF 
 LORD CLIVE. 
 
 Ah ! The tale is told — the scene is ended-rrand the curtain falls. 
 As an emblem of the vanity of all earthly pomp, let his monument 
 be a globe, but be that globe a bubble ; let his effigy be a man 
 walking round it in his sleep ; and let Fame, in the character of a 
 shadow, inscribe his honors on the air. 
 
 I view him but as yesterday qn the burning plains of Plassey,* 
 doubtful of life, health, or victory. I see him in the instant when 
 " To be or not to be," were equal chances to a human eye. To be 
 a lord or a slave, to return loaded with the spoils, or remain min- 
 gled with the dust of India. D'51 necessity always justify the se- 
 verity of a conqueror, the rude tongue of censure would bo silent, 
 and howeyer painfully he might look back on scenes of horror, the 
 pensive reflection would not alarm him. Though his feelings suf- 
 fered, his conscience would be acquitted. The sad remembrance 
 would move serenely, and leave the mind without a wound. But 
 oh, India! thou loud proclaimer of European cruelties ! thou bloody 
 monument pf unnecessary deaths ! be tender in the day of inquiry, 
 and show a Christian world thou canst suffer and forgive. 
 
 Departed from India, and loaded with plunder, I see him doubling 
 the Cape and looking wistfully to Europe. I see him contemplating 
 on years of pleasure, and gratifying his ambition with expected 
 honors. I see his arrival pompously announced in every newspa- 
 per, his eager eye rambling through the crowd in quest of homage, 
 and his ear listening lest an applause should escape him. Happily 
 for him he arrived before his fame, and the short interval "was a 
 time of rest. From the crowd I follow him to court, I see him en- 
 veloped in the sunshine of sovereign favor, rivalling the great in 
 honors, the proud in splendor, and the rich in wealth. From the 
 court I trace him to the country; his equipage moves like a camp; 
 
 *Battle of Plassey, in the East Indies, where Lord Clive, at that time 
 Colonel Clive, acquired an immense fortune, and from which place his 
 title is taken. 
 
32 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 every village bell proclaims his coming ; the wondering peasants 
 admire his pomp, and. his heart runs over with joy. 
 
 But, alas! (not satisfied with unaccountable thousands) I accom- 
 pany him again to India. I mark the variety of countenances 
 which appear at his landing — Confusion spreads the news — every 
 passion seems alarmed — the wailing widow, the crying orphan, and 
 the childless parent remember and lament; the rival Nabobs court 
 his favor ; the rich dread his power — and the poor his severity. 
 Fear and terror march like pioneers before his camp — murder and 
 rapine accompany it — famine and wretchedness follow it in the rear. 
 
 Resolved on accumulating an unbounded fortune, he enters into 
 all the schemes of war, treaty, and intrigue. The British sword 
 is set up for sale ; the heads of contending Nabobs are offered at 
 a price, and the bribe taken from both sides. Thousands of men 
 or money are trifles in an Indian bargain. The field is an empire, 
 and the treasure almost without end. The wretched inhabitants 
 are glad to compound for offences never committed, and to pur-; 
 chase at any rate the privilege to* breathe; while he, the sole lord 
 of their lives and fortunes, disposes of either as he pleases, and 
 prepares for Europe.* 
 
 Uncommon fortunes require an uncommon date of life Jo enjoy 
 them in-. The usual period is spent in preparing to live : and un- 
 
 * In April, 1773, a Committee of the House of Commons, under the name 
 ef the Select Committee, were appointed by the House to inquire into the 
 East India affairs, and the conduct of the several Governors of Bengal. 
 The Committee having 'gone through the examination, General Burgoyne, 
 the chairman, prefaced their report to the House, informing them, "That 
 the reports contained accounts shocking to human nature, that the most in- 
 famous designs had been carried into execution by perfidy and murder. Ke 
 recapitulated the wretched situation of the East Indian .princes, who held 
 their dignities on the precarious condition of being the highest bribers. No 
 claim, however just on their part, he said, could be admitted without being 
 introduced with enormous sums of rupees^ nor any prince suffered to reign 
 long, who did not quadrate with this idea ; and that Lord Clive, over and 
 above the enormous sums he might with some appearance of justice lay claim 
 to, had obtained others to which he could have no title. He (General Bur T 
 goynel therefore moved, "That it appears to this house, that Robert Lord 
 Clive, baron of Plassey, about the time of deposing Surajah Dowla, Nabob 
 of Bengal, and establishing Meer Jaflier in his room, did, through the influ ? 
 ence of the power wjth which he was intrusted, as member of the Select 
 Committee in India, and Commander in Chief of the British forces there, 
 obtain and possess himself of two laGks and 80,000 rupees, as member of the 
 Select Committee ; a further sum of two lacks of rupees, as Commander in 
 Chief; a further sum of 16 lacks of rupees, or more, under the denomination 
 of private donations; which sums, amounting together to 20 lacks and 80 r 
 000 rupees, were of the value, in English money, of ±'234,000, and that in 
 so doing, the said Robert Lord Clive abused the powers with which he was 
 intrusted, to the evil example of the servants of the public." 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 33 
 
 less nature prolongs the time, fortune bestows her excess of favors 
 in vain. 
 
 The Conqueror of the East having nothing more to expect from 
 the one, has all his court to make to the other. Anxiety for wealth 
 gives place to anxiety for life ; and wisely recollecting that the sea 
 is no respecter of persons, resolves on taking his route to Europe by 
 land. Little beings move unseen, or unobserved, but he engrosses 
 whole kingdoms in his march, and is gazed at like a comet. The 
 burning desart, the pathless mountains, and the fertile valleys, are 
 in their turns explored and passed over. No material accident dis- 
 tresses his progress, and England once more receives the spoiler. 
 
 How sweet is rest to the weary traveller ; the retrospect heightens 
 the enjoyment ; and if the future prospect be serene, the days of 
 ease and happiness are arrived. An uninquiring observer might 
 have been inclined to consider Lord Clive, under all these agree- 
 able circumstances, one, whose every care was over, and who had 
 nothing to do but sit down and say, Soul take thine ease, thou hast 
 goods laid up in store for many years. 
 
 The reception which he met with on his second arrival, was in 
 every instance equal, and in many, exceeded, the honors of the 
 first. It is the peculiar temper of the English to applaud before 
 they think. Generous of their praise, they frequently bestow it 
 , unworthily : but when once the truth arrives, the torrent stops, and 
 rushes back again with the same violence.* Scarcely had the echo 
 
 * Lord CliY,e, in the defence which he made in the House of Commons, 
 against the charges mentioned in the preceding note, very positively insists 
 on his innocence, 'arid very pathetically laments his situation ; and after in- 
 forming the House of the thanks which he had some years before received, 
 for the same actions which they are now endeavoring to censure him for, 
 he says, 
 
 "After such certificates as these,' Sir, ami to be brought here like a crimi- 
 nal, and the very best part of my conduct construed into crimes against the 
 state ? Is this the reward that is now held out to persons who have perform, 
 ed such important services to their coumtry ? If it is, Sir, the future conse- 
 quences that will attend the execution of any important trust, committed 
 to the persons who have the care of it, will be fatal indeed; and I am sure 
 the noble Lord upon the treasury bench, whose great humanity arid abilities 
 I revere, would never have consented to the resolutions that passed the other 
 night, if he had thought on the dreadful consequences that would altend 
 them. Sir, I cannot say that I either sit or rest easy, when I find that all I 
 have in the world, ie likely to be confiscated, and that no one will take my 
 security for a shilling. - These, Sir, are dreadful apprehensions' to remain 
 under, and I cannot but look upon myself as a bankrupt. I have not any 
 tiling loft which I can call my own, except my paternal fortune, of .£500 
 per annum, and which has been in the family for ages past. But upon this 
 I am contented to live, and perhaps I shall find more real content of rnind 
 and happiness than in the trembling affluence of an unsettled fortune. But 
 
34 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 of applause ceased upon the ear, than the rude tongue of censure 
 took up the tale. The newspapers, fatal enemies to ill-gotten 
 wealth, began to buz a general suspicion of his conduct, and the 
 inquisitive public soon refined it into particulars. Every post gave 
 a stab to his fame — a wound to his peace — and a nail to his coffin. 
 Like spectres from the grave, they haunted him in every company, 
 and whispered murder in his ear. A life chequered with uncommon 
 varieties is seldom a long one. Action and care will in time wear 
 down the strongest frame, but guilt and melancholy are poisons of 
 quick despatch. 
 
 Say, cool deliberate reflection, was the prize, though abstracted 
 from the guilt, worthy of the pains 1 Ah ! no. . Fatigued with vic- 
 tory he sat down to rest, and while he was recovering breath, he lost 
 it. A conqupror more fatal than himself beset him, and revenged 
 the injuries done to India. 
 
 As a cure for avarice and ambition let us take a view of him in 
 his latter years, — Ha 1 what gloomy being wanders yonder 1 How 
 visibly is the melancholy heart delineated on his countenance. He 
 mourns no common care — his very steps are timed to sorrow — he 
 trembles with a kind of mental palsy. Perhaps it is some broken 
 hearted parent, some David mourning: for his Absalom, or some 
 Hei'aclitus weeping for the world. I hear him mutter something 
 about wealth — perhaps he is poor, and hath not wherewithal to hide 
 his head. Some debtor started from his sleepless, pillow, to rumi- 
 nate on poverty, and ponder on the horrors of a jail. Poor man 1 
 I'll 'to him and relieve him. Ha! 'tis Lord Clive himself! Bless 
 me, what a change ! He makes, I see, for yonder cypress shade, a 
 fit scene for melancholy hearts ! I'll watch him there and listen to 
 Jiis story. 
 
 Lord Clive. " Can I but suffer when a beggar pities me. Ere 
 
 Sir, I must ma'ie one more observation, that, if the definition of the Hon*. 
 Gentloman^[Gencral Burgoyne,] and of this House, is that the stole, as ex- 
 pressed in these resolutions is, quo ad hoc, the Company, then, Sir, every 
 farthing that I enjoy is granted to me. But to be called, after sixteen years 
 have elapsed, to account for my conduct in this manner, and after an unin- 
 terrupted enjoyment of my property, to be questioned and considered as 
 obtaining it unwarrantably, is hard indeed! and a treatment I should not 
 think the British Senate capable of. But if it should be the case, I have a 
 conscious innocence within me, that tells me my conduet is irreproachable. 
 Frangas. nonficci'cs. They may take from me what I have ; they may, as 
 they think, make me poor, but I isill is happy ! I mean not this as my defence. 
 My defence will be made at the bar; and'before I sit down, I have one re- 
 quest to make to the House, that v:htn tkey come to decide upon my honor, 
 they will not forget their own. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 35 
 
 while I heard a ragged wretch, who every mark of poverty had on, 
 say to a sooty sweep, Ah, poor Lord Ciive ! while he the negro- 
 colored vagrant, more mercifully cruel, curst me in my hearing. 
 
 "There was a time when fortune, like a yielding mistress, courted 
 me with smiles — she never waited to be told my wishes, but studied 
 to discover them, and seemed not happy to herself, but when she 
 had soma favor to bestow. Ah ! little did I think the fair enchant- 
 ress would desert me thus ; and after lavishing her smiles upon me, 
 turn my reproacher, and publish me in folio to the world. Volumes 
 of morality are dull and spiritless compared to me. Lord Clive is 
 himself a treatise upon vanity, printed on a golden type. The 
 most unlettered clown writes explanatory notes thereon, and reads 
 them to his children. Yet I could bear these insults cou'd I but 
 bear myself. A strange unwelcome something hangs about me. 
 In company I seem no company at all. The festive board appears 
 to me a stage, the crimson colored port resembles blood — each glass 
 is strangely metamorphosed to a man in armour, and every bowl 
 appears a Nabob, The joyous toast is like the sound of murder, 
 and the loud laugh are the groans of dying men. The scenes of 
 India are all rehearsed, and no one sees the tragedy but myself. 
 Ah I I discover things which are not, and hear unuttered sounds. 
 
 " O peace, thou sweet companion of the calm and innocent 1 
 Whither art thou fled ? here take my gold, and all the world calls 
 mine, and come thou in exchange. O thou, thou noisy sweep, who 
 niixeth thy food with soot and relish it, who canst descend from 
 lofty heights and walk the humble earth again, without repining at 
 the change, come teach thy mystery to me. Or thou, thou ragged 
 wandering beggar, who, when thou canst not beg successfully, will 
 pilfer from the hound, and eat the dirty morsel sweetly ; be thou 
 Lord Clive, and I will beg, so I may laugh like thee. 
 
 " Could I unlearn what I've already learned — unact what I've 
 
 already acted — or would some sacred power convey me back to 
 
 youth and innocence, I'd act another part — I'd keep within the 
 
 vale of humble life, nor wish for what the world calls pomp. 
 
 "But since this cannot be, 
 And only a few days and sad remain for, me, 
 I'll haste to quit the scene ; for what is life,* 
 When every passion of the soul's at strife?" 
 
 Atlantictjs. 
 
 * Some time before his death, he became very melancholy — subject to 
 strange imaginations— and was found dead at last. 
 
36 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS ANU ESSAYS. 
 
 I 
 
 TO A FRIEND IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Paris, March 16, 1789. 
 
 I leave this place to-morrow for London ; I go expressly for 
 the purpose of erecting an iron bridge,- which Messrs. Walkers, of 
 Rotherara, Yorkshire; and I have constructed, and is now ready 
 for putting together. It is an arch of one hundred and ten feet 
 span, and iive feet high, from the chord line. It is as portable as 
 common bars of iron, and cari be put up and taken down at plea- 
 sure, and is, in fact, rendering bridges a portable manufacture. 
 
 With respect to the French revolution, be assured that every 
 thing is going on right. Little inconveniences, the necessary con- 
 sequences of pulling down and building up, may arise ; but even 
 these are much less than ought to have been expected. Our friend, 
 the Marquis, is like his patron and master, General Washington, 
 acting a great parti I take over with me to London, the key of 
 the Bastile, which the Marquis intrusts to my care as his present to 
 General Washington, and which I shall send by the first American 
 vessel to New York. It will be yet some months before the new 
 Constitution will be completed, at which time there is to be a pro- 
 cession, and I am engaged to return to Paris to carry the Ameri- 
 can flag. 
 
 In England, the ministerial party oppose every iota of reforma- 
 tion : the high beneficed clergy and bishops cry out that the church 
 is in danger ; and all those who were interested in the remains of 
 the feudal system, join in the clamor. I see very clearly that the 
 conduct of the British government, by opposing reformation, will 
 detach great numbers from the political interests of that country ; 
 and that France, through the influence of principles and the divine 
 right of men to freedom, will have a stronger party in England than 
 she ever had through the Jacobite bugbear of the divine right of 
 kings in the Stuart line. 
 
 I wish most anxiously to see my much loved America. It is the 
 country from whence all reformation must originally spring. I 
 despair of seeing an abolition of the infernal traffic in negroes. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYSi 37 
 
 We must push that matter further on your side of the water. I 
 wish that a few well instructed, could be sent among their brethren 
 in bondage ; for until they are enabled to take their own partj 
 toothing will be done. 
 
 I ani, 
 With many wishes for your happiness, 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE* 
 
38 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 x TO SIR GEORGE STAUNTON, BART. 
 
 Sir, — 
 
 As I know you interest yourself in the success of the useful arts, 
 and are a member of the society for the promotion thereof, I do 
 myself the pleasure to send you an account of a small experiment 
 I have been making at Messrs. Walkers' iron works at this place. 
 You have already seen the model I constructed for a bridge of a 
 single arch, to be made of iron, and erected over the river Schuyl- 
 kill, at Philadelphia ; but as the dimensions may have escaped 
 your recollections, I will begin with statins^ those particulars. 
 
 The vast quantity of ice and melted snow at the breaking up of 
 the frost in that part of America, render it impracticable to erect a 
 bridge on piers. The river can conveniently be contracted to four 
 hundred feet, the model, therefore, is for an arch of four hundred 
 feet span ; the height of the arch in the centre, from the chord 
 thereof, is to be about twenty feet, and to be brought off on the 
 top, so as to make the ascent about one foot in eighteen or twenty. 
 
 The judgment of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, has been 
 given on the principles and practicability of the construction. The 
 original, signed by the Academy, is in my possession ; and in which 
 they fully approve and support the design. They introduce their 
 opinion by saying, 
 
 "II est sur que lors qu'on pense au projut d'une arche en fer de 
 400 pieds d'overture, et aux effets qui peuvent resulter d'une arche 
 d'une si vaste etendue, il est difficile de ne pas elever des doutes 
 sur le succfis d'une pareille enterprise, par les difficultes qu'elle 
 presente au pr6mier6 aperc,u. Mais si telle est la disposition des 
 parties, et la maniere dont elles sont reunis qu'il result de cet as- 
 semblage un tout tres ferme et tres solide, alors on n'aura plus les 
 memes doutes sur la reussite de ce projet."* 
 
 * It is certain that when such a project as that of mating an iron arch of four 
 hundred feet span is thought of, and when wo consider the effects resulting 
 from an arch of such vast magnitude, it would be strange if doubts wore not 
 raised as to the success of such an enterprize, from the difficulties which at 
 first present themselves. But if such be the disposition of the various parts, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 39 
 
 The Academy then proceed to state the reasons on which their 
 judgment is founded, and conclude with saying, 
 
 " Nous concluons de tout ce que nous venons d'exposer que la 
 pont de fer de M. Paine est ingenieusement imagin6, que la con- 
 struction en est isimple, solide, et propre h lui donner la force ne- 
 cessairc pour r6sister aux effets resultans de sa charge, et qu'il merite 
 qu'on en tonte l'execution. Enfin, qu'il pourra fournira un nouvel 
 exemple de l'application d'un m6tal dont on n'a pas jusqu' ici fait 
 assez d'usage en grand, quoique dans nombre d'occasions il est peut 
 fitre employ^ avec plus grand succes."* 
 
 As it was my design to pass some time in England before I re- 
 turned to America, I employed part of it in making the small essay 
 1 am now to inform you of. 
 
 My intention, when I came to the iron works, was to raise an 
 arch of at least two hundred feet span, but as it was late in the fall 
 of last year, the season was too far advanced to work out of doors, 
 and an arch of that extent too great to be worked within doors, 
 and as I was unwilling to lose time, I moderated my ambition with 
 a little common sense, and began with such an arch as could be 
 compassed within some of the buildings belonging to the works. 
 As the construction of the American arch admits, in practice, any 
 species of curve with equal facility, I set off in preference to all 
 others, a catenarian arch of ninety feet span, and five feet high. 
 Were this arch converted into an arch of a circle, the diameter of 
 its circle would be four hundred and ten feet. From the ordinates 
 of the arch taken from the wall where the arch was struck, I pro- 
 duced a similar arch on the floor whereon the work was to be' fitted 
 and framed, and there was something so apparently just when the 
 work was set out, that the looking at it promised success. 
 
 You will recollect that the model is composed of four parallel 
 arched ribs, and as the number of ribs may be increased at pleasure 
 to any breadth an arch sufficient for a road way may require, and 
 the arches to any number the breadth of a river may require, the 
 
 and the method of uniting them, that the collective body should present a 
 whple both firm and solid, we should then no longer have, the same doubts of 
 the success of the plan. 
 
 * We conclude from What we have just remarked that Mr. Paine's Plan 
 of an Iron Bridge is ingeniously imagined, that the construction of it is sim- 
 ple, solid, and proper to give it the necessary strength for resisting the effects 
 resulting from its burden, and that it is deserving of a trial. In short, it 
 may furnish a new example of (he application of a metal, which has not hith- 
 erto been used in any works on an extensive scale, although on many occa- 
 sions it is employed with the greatest success. 
 
40 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 construction of one rib would determine for the whole ; because if 
 one rib succeeded, all the rest of the work, to any extent, is a 
 repetition. 
 
 In less time than I expected, and before the winter set in, I had 
 fitted and framed the arch, or properly the rib, completely together 
 on the floor ; it was then taken in pieces and stowed away during 
 the winter, in a corner of a work shop, used in the mean time by 
 the carpenters, where it occupied so small a compass as to be hid 
 nmong the shavings, and though the extent of it is ninety feet, the 
 depth of the arch at the centre two feet nine inches, and the depth 
 at the branches six feet, the whole of it might, when in pieces, be 
 put in an ordinary stage wagon, and sent to any part of England. 
 
 I returned to the works in April, and began to prepare for erect- 
 ing ; we chose a situation between a steel furnace and a workshop, 
 which served for butments. The distance between those buildings 
 was about four feet more than the span of the arch, which we filled 
 up with chumps of wood at each end. I mention this as I shall 
 have occasion to refer to it hereafter. 
 
 We soon ran up a centre to turn the arch upon, and began our. 
 erections. Every part fitted to a mathematical exactness; the rais- 
 ing an arch of this construction is different to the method of raising 
 a stone arch. In a stone arch they begin at the bottom, on the ex-, 
 tremities of the arch, and work upwards, meeting at the crown. In 
 this we began at the crown, by a line perpendicular thereto, and 
 worked downward each way. It differs likewise in another respect. 
 A stone arch is raised by sections of the curve, each stone being 
 so, and this by concentric curves. The effect likewise of the arch 
 upon the centre is different, for as stone arches sometimes break 
 down the centre by their weight, this, on the contrary, grew lighter 
 on the centre as the arch increased in thickness, so much so, that 
 before the arch was completely finished, it rose itself off the centre 
 the full thickness of the blade of a knife from one hutment to the 
 other,'and is, I suppose, the first arch of ninety feet span that ever 
 struck itself. 
 
 I have already mentioned that the spaces between the ends of 
 the arches and the butments were filled up with chumps of wood, 
 and those rather in a damp state ; and though we rammed them as 
 close as we could, we could not ram them so close as the drying 
 and the weight of the arch, or rib, especially when loaded, would be 
 capable of doing ; and we had now to observe the effects which the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 41 
 
 yielding and pressing up of the wood, and which corresponds to the 
 giving way of the hutments, so generally fatal to stone arches, would 
 have upon this. 
 
 We loaded the rib with six tons of pig iron, beginning at the 
 centre, and proceeding both ways, which is twice the weight of the 
 iron in the rib, as I shall hereafter more particularly mention. This 
 had not the least visible effect on the strength of the arch, hut it 
 pressed the wood home, so as to gain in three or four days, together 
 with the drying and shrinking of the wood, ahove a quarter of an 
 irrch at f ach end, and consequently the chord or span of the arch 
 was lengthened above half an inch. As this lengthening was more 
 than double the feather of the keystone in a stone arch of these 
 dimensions, such an alteration at the butment would have endanger- 
 ed the safety of a stone arch, while- it produced on this no other 
 than the proper mathematical effect. To evidence this, I had rer 
 course to the cord still swinging on the wall from which the curve 
 of the arch was taken. I set the cord to ninety feet span, and five 
 feet for the height of the arch, and marked the curve on the wall. 
 I then removed the ends of the cords horizontally something more 
 than a quarter of an inch at each end. The cord should then de- 
 scribe the exact catenarian curve which the rib had assumed by the 
 same lengthening at the hutments ; that is, the rising of the cord 
 should exactly correspond to the lowering of the arch, which it did 
 through all their corresponding ordinates. The cord had risen 
 ' something more than two inches at the centre, diminishing to 
 nothing each way, and the arch had descended the same quantity, 
 and in the same proportion. I much doubt whether a stone arch, 
 could it be constructed as flat as this, could sustain such an altera- 
 tion ; and, on the contrary, I see no reason to doubt but an arch on 
 this construction and dimensions, or corresponding thereto, might 
 be let down to half its height, or as far as it would descend, with 
 safety. I say, "as far as it would descend," because the construe-; 
 tion renders it exceedingly probable that there is a point beyond 
 which it would not descend, but retain itself independent of hut- 
 ments ; but this cannot be explained but by a sight of the arch itself. 
 In four or five days, the arch having gained nearly all it could 
 gain on the wood, except what the wood would lose by a summer's 
 drying, the lowering of the arch began to be scarcely visible. The. 
 weight still continues on it, to which I intend to add more; and 
 there is not the least visible effect on the perfect curvature or 
 
42 MISCELLANEOUS LEtTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 strength of the arch. The arch having thus gained nearly a solid 
 bearing on the wood and the butments, and the days beginning to 
 be warm, and the nights continuing to be cool, I had now to ob- 
 serve the effects of the contraction and expansion of the iron. 
 
 The Academy of Sciences at Paris, in their, report on the prin- 
 ciples and construction of this arch, state these effects as a matter 
 of perfect indifference to the arch, or to the butments, and the ex- 
 perience establishes the truth of their opinion. It is probable the 
 Academy may have taken, in part, the observations of M. Peronuet, 
 architect to the King of France, and a member of the Academy, 
 as some ground for that opinion. From the observations of M. 
 Peronnet, all arches, whether of stone or brick, are constantly 
 ascending or descending by the changes of the weather, so as to- 
 render the difference perceptible by taking a level, and that aH 
 stone arid brick buildings do the same. In short, that matter is 
 never stationary, with respect to its dimensions, but when the atmos- 
 phere is so ; but that as arches, like the tops of bouses, are open to 
 the air, and at freedom to rise, and all their weight in all changes 
 of heat and cold is the same, their pressure is very little or nothing 
 affected by it. 
 
 I hung a thermometer to the arch, where it has continued' several 
 days, and by what I can observe it equals, if not exceeds, the ther- 
 mometer in exactness. 
 
 In twenty-four hours it ascends and descends two and three-tenths 
 of an inch at the centrey diminishing in exact mathematical propor- 
 tion each way ; and no sooner does an ascent or descent of half a 
 hair's breadth appear at the centre, but it may be proportionally 
 discovered through the whole span of ninety feet. I have affixed 
 an index which multiplies ten times, and it can as easily be multipli- 
 ed an hundred times : could I make a line of fire on each side the 
 arch, so as to heat it in the same equal manner through all its parts, 
 as the natural air does, I would try it up to blood heat. I will not 
 attempt a description of the construction ; first, because you have 
 already seen the model ; and, secondly, that I have often observed 
 that a thing may be so very simple as to baffle description. On 
 this head I shall only say, that I took the idea of constructing it 
 from a spider's web, of which it resembles a section, and I naturally 
 supposed, that when Nature enabled that insect to make a web, she 
 taught it the best method of putting it together. 
 
 Another idea I have taken from Nature is, that of increasing the 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 43 
 
 strength of matter by causing it to act over a larger space than it 
 would occupy in a solid state, as is evidenced in the bones of ani- 
 mals, quills of birds, reeds, canes, &c, which, were they solid with 
 the same quantity of matter, would have the same weight with a 
 much less degree of strength. 
 
 I have already mentioned that the quantity of iron in this rib is 
 three tons ; that an arch of sufficient width for a bridge is to be 
 composed of as many ribs as that width requires ; and that the 
 number of arches, if the breadth of a river requires more than one, 
 may be multiplied at discretion. 
 
 As the intention of this experiment was to ascertain, first, the 
 practicability of the construction) and secondly, what degree of 
 strenglh any given quantity of iron would have when thus formed 
 into an arch, I employed in it no more than three tons, which is as 
 small a quantity as could well be used in the experiment. It has 
 already a weight of six tons constantly lying on it, without any ef- 
 fect on the strength or perfect curvature of the arch. What greater 
 weight it will bear cannot be judged of ; but taking even these as 
 data, an arch of any strength, or capable of bearing a greater 
 weight than can ever possibly come upon any bridge, may be easily 
 calculated. 
 
 The river Schuylkill, at Philadelphia, as I have already mention' 
 ed, requires a single arch of four hundred feet span. The vast 
 quantities of ice render it impossible to erect a bridge on piers, and 
 is the reason why no bridge has been attempted. But great scenes 
 inspire great ideas. The natural mightiness of America expands 
 the mind, and it partakes of the greatness it contemplates. Even 
 the war, with all its evils, had some advantages. It energized in- 
 vention and lessened the catalogue of impossibilities. At the con- 
 clusion of it every man returned to his home to repair the ravages 
 it had occasioned, and to think of war no more. As one amongst 
 thousands who had borne a share in that memorable revolution, I 
 returned with them to the reenjoyment of quiet life, and, that I 
 might not be idle, undertook to construct a bridge of a single arch 
 for this river. Our beloved General had engaged in rendering 
 another river, the Patowmac, navigable. The quantity of iron I 
 had allowed in my plan for this arch was five hundred and twenty 
 tons, to be distributed into thirteen ribs, in commemoration of the 
 Thirteen United States, each rib to contain forty tons ; but although 
 strength is the first object in works of this kind, I shall, from the 
 
44 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 success of this experiment, very considerably lessen the quantity 
 of iron I had proposed. 
 
 The Academy of Sciences, in their report upon this construction, 
 say, " there is one advantage in the construction of M. Paine's 
 bridge that is singular and important, which is, that the success of 
 an arch to any span can be determined before the work be under- 
 taken on the river, and with a small part of the expense of the 
 whole, by erecting part on the ground." 
 
 As to its appearance, I shall give you ah extract of a letter from 
 a gentlemen in the neighborhood, member in the former parlia- 
 ment for this county; who, in speaking of the arch, says, " In point 
 of elegance and beauty, it far exceeds my expectations, and it is 
 certainly beyond any thing I ever saw." I shall likewise mention 
 that it is much visited and exceedingly admired by the ladies, who, 
 though they may not be much acquainted with mathematical princi- 
 ples, are certainly judges of taste. 
 
 I shall close my letter with a few other observations, naturally 
 and necessarily connected with the subject. 
 
 That, contrary to the general opinion, the most preservative 
 situation in which iron can be placed is within the atmosphere of 
 water, whether it be that the air is less saline and nitrous than that 
 which arises from the filth of 511*6613, and the fermentation of the 
 earlh, I am not undertaking to prove ; I speak only of fact, which 
 any body may observe by the rings and bolts in wharfs and other 
 watery situations. I never yet saw the iron chain affixed to a well- 
 bucket consumed or injured by rust; and I believe it is impossible 
 to find iron exposed to the open air inthe same preserved condi- 
 tion as that which is exposed over water. 
 
 A method of extending the span and lessening the height of arches 
 has always been the desideratum of bridge architecture. But it 
 has other advantages. It renders bridges capable of becoming a 
 portable manufacture, as they may, on this construction, be made 
 and sent to any part of the world ready to be erected ; and at the 
 same time that it greatly increases the magnificence, elegance, and 
 beauty of bridges, it considerably lessens their expense, and their 
 appearance by re-painting will be ever new ; and as they may be 
 erected in all situations where stone bridges can be erected, they 
 may, moreover, be erected in certain situations, where, on account 
 of ice, infirm foundations in the beds of rivers, low shores, and va- 
 rious other causes, stone bridges cannot be erected. The last con- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 43 
 
 venience, and which is not inconsiderable, that I shall mention is, 
 that after they are erected, they may very easily be taken down 
 without any injury to the materials of the construction, and be re- 
 'erected elsewhere. 
 
 I am, sir, 
 
 Your much obliged, 
 
 And obedient humble servant, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
46 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 PREFACE TO GENERAL LEE'S MEMOIRS. 
 
 The following Memoirs and Letters of the late Major-General 
 Lee have been in the possession of the Editor since the year 1786. 
 They were transmitted from America to England by the gentleman 
 whose name is subscribed to the Memoirs, and who was a member 
 of Congress for the state of Georgia, for the purpose of publica- 
 tion. In their manuscript state they have been seen by several 
 persons in England, who expressed a strong desire of putting them 
 to press, which the avocations of the person to whom they were 
 entrusted, and his not being acquainted with such undertakings, had 
 caused him to neglect. 
 
 As the subject of Revolutions is again renewed by what has oc- 
 curred in France, it .is presumed, that whatever relates to the Mo- 
 ther-Revolution, that of America, will, at least, afford entertainment 
 to the curious, and contribute to increase the general stock of his- 
 torical knowledge. 
 
 The reader may expect to find, in almost every thing that relates 
 to 'General Lee, a great deal of the strong republican character. 
 His attachment to principles of liberty, without regard to place, 
 made him the citizen of the world rather than of any country ; 
 and from his earliest youth to the end of his career, this general 
 trait in his character may be traced. 
 
 So little of the eourtier had he about him, that he never descend- 
 ed to. intimate any thing. Whatever he spoke or wrote was in the 
 fullest style of expression, or strong figure. He used to say to Mr. 
 Paine, the author of Common Sense, in America, and since of 
 Rights of Man, in England, (of whose writings he was a great 
 admirer,) that " he burst forth upon the world like Jove in thun- 
 der ;" and this strength of conception, so natural to General Lee* 
 had it not been mixed with a turn equally as strong for satire, and 
 too much eccentricity of temper, would have rendered his conver- 
 sation perpetually entertaining. 
 
 Though the Memoirs and every letter in this publication are 
 most faithfully printed from the copy transmitted from America, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 47 
 
 the Editor has omitted many whole letters, and also his trial be- 
 fore the court-martial, as not sufficiently interesting to balance the 
 expense to which they would have extended the work. But if 
 any of the particular friends or relations of General Lee should be 
 desirous of seeing them, they may be indulged with the opportun- 
 ity, by leaving a line at the publisher's, directed to the 
 
 EDITOR. 
 London, Feb*. 1792. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 TO FORGETFULNESS. 
 
 From " the Castle in the Air," to " the Little Corner of the 
 
 World? 
 
 Memory, like a beauty that is always present to hear herself 
 flattered, is flattered by every one. But the absent and silent god- 
 dess, Forgetfulness, has no votaries, and is never thought of: yet 
 we owe her much. She is the goddess of ease, though not of 
 pleasure. 
 
 When the mind is like a room hung with black, and every corner 
 of it crowded with the most horrid images imagination can create, 
 this kind speechless goddess of a maid, Forgetfulness, is following 
 us night and day with her opium wand, and gently touching first one,, 
 and then another, benumbs them into rest, and at last glides them 
 away with the silence of a departing shadow. It is thus the tor-, 
 tured mind is restored to the calm condition of ease, and fitted for 
 happiness. 
 
 How dismal must the picture of life appear to the mind in that 
 dreadful moment, when it resolves on darkness, and to die ! One 
 can scarcely believe such a choice was possible. Yet how many of 
 the young and beautiful, timid in every thing else, and formed for 
 delight, have shut their eyes upon the world, and made the waters 
 their sepulchral bed ! Ah ! would they in that crisis, when life and 
 death are both befor^ them, and each within their reach, would (hey 
 but think, or try to think, that Forgetfulness will come to their re- 
 lief, and lull them into ease, they could stay their hand, and lay hold 
 of life. But there is a necromancy in wretchedness that entombs 
 the mind, and increases the misery, by shutting out every ray of 
 light and hope. It makes the wretched falsely believe they will be 
 wretched ever. It is the most fatal of all dangerous delusions ; and 
 it is only when this necromantic night-mare of the mind begins to 
 vanish, by being resisted, that it is discovered to be but a tyrannic 
 spectre. All grief, like all things else, will yield to the obliterating 
 power of time. While despair is preying on the mind, time and 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 49 
 
 its. effects are preying on despair ; and certain it is, the dismal 
 vision will fade away, and Forgetfulness, with her sister Ease, will 
 change the scene. Then let not the wretched be rash, but wait, 
 painful as the struggle may be, the arrival of Forgetfulness ; for it 
 will certainly arrive. 
 
 I have twice been present at the scene of attempted suicide. 
 The one a love-distracted girl in England, the other of a patriqtic 
 friend in France ; and as the circumstances of each are strongly 
 pictured in my memory, I will relate them to you. They will in 
 some measure corroborate what I have said of Forgetfulness. 
 
 About the year 1766, I was in Lincolnshire, in England, and on 
 a visit at the house of a widow lady, Mrs. E — — , at a small vil- 
 lage in the fens of that county. It was in summer ; and one eve- 
 - ning after supper, Mrs. E — — and mysqlf went to take, a turn in 
 the garden. It was about eleven o'clock, and to avoid the night air of 
 the fens, we were walking in a bower, shaded over with hazel bushes. 
 On a sudden, she screamed out, and cried "Lord! look, look!" 
 I cast my eyes through the openings of the hazel bushes, in the 
 direction she was looking, and saw a white shapeless figure, without 
 head or arms, movingalong one of the walks at some distance from 
 us. I quitted Mrs. E— — , and went after it. When I got into the 
 walk where the figure was, and was following it, it took up another 
 walk. There was a .holly bush in the corner of the two walks, 
 which, it being night, I did not observe ; and as I continued to step 
 forward, the holly bush came in a straight line between me and the 
 figure, and I lost sight of it ; and as I passed along one walk, and 
 the figure the other, the holly bush still continued to intercept the 
 view, so as to give the appearance that the figure had vanished. 
 When I came to the corner of the two walks, I caught sight of it 
 again, and coming up with it, I reached out my hand to touch it; 
 and in the act of doing this, the idea struck me, will my hand pass 
 through the air, or shall I feel any thing 1 Less than a moment 
 would decide this, and my hand rested on the shoulder of a human 
 figure,. I spoke, but do not recollect what I said. It answered in 
 a low voice, " Pray let me alone." I then knew who it was. It 
 
 was a young lady who was on a visit to Mrs. E -, ant} who, when 
 
 we sat down to supper said she found herself extrernely ill, and 
 
 would go to bed. I called to Mrs. E ,, who came, and I said to 
 
 her, " It is Miss N ." Mrs. E said, " My God ! I hope 
 
 you are not going to do yourself any hurt;" for Mrs. E :sus- 
 
50 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 pected something. She replied with pathetic melancholy, " Life- 
 has not one pleasure for me." We got her into the house, and 
 Mrs. E took her to sleep with her. 
 
 The case was, the man whom she expected tp be married to, had 
 forsaken her, and when she heard he was to be married to another, 
 the shock appeared to her to be too great to be borne. She had 
 retired, as I have said, to her room, and when she supposed all the 
 family were gone to bed, (which would have been the case, if Mrs. 
 
 E and I had not walked into the garden,) she undressed her- 
 
 self, and tied her apron over her head; which descending below 
 her waist, gave her the shapeless figure I have spoken of. 
 
 Aided by the obscurity of almost midnight, and with this and a, 
 white under petticoat and slippers, for she had taken out her buckles, 
 and put them at the servant maid's door, I suppose as a keepsake* 
 she came down stairs, and was going to drown herself in a pond at 
 the bottom of the garden, towards which she was going when Mrs, 
 
 E screamed out. We found afterwards, that she had heard 
 
 the scream, and that was the cause of her changing her walk. 
 
 By gentle usage, and leading her into subjects that might, without 
 doing violence to her feelings, and without letting her see the di- 
 rect intention of it, steal her as it were from the horror she was in, 
 (and I felt a compasionate, earnest disposition to do it, for she was 
 a good girl,) she recovered her former cheerfulness, and was after- 
 wards a happy wife, and the mother of a family. 
 
 The other case, and the conclusion in my next. 
 
 In Paris, in 1793, 1 had lodgings in the Rue Fauxbourg, St. Denis, 
 No. 63. They were the most agreeable, for situation, of any I ever 
 had in Paris, except that they were too remote from the Conven- 
 tion, of which I was then a member. But this was recompensed by 
 their being also remote from the alarms and confusion into which 
 the interior of Paris was then often thrown. The news of those 
 things used to arrive to us, as if we were in a state of tranquility in 
 the country. The house, which was enclosed by a wall and gate- 
 way from the street, was a good deal like an old mansion farm house, 
 and the court yard was like a farm yard, stocked with fowls, ducks, 
 turkies, and geese ; which, 'for amusement, we used to feed out. of 
 the parlor window on the ground floor. There were some hutches 
 for rabbits, and a sty with two pigs. Beyond, was a garden of 
 more than an acre of ground, well laid out, and stocked with ex- 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 51 
 
 cellent fruit trees. The orange, apricot, and greengage plum, were 
 the best I ever tasted ; and it is the only place where I saw the 
 wild cucumber. The place had formerly been occupied by some 
 curious person. 
 
 My apartments consisted of three rooms ; the first, for wood, wa- 
 ter, &c, with an old fashioned closet chest, high enough to hang up 
 clothes in ; the next was the bed room ; and beyond it the sitting 
 room, which looked into the garden through a glass door ; and on 
 the outside there was a small landing place railed in, and a flight of 
 narrow stairs almost hidden by the vines that grew over it, by which 
 1 could descend into the garden, without going down stairs, through 
 the house. I am trying by description to make you see the place 
 in your mind, because it will assist the story I have to tell ; and 
 which I think you can do, because you once called upon me there 
 
 on account of Sir ; who was then, as I was soon afterwards, 
 
 in arrestation. But it was winter when you came, and it is a sum- 
 taer scene I am describing. 
 
 # # « * 
 
 I went into my chamber to write and sign a certificate for them,* 
 which I intended to take to the guard house. to obtain their release. 
 Just as I had finished it a man came into my room dressed in the 
 Parisian uniform of a captain, and spoke to me in good English, 
 and with a good address. He told me that two young men, English- 
 men, were arrested and detained in the guard house, and that the 
 section, (meaning those who represented and acted for the section,) 
 had sent him to ask me if I knew them, in which ;ase they would 
 be liberated. This matter being soon settled between us, ho talked 
 to me about the Revolution, and something about the "Rights of 
 Man," which he had read in English; and at parting offered me in 
 «i polite and civil manner, his services. And who do you think the 
 man was that offered me his services ? It was no other than the 
 public executioner Samson, who guillotined the king, and all who 
 -were guillotined in Paris ; and who lived in the same section, and 
 in- the same street with me. 
 
 # # * * 
 
 As to myself, I used to find some relief by walking alone in the 
 garden after dark, and cursing with hearty goodwill, the authors of 
 that terrible system that had turned the character of the Revolution 
 I 'had been proud to defend. 
 
 * Mr. Paine here alludes to two friends who were under arrest. Ed. 
 
52 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSATS. 
 
 I went but little to the Convention, and then only to make my 
 appearance; because I found it impossible to join in their tremend- 
 ous decrees, ;in;l useless and dangerous to oppose them. My hav- 
 ing voted and spoken extensively, more so than any other member; 
 against the execution of the king, had already fixed a mark upon 
 me: neither dared any of my associates iti the Convention to trans- 
 late and speak in French for me, any thing I might have dared to 
 have written. 
 
 * # * * 
 
 Pen and ink were then of no use to me : no good could be done 
 by writing, and no printer dared to print ; and whatever I might 
 have written for my private amusement, as anecdotes of the times, 
 would have been continually exposed to be examined, and tortured 
 into any meaning that the rage of party might fix upon it; and as 
 to softer subjects, my heart was in distress at the fate of my friends, 
 and my harp hung upon the weeping willows. 
 
 As it was summer, we spent most of our time in the garden, and 
 passed it away in those childish amusements that serve to keep re- 
 flection from the miridj such as marbles, scotch hops, battledores; 
 &c, at which we were all pretty expert. 
 
 In this retired manner we remained aboiit six or seven weeks; 
 and our landlord went every evening into the city to bring us the 
 news of the day, and the evening journal. 
 
 I have now, my "Little Corner of the World," led you on, step 
 by step, to the scene that makes the sequel to this narrative, and I 
 will put that scene before your eyes. You shall see it in description 
 as I saw it in fact.* , 
 
 * * * * 
 
 He recovered, and being anxious to get out of France, a pass- 
 port was obtained»for him and Mr. Choppin: they received it late 
 in the evening, and set off the next morning for Basle before four, 
 from which place I had a letter from them, highly pleased with their 
 escape from, France, into which they had entered with an enthusi- 
 asm of patriotic devotion: Ah, France ! thou hast ruined the cha- 
 racter of a Revolution virtuously begun, and destroyed those who 
 produced it. I might almost say like Job's servant, " and I only 
 am escaped." 
 
 Two days after they were gone I heard a rapping at the gate, 
 
 * The second instance of attempted suicide is omitted from motives b'f 
 persona] delicacy. Mr. Paine's letter is continued, as it contains an account 
 of Iris mode of .life" before he was sent to prison, &c. Ed. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 53 
 
 and looking out of the window of the bed room, I saw the landlord 
 going with the candle to the gale, which he opened, and a guard 
 With musquets and fixed bayonets entered. I went to bed again, 
 and made up my mind for prison, for I 'Was then the only lodgpr. 
 
 It was a guard to take up — : , but, I thank God, they 
 
 were out of their reach. 
 
 The guard came about a month after in the night, and took away 
 the landlord, Georgeit ; and the scene in the house finished with 
 the arrestation of myself. This was soon after you called on me, 
 
 and»sorry I was it was not in my power to render to the 
 
 service that you asked. 
 
 I have now fulfilled my engagement, and I hope your expectation, 
 
 in relating the case of , landed back on the shore of life, by 
 
 the mistake of the pilot, who was conducting, him out ; and pre- 
 served afterwards from prison, perhaps a worse fate, without kno\y- 
 ing it himself. 
 
 You say a Story cannot be too melancholy for you. This is in- 
 teresting and affecting, but not melancholy. It may raise in your 
 mind a sympathetic sentiment in reading it; and though it may 
 start a tear of pity, you will not have a tear of sorrow to drop on 
 
 the page. 
 
 * # # # 
 
 Here, my contemplative correspondent, let us stop and look back 
 upon the scene. The matters here related being all facts, are 
 strongly pictured in my mind, and in this sense, Forgetfulness does 
 not apply. But facts and feelings are distinct things, and it is 
 against feelings that the opium wand of Forgetfulness draws us into 
 ease. Look back on any scene or subject' that once gave you dis- 
 tress, for all of us have felt some, and you will find, that though 
 the remembrance of the fact is not extinct in your memory, the 
 feeling is extinct in your mind. You can remember when you had 
 felt distress, but you cannot feel that distress again, and perhaps 
 will wonder you felt it then. It is like a shadow that loses itself 
 by light. 
 
 It is often difficult to know what is a misfortune : that which we 
 feel as a great one today, may be the means of turning aside our 
 steps into some new path that leads to happiness yet unknown. In 
 tracing the scenes of my own life, I can discover that the condition 
 I now enjoy, which is sweet to me, and will be more so when I get 
 to America, except by the loss of your society, has been produced, 
 
54 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 in the first instance* in my feeing disappointed in former projects. 
 Under that impenetrable veil; Futurity, we know not what is con- 
 cealed, and the day to arrive is hidden froni us. 'Turning then our 
 thoughts to those cases of despair that lead to suicide, when; "the 
 mind," as you say, ,l neither sees nor hears, «nd holds counsel only 
 with itself; when the very idea of consolation would add to the tor-* 
 ture, and self destruction is its only aim," what, it may be asked, 
 is the h.est advice, what the best relief; I answer seek it not in 
 reason, for the mind is at war with reason, and to reason against 
 feelings is as vain as to reason against fire : it serves only to tor* 
 ture the torture, by adding reproach to horror. 'All reasoning with 
 ourselves in such cases acts upon us like the reason of another per- 
 son, which, however kindly done, serves but to insult the misery we 
 suffer. If Reason could remove the pain, Reason would have pre- 
 vented it. If she could not do the one, how is she to perform the 
 other 1 In all such cases we must look upon Reason as dispossess- 
 ed of her empire, by a revolt of the mind. She retires herself to 
 a distance to weep, and the ebony sceptre of Despair rules alone. 
 All that Reason can do is to suggest, to hint a thought, to signify a 
 wish, to cast now and then a kind of bewailing look, to hold up, 
 when she can catch the eye, the miniature shaded portrait of Hope ; 
 and though dethroned, and can dictate no more, to wait upon us in 
 the humble station of a handmaid. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 55 
 
 TO A GENTLEMAN AT NEW YORK. 
 
 Sir, New Rochelk, March 20, 1806. 
 
 I will inform you of what I know respecting General Miranda, 
 with whom I first became acquainted, at New York, about the year 
 1783. He is a man of talents and enterprize, a Mexican by birth, 
 and the whole of his life has been a life of adventures. 
 
 I went to Europe ftom New York, in April, 1787, Mr. Jefferson 
 was then minister from America to France, and Mr. Littlepage, a 
 Virginian, (whom John Jay knows,) was agent for the king of Por 
 land, at Paris. 
 
 Mr. Littlepage was a young man of extraordinary talents, and I 
 first met with him, at Mr. Jefferson's house at dinner. By his inti- 
 macy with the king of Poland, to whom also he was chamberlain, 
 he became well acquainted with the, plans and projects, of the 
 Northern Powers of Europe. He told me of Miranda's getting 
 himself introduced to the Empress Catherine of Russia, and obtain* 
 ing a sum of money from her, four thousand pounds sterling; but 
 it did not appear to me what the object was for which the money 
 was given ; it appeared as a kind of retaining fee. 
 
 After I had published the first part of the "Rights of Man,'' in 
 England, in the year 1791, 1 met Miranda at the house of Turnbull 
 and Forbes, merchants, Devonshire square, London, He had been 
 a little time befora this in the employ of Mr. Pitt, with respect to the 
 affair of Nootka Sound, but I did not at that time know it ; and I will, 
 in the course of this letter, inform you how this connection between 
 Pitt and Miranda ended; for I know it of my own knowledge. 
 
 I published the second part of the " Rights of Man," in London, in 
 February, 1792, and I continued in London till I was elected a mem- 
 ber of the French Convention, in September of that year; and 
 went from London to Paris to take my seat in the Convention, which 
 was to meet the 20th of that month; I arrived at Paris on the 19th. 
 
 After the Convention met, Miranda came to Paris, and was ap- 
 pointed general of the French army, under General Dumourier; 
 but as the affairs of that army went wrong in the beginning of the 
 year 1793, Miranda was suspected, and was brought under arrest 
 
56 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 to Paris, to take his trial. He summoned me to appear to his 
 character, and also a Mr. Thomas Christie, connected with the 
 house of Turnbull and Forbes. I gave my testimony as I believed, 
 winch was, that his leading object was, and had been, the emanci- 
 pation of his country, Mexico,' from the bondage of Spain; for I 
 did not, at that lime, know of his engagements with Pitt. Mr. 
 Christie's evidence went to show that Miranda did not come to 
 France as a necessitous adventurer; but believed he came from 
 public spirited motives, and that he had a large sum of money in 
 the hands of Turnbull and Forbes, The house of Turnbull and 
 Forbes was then in a contract to supply Paris with flour. Miranda 
 was acquitted. 
 
 A few days after his acquittal he came to see me, and in a few 
 days afterwards I returned his visit, He seemed desirous of satis- 
 fying me that he was independent, and that he had money in the 
 hands of Turnbull and Forbes, He did not tell me of his aflair 
 withold Catherine of Russia, nor dd I tell him that I knew of it. 
 But he entered into conversation with respect to Nootka Sound, 
 and put into my hands several letters of Mr. Pitt's to him on that 
 subject ; amongst which was one that 1 believe he gave me by mis- 
 take, for when I had opened it, and was beginning to read it, he 
 put forth his hand and said, " O, that is not the letter 1 intended ;'* 
 but as the letter was short, 1 soon got through it, and then returned 
 it to him without making any remarks upon it. 
 
 The dispute with Spain about Nootka Sound was then compro- 
 mised ; and Pitt compromised with Miranda, for his services, by 
 giving him twelve hundred pounds sterling, for this was the contents 
 of the letter. 
 
 Now if it be true that Miranda brought with him a credit upon 
 certain persons in New York, for sixty thousand pounds sterling, it 
 is not difficult to suppose from what nuarter the credit came; for 
 the opening of any proposals between Pitt and M randa was already 
 made by the aflair of Nootka Sound. 
 
 Miranda was in Paris when Mr. Munroe arrived there as minis- 
 ter ; and as Miranda wanted to get acquainted with him, I caution- 
 ed Mr. Monroe against him, and told him of the affair of Nootka 
 Sound, and the twelve hundred pounds. 
 
 You are at liberty to make what use you please of this letter, 
 and with my name to it. 
 
 THCWIAS PAINE. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 57 
 
 THE CAUSE. OF THE YELLOW FEVER, AND THE 
 MEANS OF PREVENTING IT, IN PLACES NOT YET 
 INFECTED WITH IT, ADDRESSED TO THE BOARD 
 OF HEALTH IN AMERICA. 
 
 A great deal has been written respecting the Yellow Fever. 
 First, with respect to its causes, whether domestic or imported. 
 Secondly, on the mode of treating it. 
 
 What I am going to suggest in this essay, is to ascertain some 
 point to begin at, in order to arrive at the cause", and for this pur- 
 pose some preliminary observations are necessary. 
 
 The Yellow Fever always begins in the lowest part of a popu- 
 lous mercantile town near the water, and continues there, without 
 affecting the higher parts. The sphere, or circuit it acts in, is small, 
 and it rages most where large quantities of new ground have been 
 made by banking out the river, for the purpose of making wharfs. 
 The appearance and prevalence of the Yellow Fever in these 
 places, being those where vessels- arrive from the West Indies, has 
 caused the belief that the Yellow Fever was imported from thence : 
 but here are two cases acting in the same place ; the one, the con- 
 dition of the ground at the wharfs, which being new made on the 
 muddy and filthy bottom of the river, is different from the natural 
 condition of the ground in the higher parts of the city, and conse- 
 quently subject to produce a different kind of effluvia or vapor : the 
 other case, is the arrival of vessels from the West Indies. 
 
 In the State of Jersey, neither of these cases has taken place ; 
 no shipping arrive there, and consequently there have been no em- 
 bankments for the purpose of wharfs, and the Yellow Fever has 
 never broke out in Jersey. This, however, does not decide the 
 point, as to the immediate cause of the fever, but it shows that this 
 species of fever is not common to the country in its natural state ; 
 and, I believe the same was the case in the West Indies, before 
 embankments began, for the purpose of making wharfs, which al- 
 ways alter the natural condition of the ground ; no old history, that 
 I know of, mentions such a disorder as the Yellow Fever. 
 
 T 
 
58 MISCEtlASBOffS LETTEES AMD KfiSATS. 
 
 A person Seized with the Yellow Fever in an affected part of the 
 town, and brought into the healthy part, or into the country, and 
 among healthy persons, does not communicate it to the neighbor- 
 hood, or to those immediately around him ; why then are we to 
 suppose it can be brought from the West Indies, a distance of more 
 than a thousand miles, since we see it cannot be carried from one 
 town to another, nor from one part of a town to another, at home ? 
 Is it in the air? this question on the case, requires a minute ex- 
 amination. In the first place, the difference between air and wind 
 is the same as between a stream of water and a standing water. 
 A stream of water is water in motion, and wind is air in motion. 
 In a gentle breeze, the ivhole body of air, as far as the breeze ex- 
 tends, moves at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour; in a high 
 wind, at the rate of seventy, eighty, or an hundred miles an hour : 
 when we see the shadow of a cloud gliding on the surfaee of the 
 ground, we see the rate at which the air moves, and it must be a 
 good trotting horse that can keep pace with the shadow, even in a 
 gentle breeze ; consequently, a body of air, that is in and over any 
 place of the same extent as the affected part of a city may be, 
 will, in the space of an hour, even at the moderate rate I speak of, 
 be moved seven or eight miles to leeward, and its place, in and 
 over the city, will be suppliedby a new body of air coming from a 
 healthy part, seven or eight miles distant the contrary way, and 
 then on in continual succession. The disorder, therefore, is not in 
 the air, considered in its natural state, and never stationary. This 
 leads to another consideration of the case. 
 
 An impure effluvia, arising from some cause in the ground, in the 
 manner that fermenting liquors produce an effluvia near their sur- 
 face that is fatal to life, will become mixed with the air contiguous 
 to it, and as fast as that body of air moves off, it will impregnate 
 every succeeding body of air, however pure it may be when it ar- 
 rives at the place. 
 
 The result from this state of the case, is, that the impure air, or 
 vapor, that generates the Yellow Fever, issues from, the earth, that 
 is, from the new made earth, or ground raised on the muddy and 
 filthy bottom of the river ; and which impregnates every fresh body 
 of air that comes over the place, in like manner as air becomes 
 heated when it approaches or-passes over fire, or becomes offensive 
 in smell, when it approaches or passes over a body of corrupt ve- 
 getable or animal matter in a state of putrefaction. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYg. , 59 
 
 The muddy bottom of rivers contains great quantities of impure 
 and often inflammable air, (carburetted hydrogen gas,) injurious to 
 life ; and which remains entangled in the mud till let loose from 
 thence by some accident. This air is produced by the dissolution 
 and decomposition of any combustible matter falling into the water 
 and sinking into the mud, of which the following circumstance wilt « 
 servo to give some explanation. 
 
 In the fall of the year that New York was evacuated, (1783,) 
 General Washington had his head quarters at Mrs. Berrian's, at 
 Rocky Hill, in Jersey, and I was there : the Congress then sat at 
 Prince Town. We had several times been told, that the river, or 
 creek, that runs near the bottom of Rocky Hill, and over which 
 there is a mill, might be- set on fire, for that was the term the coun- 
 try people used, and as General Washington had a mind to try the 
 experiment, General Lincoln, who was also there, undertook to 
 make preparation for it against the next evening, November 5th. 
 This was to be done, as we were told, by disturbing the mud at the 
 bottom of the river, and holding something in a blaze, as paper or 
 straw, a little above the surface of the water. 
 
 Colonels Humphries and Cob were at that time Aide de Camps 
 of General Washington, and those two gentlemen and myself got 
 into an argument respecting the cause; their opinion was, that on 
 disturbing the bottom of"- the river, some bituminous matter arose to 
 the surface, which took fire when the light was put to it j I, on the 
 contrary, supposed that a quantity of inflammable air was let loose* 
 which ascended through the water, and took fire above the surface. 
 Each party held to his opinion, and the next evening the experi- 
 ment was to be made. 
 
 A scow had been stationed in the mill dam, and General Wash- 
 ington, General Lincoln, and myself, and I believe Colonel Cob, 
 (for Humphries was sick,) and three or four soldiers with poles, were 
 put on board the scow: General Washington placed himself at one 
 end of the scow, and I at the other ; each of us had a roll of cart- 
 ridge paper, which we lighted and held over the water, about two 
 or three inches from the surface, when the soldiers began disturbing 
 the bottom of the river with their poles. 
 
 As General Washington sat at one end of the scow, and I at the 
 other, I could see better any thing that might happen from his light, 
 than 1 could from my own, over which I was nearly perpendicular. 
 When the mud at the bottom was disturbed by the poles, the air 
 
60 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 bubbles rose fast, and I saw the fire take from General Washing- 
 ton's light and descend from thence to the surface of the water, 
 in a similar manner, as when a lighted candle is held so as to touch 
 the smoke of a candle just blown out, the smoke will take fire, and 
 the fire will descend and light up the candle. This was demonstra- 
 tive evidence, that what was called setting the river on fire, was 
 setting the inflammable air on fire, that arose out of the mud. 
 
 I mentioned this experiment to Mr. Rittenhouse of Philadelphia 
 the next time I'went to that city, and our opinion on the case, was 
 that the air or vapor that issued from any combustible matter, 
 (vegetable or otherwise,) that underwent a dissolution and decom- 
 position of its parts, either by fire or water in a confined place, so 
 as not to blaze, would be inflammable, and would become flame 
 whenever it came in contact with flame. 
 
 In order to determine if this was the case, we filled up the breech 
 of a gun barrel about five or six inches with saw dust, and the up- 
 per part with dry sand to the top; and after spiking up the touch 
 hole, put the breech into a smith's furnace, and kept it red hot, so 
 as to consume the sawdust; the sand of consequence would pre- 
 vent any blaze. We applied a lighted candle to" the mouth of the 
 harrel; as the first vapor that flew off would be humid, it extin- 
 guished the candle ; but after applying the candle three or four 
 times, the vapor that issued out began to flash ; we then tied a 
 bladder over the mouth of the barrel, which the vapor soon filled, 
 and then tying a string round the neck of the bladder, above the 
 muzzle, took the bladder off. 
 
 As we could not conveniently make experiments upon the vapor; 
 while it was in the bladder, the next operation was, to get it into a 
 phial; for this purpose, we took a phial of about three or four 
 ounces, filled it with water, put a cork slightly into it, and introducing 
 it into the neck of the bladder, worked the cork out, by getting 
 hold of it through the bladder, into which the water then emptied 
 itself, and the air in the bladder ascended into the phial; we then 
 put the cork into the phial, and took it from the bladder. It was 
 now in a convenient condition for experiment. 
 
 We put a lighted match into the phial, and the air or vapor in it 
 blazed up in the manner of" a chimney on fire ; we extinguished it 
 two or three times, by stopping the moulh of the phial ; and putting 
 the lighted match to it again it repeatedly took fire, till the vapor 
 was spent, and the phial became filled with atmospheric air. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 61 
 
 These two experiments, that in which some combustible substance 
 {[branches and leaves of trees) had been decomposed by water, in 
 the mud ; and this, where the decomposition had been produced by 
 fire, without blazing, shows that a species of air, injurious to life, 
 when taken into the lungs, may be generated from substances, 
 Which, in themselves, are harmless. 
 
 It is, by means similar to these, that charcoal, which is made by 
 fire without blazing, emits a vapor destructive to life; I now come 
 to apply these cases, and the reasoning deduced therefrom, to ac- 
 count Tor the cause of the Yellow Fever.* 
 
 First. : — The Yellow Fever is noj a disorder produced by the 
 climate naturally, or it would always have been here in the hot 
 months ; the climate is the same now, as it was fifty or a hundred 
 years ago ; there was no Yellow Fever then, and it is only within the 
 last twelve years', that such a disorder has been known to America. 
 
 Secondly : — The low grounds on the shores of the rivers; at the 
 cities, where the Yellow Fever is annually generated, and continues 
 about three months without spreading; were not subject to that dis- 
 order in their natural state, or the Indians would have forsaken them ; 
 whereas, they were the parts most frequented by the Indians in all 
 seasons of the year, on account of fishing. The result from these 
 cases is, that the Yellow Fever is produced by some new circum- 
 stance not common to the country in its natural state, and the ques- 
 tion is, what is that new circumstance? 
 
 It may be said; that every thing done by the white people, since 
 their settlement in the country, such as building towns, clearing 
 lands, levelling hills, and filling vallies, is a new circumstance, but 
 the Yellow Fever does not accompany any of these new circum- 
 stances. No alteration made on the dry land produces the Yellow 
 Fever, we must therefore look to some other new circumstance, 
 and we now come to those that have taken place between wet and 
 dry, between land and water. , 
 
 The shores of the rivers at New York, and also at Philadelphia, 
 
 have on account of the vast increase of commerce, and for the 
 
 sake of making wharves, undergone great and rapid alterations from 
 
 their natural state, within a few years ; and it is only in such parts 
 
 of the shores where those alterations have taken place that the 
 
 » The author does not mean to infer that the inflammable air, or carburetted 
 hydrogen gas, is the cause of the Yellow Fever; but that perhaps it enters 
 into some combination with miasm generated in low grounds, which pr6. 
 duces the disease 
 
62 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 Yellow Fever has been produced. The parts where little or no 
 alteration has been made, either on the East or North River, and 
 which continue in their natural state, or nearly so, do not produce 
 the Yellow Fever — the fact therefore points to the cause. 
 
 Besides several newstreets gained from the river by embankment, 
 there are upwards of eighty new wharfs made since the war, and 
 the much greater part within the last ten or twelve years; the con- 
 sequence of which has been, that great quantities of filth or com- 
 bustible matter deposited in the muddy bottom of the river conti- 
 guous to the shore, and which produced no ill effect while exposed 
 tor the air, and washed twice every twenty-four hours by the tide 
 water, have been covered over several feet deep with new earth, 
 and pent up, and the tide excluded. It is in these places, and in 
 these only, that the Yellow Fever is produced. 
 
 Having thus shown, from the circumstances of the case, that the 
 cause of the Yellow Fever is in the place where it makes its ap- 
 pearance, or rather, in the pernicious vapor issuing therefrom, I go 
 to show a method of constructing wharfs, where wharfs are yet to 
 be constructed, as on the shore on the East River, at Corlder's 
 Hook, and also on the North River, that will not occasion the Yel- 
 low Fever, and which may also point out a method of removing it 
 from places already infected with it Instead, then, of embanking 
 out the river and raising solid wharfs of earth on the mud bottom 
 of the shore, the better method would be to construct wharfs on 
 arches, built of stone ;i the tide will then flow in under the arch, by 
 which means the shore, and the muddy bottom, will be washed and 
 kept clean, as if they were in their natural state without wharfs. 
 
 When wharfs are constructed on the shore lengthways, that is 
 without cutting the shore up into slips, arches can easily be turned, 
 because arches joining each other lengthways, serve as butments to 
 each other, but when the shore is cut up into slips there can be no 
 butments ; in this case wharfs can be formed on stone pillars, or 
 wooden piles planked over on the top. In either of these cases, 
 the space underneath will be commodious shelter or harbor for 
 small boats, which can come in and go out always, except at low 
 water, and be secure from storms and injuries. This method, be- 
 sides preventing the cause of the Yellow Fever, which 1 think it will, 
 will render the wharfs more productive than the present method, 
 because of the space preserved within the wharf. 
 
 I offer no calculation of the expense of constructing- wharfs on 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 63 
 
 arches or piles; but on a general view, I believe they will not be 
 so expensive as the present method. A very great paty of the ex- 
 pense of making solid wharfs of earth, is occasioned by the car- 
 riage of materials, which will be greatly reduced by the methods 
 here proposed, and still more So'were the arches to be constructed 
 of cast iron blocks. I suppose that one ton of cast iron blocks 
 would go as far in the construction of an arch, as twenty tons of 
 stone. 
 
 If, by constructing wharfs in such a manner, that the tide water 
 can wash the shore and bottom of the river contiguous to the shore, 
 as they are washed in their natural condition, the Yellow Fever 
 can be prevented from generating in places where wharfs are yet 
 to be constructed, it may point out a method of removing it, at 
 least by degrees, from places already infected with it, which will be, 
 by opening the wharfs in two or three places in each, and letting 
 the tide water pass through ; the parts opened can be planked over, 
 so as not to prevent the use of the wharf. 
 
 In taking up and treating this suhject, I have considered it as 
 belonging to natural philosophy, rather than medicinal art; and 
 therefore I say nothing about the treatment of the disease, after it 
 takes place; I leave that part to those whose profession it is to 
 study it. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 New York, June 27, 1806. 
 
64 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 TO A FRIEND. 
 
 New Rochelle, July 9, 1804. 
 Fellow Citizen, 
 
 As the weather is now getting hot in New York, and the people 
 begin to get out pf town, you may as well come up here and help 
 me to settle my accounts with the man who lives on the place. 
 You will be able to do this better than I shall, and in the mean 
 time I can go on with my literary works, without having my mind 
 taken off by affairs of a different kind. I have received a packet 
 from Governor Clinton, enclosing what I wrote for. If you come 
 up by the stage, you will stop at the post office, and they will direct 
 you the way to the farm. It is only a pleasant walk. I send a 
 piece for the Prospect ; if the plan mentioned in it is pursued, it 
 wilj open a way to enlarge and give establishment to the deistical 
 church ; but of this and some other things, we will talk when you 
 come up, and the sooner the better. 
 
 Yours in friendship, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 I have not received any newspapers, nor any numbers of the 
 Prospect, since I have been here. 
 
 Bring my bag up with you. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 65 
 
 ADDRESS AND DECLARATION, 
 
 At a select Meeting of the Friends of Universal Peace and Li- 
 berty, held at the Thatched House Tavern, St. James's Street, 
 August 20, 179] , the following Address and Declaration to our 
 Fellow Citizens was agreed on and ordered to be published. 
 
 Friends and Fellow Citizens, 
 
 At a moment like the present, when wilful misrepresentations 
 are industriously spread by the partizans of arbitrary power, and 
 4he advocates of passive obedience and court government, we think 
 it incumbent on us to declare to the world our principles, and the 
 motives of our conduct. 
 
 We rejoice at the glorious event of the French Revolution. 
 
 If it be asked — What is the French Revolution to us ] 
 
 We answer, (as it has been already answered in another place,*) 
 It is much to us as men : much to us as Englishmen. 
 
 As men we rejoice in the freedom of twenty-five millions of our 
 fellow men. We rejoice in the prospect which such a magnificent 
 example opens to the world. We congratulate the French nation 
 for having laid the axe to the root of tyranny, and for erecting go- 
 vernment on the sacred hereditary rights of man — Rights which 
 appertain to all, and not to any one more than to another. We 
 know of no human authority superior to that of a whole nation ; 
 and we profess and proclaim it as our principle that every nation 
 has at all times an inherent indefeasible right to constitute and es- 
 tablish such government for itself as best accords with its disposi- 
 tion, interest, and happiness. 
 
 As Englishmen we also rejoice, because we are immediately in- 
 terested in the French Revolution. 
 
 Without enquiring into the justice on either side of the reproach- 
 ful charges of intrigue and ambition, which the English and French 
 Courts have constantly made on each other, we confine ourselves 
 to this observation : — That if the Court of France only was in 
 * Declaration of the Volunteers of Belfast, 
 
65 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 fault, and the numerous wars which have distressed both countries, 
 are chargeable to her alone, that Court now exists no longer ; and 
 the cause and the consequence must cease together. The French, 
 therefore, by the revolution they have made, have conquered for 
 us as well as for themselves ; if it be true that their Court only 
 was in fault, and ours never. 
 
 On this state of the case, the French Revolution concerns us 
 immediately. We are oppressed with a heavy national debt, a bur- 
 then of taxes, and an expensive administration of government, be? 
 yond those of any people in the world. We have also a very 
 numerous poor ; and we hold that the moral obligation of providing 
 for old age, helpless infancy, and poverty, is far superior to that of 
 supplying the invented wants of courtly extravagance, ambition, and 
 intrigue. 
 
 We believe there is no instance to Be produced but in England, 
 of seven millions of inhabitants, which make but little more than 
 one million of families, paying yearly seventeen millions of taxes. 
 
 As it has always been held out by all administrations that the 
 restless ambition of the Court of France rendered this expense 
 necessary to us for our own defence, we consequently rejoice as 
 men deeply interested in the French Revolution, for that Court, as 
 we have already said, exists no longer ; and consequently the same 
 enormous expenses need not continue to us. 
 
 Thus rejoicing, as we sincerely do, both as men and Englishmen, 
 as lovers of universal peace and freedom, and as friends to our own 
 national prosperity, and a reduction of our public expenses, we 
 cannot but express our astonishment that any part, or any members 
 of our own government, should reprobate the extinction of that 
 very power in France, or wish to see it restored, to whose influence 
 they formerly attributed (whilst. they appeared to lament) the enor- 
 mous increase of our own burthens and taxes. What, then, are; 
 they sorry that the pretence for new oppressive taxes, and the oc- 
 casion for continuing many of the old taxes, will be at an end ? If 
 so, and if it is the policy of courts and of court governments, to 
 prefer enemies to friends, and a system of war to that of peace, as 
 affording more pretences for places, offices, pensions, revenue, and 
 taxation, it is high time for the people of every nation to look with, 
 circumspeption to their own interests. 
 
 Those who pay the expense, and not those who participate in the, 
 emoluments arising from it, are the persons immediately interested 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSATfS. 67 
 
 in inquiries of this kind. We are a part of that national body, on 
 whom this annual expense of seventeen millions falls ; and we con- 
 sider the present opportunity of the French Revolution as a most 
 happy one for lessening the enormous load under which this nation 
 groans. If this be not done, we shall then have reason to conclude, 
 that the cry of intrigue and ambition against other courts, is no 
 more than the common cant of all courts. 
 
 We think it also necessary to express our, astonishment that a 
 government, desirous of being called free, should prefer connection 
 with the most despotic and arbitrary powers in Europe. We know 
 of none more deserving this description than those of Turkey and 
 Prussia, and the whole combination of German despots. Separated 
 as we happily are by nature, from the tumults of the Continent, we 
 reprobate all systems and intrigues which sacrifice (and that too at 
 a great expense) the blessings of our natural situation. Such sys- 
 tems cannot have a national origin. 
 
 If we are asked, what government is] — We hold it to be nothing 
 more than a national association, and we hold that to be the 
 best which secures to every man his rights, and promotes the great- 
 est quantity of happiness with the least expense. 
 
 We live to improve, or we live in vain ; and therefore we admit 
 of no maxims of government or policy on the mere score of anti- 
 quity, or other men's authority, the old whigs or the new. 
 
 We will exercise the reason with which we are endued, or we 
 possess it unworthily. As reason is given at all times, it is for the 
 purpose of being used at all times. 
 
 Among the blessings which the French Revolution has produced 
 to that nation, we enumerate the abolition of the feudal system of 
 injustice and tyranny on the 4th of August, 1789. Beneath the 
 feudal system all Europe lias long groaned, and from it England is 
 not yet free. Game laws, borough tenures, and tyrannical mono- 
 polies of numerous kinds, still remain amongst us ; but rejoicing as 
 we sincerely do, in the freedom of others, till we shall happily ac- 
 complish our own, we intended to commemorate this prelude to the 
 universal extirpation of the feudal system, by meeting on the anni- 
 versary of that day (the 4th of August) at the Crown and Anchor. 
 From this meeting we were prevented by the interference of cer- 
 tain unnamed and skulking persons with the master of the Tavern, 
 who informed us, that on their representations he could not receive 
 'tis. Let those who live by, or countenance feudal oppressions, 
 
68 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 take the reproach of this ineffectual meanness and cowardice td 
 themselves. They cannot stifle the public declaration of our 
 honest, open, and avowed opinions. 
 
 These are our principles, and these our sentiments. They em- 
 brace the interest and happiness of the great body of the nation of 
 which we are a part. As to riots and tumults, let those answer for 
 them, who, by wilful misrepresentations, endeavor to excite and pro- 
 mote them ; or who seek to stun the sense of the nation, and to lose 
 the great cause of public good m the outrages of a misinformed mob. 
 We take our ground on principles that require no such riotous aid. 
 We have nothing to apprehend. from the poor; for we are pleading 
 their cause. And we fear not proud oppression, for we have truth 
 on our side. We say, and we repeat it, that the French Revolution 
 opens to the world an opportunity in which all good citizens must 
 rejoice— that of promoting the general happiness of man. And 
 that it moreover offers to this country in particular, an opportunity 
 of reducing our enormous taxes. 
 
 These are our objects, and we will pursue them. 
 
 J. HORNE TOOKE, 
 
 Chairman. 
 
ON THE 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF IRON BRIDGES, 
 
 As bridges, and the method of constructing them, are becom- 
 ing objects of great importance throughout the United States, and 
 as there are at this time proposals for a bridge over the Delaware, 
 arid also a bridge beginning to be erected over the Schuylkill at 
 Philadelphia, I present the public with some account of the con- 
 struction of iron bridges. 
 
 The following memoir on that subject, written last winter at the 
 federal city, was intended to be presented to congress. But as 
 the session would necessarily be short, and as several of its mem- 
 bers would be replaced by new elections at the ensuing session, it 
 was judged better to let it lie over. In the mean time, on account 
 of the bridges now in Contemplation, or began, I give the memoir 
 the opportunity of appearing before the public, and the persons 
 concerned in those works. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 Bordentovm, New- Jersey, June, 1803. 
 
 TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 I have deposited in the office of the secretary of state, and 
 under the care of the patent office, two models of iron bridges ; 
 the one in paste-board, the other cast in metal. As they will show, 
 by inspection, the manner of constructing iron bridges, I shall not 
 take up the time of congress with a description of them. 
 
 My intention in presenting this memoir to congress, is 4o put 
 the country in possession of the means and of the right of making 
 use of the construction freely ; as I do not intend to take any 
 patent right for it. 
 
 As America abounds in rivers that interrupt the land communi- 
 cation, and as by violence of floods, and the breaking up of the 
 ice in the spring, the bridges depending for support from the bqt- 
 tom of the river, are frequently carried away, I turned my 
 
70 OS THE CONSTRUCTION 
 
 attention, after the revolutionary war was over, to find a method 
 of constructing an arch, that might, without rendering the height 
 inconvenient or the ascent difficult, extend at once from shore to 
 shore, over rivers of three, four, or five hundred feet, and proba- 
 bly more. 
 
 The principle I took to begin with, and work upon, was that 
 the small segment of a large circle was preferable to the great 
 segment of a small circle. The appearance of such arches, and 
 the manner of forming and putting the parts together, admit qt 
 many varieties, but the principle will be the same in all. The 
 bridge architects that I conversed with in England denied the 
 principle, but it was generally supported by mathematicians, and 
 experiment has now established the fact. 
 
 In 1786, I made three models, partly at Philadelphia, but 
 mostly at Bordentowh in the state of New-Jersey. One mode' 
 was in wood, one in cast iron, and one in wrought iron connected 
 with blocks of wood, representing cast iron blocks; but alt on the' 
 same principle, that of the small segment of a large circle. 
 
 I took the last mentioned one with me to France in 1787; and 
 presented it to the academy of sciences at Paris for their opinion* 
 of it. T ne academy appointed a committee of three of their 
 own body — Mons. Le Roy, the abbe Bossou, and Mons. Borda. 
 The first was an acquaintance of Dr. Franklin, and of Mr. 
 Jefferson, then minister at Paris. The two others were celebrated 
 as mathematicians. I presented it as a model for a bridge of a 
 single arch of 400 feet spah over the river Schuylkill at Philadel- 
 phia. The committee brought in a report which the academy 
 adopted — that an arch on the principle and construction of the 
 model, in their opinion, might be extended 400 feet, the extent 
 proposed. 
 
 In September of the same year, I sent the 'model to Sir Joseph 
 Banks, president of the Royal Society in England, and soon aftefr 
 went there myself. 
 
 I"ri order to ascertain the truth of the principle on a larger scale, 
 than could be shown by a portable nTodel of five or six feet in 
 length, I went to the iron foundery of Messrs. Walkers, at 
 Rotherham, county of Yorkshire, in England, and had a complete 
 rib of 90 feet span and 5 feet of height from the cord line to the 
 centre of the arch", manufactured and erected. It was a segment 
 of a circle of 410 feet diameter ; and until this was done, no 
 
OF IRON BRIDGES. 71 
 
 experiment on a circle of such an extensive diameter had ever 
 been made in architecture, or the practicability of it supposed. 
 
 The rib was erected between a wall of a furnace belonging to 
 the iron works, and the gable end of a brick building, which serv 
 ed as butments. The weight of iron in the rib, was three tons, 
 and we loaded it with double its weight in pig iron. I wrote to 
 Mr. Jefferson, who was then at Paris, an account of this experi- 
 ment ; and also Sir Joseph Banks in London, who in his answer 
 to me says — " I look for many other bold improvements from your 
 ■countrymen, the Americans, who think with vigor, and are not 
 fettered with the trammels of science before they are capable of 
 exerting their mental faculties to advantage." On the success of 
 this experiment, I entered into an agreement with the iron- 
 founders at Rotherham to cast and manufacture a complete bridge, 
 to be composed of five ribs of. 210 feet span, and 5 feet of height 
 from the cord line, being a segment of a circle 610 feet diameter, 
 and send it to London, to be erected as a specimen for establish- 
 ing a manufactory of iron bridges, to be sent to any part of the 
 world. 
 
 The bridge was erected at the village of Paddington, near Lon- 
 don, but being in a plain field, where no advantage could be taken 
 of butments without the expense of building them, as in the 
 former case, it served only as a specimen of the practicability of 
 a manufactory of iron bridges. It was brought by sea, packed in 
 the hold of a vessel, from the place where it was made ; and 
 after standing a year was taken down, without injury to any of its 
 parts, and might be erected any where else. 
 
 At this time, my bridge operations became suspended. Mr. 
 Edmund Burke published his attack on the French revolution and 
 the system of representative government, and in defence of gov- 
 ernment by hereditary succession, a thing which is in its nature an 
 absurdity, because it is impossible to make wisdom hereditary ; 
 and therefore, so far as wisdom is necessary in a government, it 
 must be looked for where it can be found. Sometimes in one 
 family ; sometimes in another. History informs us that the son 
 of Solomon was a fool. He lost ten tribes out of twelve.* 
 There are those in later times who lost thirteen. 
 
 The publication of this work by Mr. Burke, absurd in its prin- 
 ciples and outrageous in its manner, drew me, as I have said, from 
 
 * 2 Chron. chap. JO. 
 
72 ON THE CONSTRUCTION 
 
 my bridge operations* and my time became employed in defend- 
 ing a system then established and operating in America, and which 
 I wished to see peaceably adopted in Europe — I therefore ceased 
 my work on the bridge to employ myself on the more necessary 
 work, Rights of Man, m answer to Mr. Burke. 
 
 In 1792, a convention wa3 elected in France for the express 
 purpose of forming a constitution on the authority of the people, 
 as had been done in America, of which convention I was elected 
 a member. I was at this time in England, and knew nothing of 
 my being elected till the arrival of the person who was sent 
 officially to inform me of it. 
 
 During my residence in France, which was from 1792 to 1802, 
 an iron bridge of 236 feet span, and 34 of height from the cord 
 line, was erected over the river near Yt r ear at the town of Sunder- 
 land, in the county of Durham in England. It was done chiefly 
 at the expense of the two members of parliament for that county, 
 Milbanke and Burdon. 
 
 It happened that a very intimate friend of mine, Sir Robert 
 Smith (who was also an acquaintance of Mr. Monroe, the Ameri- 
 can minister, and since of Mr. Livingston) was then at Paris. 
 He had been a colleague in parliament, with Milbanke, and sup- 
 posing that the persons who constructed the iron bridge at 
 Sunderland, had made free with my model, which was at the iron 
 works where the Sunderland bridge was cast, he wrote to Mil- 
 banke on the subject, and the following is that gentleman's answer. 
 
 " With respect to the iron bridge over the river Wear at Sun- 
 derland, it certainly is a work well deserving admiration, both for 
 its structure and utility, and I have good grounds for saying that 
 the first idea was suggested by Mr. Paine's bridge exhibited at 
 Paddington. What difference there may be in some part of the 
 structure, or in the proportion of wrought and cast iron, I cannot 
 pretend to say, Burdon having undertaken to build the bridge, in 
 consequence of his having taken upon himself whatever the ex- 
 pense might be beyond between three and four thousand pounds 
 sterling, subscribed by myself and some other gentlemen. But 
 whatever the mechanism might be, it did not supersede the neces- 
 sity of a centre.* (The writer has here confounded a centre 
 
 * It is the technical term, meaning the boards and numbers which form the 
 arch upon which the permanent materials are laid ; when a bridge is finished 
 the workmen say they are ready to strike centre, that is to take down tha 
 scaffolding. 
 
OF IRON BRIDGES. 73 
 
 with a scaffolding) which centre (continues the writer) was 
 esteemed a- very ingenious piece of workmanship, and taken from 
 a plan sketched out by Mr. Nash, an architect of great merit, who 
 had been consulted in the outset of the business; when a bridge 
 of stone was in contemplation. 
 
 " With respect therefore to any gratuity to Mr. Paine, though 
 ever so desirous of rewarding the labors of an ingenious man, I 
 do not feel, how, under the circumstances already described, I 
 have it in my power, having had nothing to do with the bridge after 
 .he payment of my subscription, Mr. Burdon then becoming 
 accountable for the whole. But if you can point out any mode, 
 according to which it would be in my power to be instrumental in 
 procuring him any compensation for the advantages the public 
 may have derived from his ingenious model, from which certainly 
 the outline of the bridge at Sunderland was taken, be assured it 
 will afford me very great satisfaction.* 
 
 RA. MILBANKE." 
 
 The year before I left France, the government of that country 
 had it in contemplation to erect an iron bridge over the river Seine, 
 at Paris. As all edifices of public construction came under the 
 cognizance Of the minister of the interior, — (and as their plan 
 was to erect a bridge of five iron arches of one hundred feet span 
 each, instead of passing the river with a single arch, and which was 
 going backward in practice, instead of forward, as there was 
 already an iron arch of 230 feet in existence) I wrote the minister 
 of the interior, the citizen Chaptal, a memoir on the construction 
 of iron bridges. The following is his answer. 
 
 The minister of the interior to the citizen Thomas Paine. 
 
 I have received, citizen, the observations that you have been so 
 good as to address to me upon the construction of iron bridges. 
 They will be of the greatest utility to us, when the new kind of 
 construction goes to be executed for the first time. With pleasure, 
 I assure you, citizen, that you have rights of more than one kind 
 to the thankfulness of nations, and I give you, cordially, the par- 
 ticular expression of my esteem.! 
 
 CHAPTAL. 
 
 * The original is in rny possession. 
 t The original, in French, is in my possession. 
 w 
 
74 ON THE CONSTRUCTION 
 
 A short time before I left France, a person came to me from 
 London with plans and drawings for an iron bridge of one arch 
 over the river Thames at London, of 60 1 feet span, and sixty 
 feet of height from the cord line. The subject was then before 
 a committee of the house of commons, but I know not the pro- 
 ceedings thereon. 
 
 As this new construction of an aic.h for bridges, and the prin- 
 ciples on which it is founded, originated in America, as_ the 
 documents I have produced sufficiently prove, and is becoming 
 an object of importance to the world, and to no part of it more 
 than to our own country, on account of its numerous rivers, and 
 as no experiment has been made in America to bring it into 
 practice, further than on the model I have executed myself, and 
 at my own expense, I beg leave to submit a proposal to congress 
 on the subject, which is, 
 
 To erect an experiment rib of about 400 feet span, to be the 
 segment of a circle of at least 1000 feet diameter, and to let it 
 remain exposed to public view, that the method • of constructing 
 such arches may be generally known. 
 
 It is an advantage peculiar to the construction of iron bridges, 
 that the success of an arch of a given extent and height, can be 
 ascertained without being at the expense of building the bridge ; 
 which is, by the method I propose, that of erecting an experiment 
 rib on the ground where advantage can be taken of two hills for 
 butments. 
 
 I began in this manner with the rib of 90 feet span, and 5 feet 
 of height, being a segment of a circle of 410 feet diameter. 
 The undertakers of the Sunderland bridge began in the same 
 manner. They contracted with the iron-founder for a single rib, 
 and finding it to answer, had five more manufactured like it, and 
 erected into a bridge consisting of six ribs, the experiment rib 
 being one. Bnt the Sunderland bridge does not carry the princi- 
 ple much further into practice than had been done by the rib of 90 
 feet span and 5 feet in height, being, as before said, a segment of 
 a circle of 410 feet diameter ; the Sunderland bridge being 206 
 feet span and 34 feet of height, gives the diameter of the circle oi 
 which it is a segment, to be 444 feet, within a few inches, which is 
 but a larger segment of a circle of 30 feet more diameter. 
 
 The construction of those bridges does not come within the 
 line of any established practice of business. The, stone architect 
 
USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING HINTS. 75 
 
 can derive but little from the theory or practice of his art that 
 enters into the construction of an iron bridge ; and the iron- 
 founder, though he may be expert in moulding and casting the 
 parts, when the models are given him, would be at a loss to pro- 
 portion them, unless he was acquainted with all the lines and 
 properties belonging to a circle. 
 
 If it should appear to congress that the construction of iron 
 bridges will be. of utility to the country, and they should direct 
 hat an experiment rib be made for that purpose, I will furnish the 
 proportions for the several parts of the work, and give my atten-' 
 dance to superintend the erection of it. 
 
 But, in any case, I have to request, that this memoir may be put 
 on the journals of congress, as an evidence hereafter, that this 
 new method of constructing bridges originated in America. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 Federal city, Jan. 3, 1803. 
 
 N. B. The two models mentioned in the memoir, will, I ex 
 pect, arrive at Philadelphia, by the next packet, from the federal 
 city, and will remain for some time in Mr. Peale's museum. 
 
 =>c+=>= 
 
 USEFUL AND ENTEHTAOItfG HOTS.* 
 
 " The real value pf a thing, 
 
 Is as much money as 'twill bring." 
 
 In the possession of the Philadelphia Library Company is a 
 cabinet of fossils,f with several specimens of earth, clay, sand, 
 &c. with some account of each, and where brought from. 
 
 I have always considered these kind of researches as produc- 
 tive of many advantages, and in a new country they are particu- 
 larly so. As subjects for speculation, they afford entertainment 
 
 * Published in the Pennsylvania magazine, Feb. 1775. 
 
 f In the catalogue it is called a collection of American fossils, &c. but a 
 considerable part of them are foreign ones. I presume that the collector, in 
 order to judge the better of such as he might discove/ here, made first a col- 
 lection of such foreign ones whose value were known, in order to compare 
 by :, as his design seems rather bent towards discovering the treasures of 
 America, than merely to "make a collection. 
 
76 USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING HINTS. 
 
 to the curious ; but as objects of utility they merit a closer atten 
 tion. The same materials which delight the fossilist, enrich the 
 manufacturer and the merchant. While the one is scientifically 
 examining their structure and composition, the others, by industry 
 and commerce, are transmuting them to gold. Possessed of the 
 power of pleasing, they gratify on both sides ; the orie con- 
 templates their natural beauties in the cabinet, trie others^ their 
 re-created one in the coffer; 
 
 'Tis by the researches of the virtuoso that the hidden parts of 
 the earth are brought to light, and from his discoveries of its 
 qualities, the potter, the glassmaker, and numerous other artists, 
 are enabled to furnish us with their productions. Artists, con- 
 sidered merely as such, would have made but a slender progress, 
 had they not been led on by the enterprising spirit of the curious. 
 I am unwilling to dismiss this remark without entering my protest 
 against that unkind, ungrateful and impolitic custom of ridiculing 
 unsuccessful experiments ; Etrid informing those unwise or over- 
 wise pasquinaders, that half the felicities they enjoy, sprung origi- 
 nally from generous curiosity I> 
 
 Were a man to propose; or set out to bore his lands, as a car- 
 penter does a board, he might probably bring on himself a shower 
 of witticisms ; and though he could not be jested at for building 
 castles iri the air, yet many magnanimous laughs might break 
 forth at his expense, and vociferously predict the explosion of e. 
 mine in his subterraneous pursuits. I am led to this reflection 
 by the present domestic state of America, because it will un- 
 avoidably happen, that before we can arrive at that perfection of 
 things which other nations have acquired, many hopes will fail 
 many whimsical attempts will become fortunate^ and many 
 reasonable ones end in air and- expense. The degree of im- 
 provement which America has already arrived at, is unparallelet. 
 and astonishing, but 'tis miniature to what she will one day boast 
 ef, if heaven continue her happiness. We have nearly one whole 
 region yet unexplored : I mean the internal region of the earth. 
 By industry and tillage we have acquired a considerable know- 
 ledge of what America will produce, but very little of what it con- 
 tains. The bowels of the earth have been only slightly inquired 
 into : we seem to content ourselves with such parts of it as are 
 absolutely necessary, and cannot well be imported, as brick, 
 stone, &c, but hate gone very little further, except in the article 
 
USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING HINTS). 77 
 
 of iroru The glass and the pottery manufactures are yet very 
 imperfect, and will continue so', 'till some curious researcher finds 
 out the proper material. 
 
 Copper, lead, and tin articles valuable both in their simple 
 state, and as being the component parts of other metals (viz. 
 brass and pewter) are at present but little known throughout the 
 continent in their mineral form : yet I doubt not, but very valu- 
 able mines of them, are daily travelled over in the western parts 
 of America. ■ Perhaps a few feet of surface conceal a treasure 
 sufficient to enrich a kingdom. 
 
 The value of the interior part of the earth, like ourselves, can- 
 not he judged certainly of by the surface ; neither do the cor- 
 responding strata He with the unvariable order of the colors of 
 the rainbow, and if they ever did, which I do not believe, age and 
 misfortune have now , broken in upon their union ; earthquakes, 
 deluges, and volcanoes have so disunited and re-united them, that 
 in their present state they appear like a world in ruins — yet the 
 ruins afe beautiful ; the caverns, museums of antiquity. 
 
 Though nature is gay, polite, and generous abroad; she is sul- 
 len, rude, and niggardly at home : return the visit, and she admits 
 you with all the suspicion of a miser, and all the reluctance of an 
 antiquated beauty retired to replenish her charms. Bred up in 
 antediluvian notions, she has not yet acquired the European taste 
 of receiving visitants in her dressing-room : she locks and bolts 
 Up her private recesses with extraordinary care, as if not only re- 
 solved to preserve her hoards, but to conceal her age, and hide 
 the remains of a face that was young and lovely in the days of 
 Adam. He that would view nature in her undress, and partake 
 of her internal treasures, must rjroceed with the resolution of a 
 robber, if not a. ravisher. , She gives no invitation to follow her to 
 the cavern — the external earth makes no proclamation of the in- 
 terior stores, but leaves to chance and industry, the discovery of 
 the whole. In such gifts as nature can annually re-create, she is 
 noble and profuse, and entertains the whole world with the interest 
 of her fortunes ; but watches over the capital with the care of a 
 miser. Her gold and jewels lie concealed in the earth, in caves 
 of utter darkness ; and. hoards of wealth, heaps upon heaps, 
 mould in the chests, like the riches of a necromancer's cell. It 
 must be very pleasant to an . adventurous speculist to rnake ex- 
 cursions into these Gothic regions ; and in his travels he may 
 
78 USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING HINTS. 
 
 possibly come to a cabinet locked up in some rocky vault, whose 
 treasures shall reward his toil, and enable him to shine on his 
 return, as splendidly as nature herself. 
 
 By a small degree of attention to the order and origin of things, 
 we shall perceive, that though the surface of the earth produces 
 us the necessaries of life, yet 'tis from the mine we extract the 
 conveniences thereof. Our houses would diminish to wigwams, 
 furnished in the Indian style, and ourselves resemble the building* 
 were it not for the ores of the earth. Agriculture and manufac-> 
 tures would wither away for want of tools and implements* and 
 commerce stand still for want of materials. The beasts of the 
 field would elude our power, and the birds of the air get beyond 
 our reach. Our dominion would shrink to a narrow circle ; and 
 our mind itself, partaking of the change, would contract its pros- 
 pects, and lessen into almost animal instinct. Take away but 
 the single article of iron, and half the felicities of life fall with it. 
 Little as we may prize this common ore, the loss of it would cut 
 deeper than the use of it : and by the way of laughing off misfor- 
 tunes 'tis easy to prove, by this method of investigation, that an 
 iron age is better than a golden one. 
 
 Since so great a portion of our enjoyments is drawn from the 
 mine, it is certainly an evidence, of our prudence to inquire and 
 know what our possessions are. Every man's landed property 
 extends to the suriace of the earth. Why then should he sit 
 down contented with a part, and practise upon his estate those 
 fashionable follies in life, which prefer the superfice to the solid ? 
 Curiosity alone, should the thought occur conveniently, would 
 move an active mind to examine (though not at the bottom) at 
 least to a considerable depth. 
 
 The propriety and reasonableness of these internal inquiries 
 are continually pointed out to us by numberless occurrences. 
 Accident is almost every day turning out some new secret from 
 the earth. How often has the ploughshare or the spade broken 
 open a treasure, which for ages, perhaps for ever, had lain but just 
 beneath the surface ? And though every estate have not mines of 
 gold or silver, yet they may contain sotae strata of valuable earth, 
 proper for manufactures ; and if they have not those, there is a 
 great probability of their having chalk, marl, or some rich soil 
 proper for manure, which only requires to be removed to the 
 surface. 
 
USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING KJNTS. 79 
 
 I have been informed of some land in England being raised to 
 four times its former value by the discovery of a chalk or marl 
 pit, in digging a hole to fix a post in ; and in embanking a meadow 
 in the Jerseys, the laborers threw out with the soil, a fine blue 
 powdered earth, resembling indigo, which, when mixed with oil, 
 was used for paint. — I imagine this vein is now exhausted. 
 
 Many valuable ores, clays, &c. appear in such rude forms in 
 their natural state, as not even to excite curiosity, much less 
 attention. A true knowledge of their different value can only be 
 obtained by experiment : as soil proper for manure, they may be 
 judged of by the planter ; but as matter, they come under the 
 inquiry of the philosopher — this leads me to reflect with inexpressi- 
 ble pleasure, on the numberless benefits arising to a community, 
 by the institution df societies for promoting useful knowledge. 
 
 The American Philosophical Society, like the Royal Society in 
 England, by having public spirit for its support, and public good 
 for its object, is a treasure we ought to glory in. Here the defec- 
 tive knowledge of the individual is supplied by the common stock. 
 Societies, without endangering private fortunes, are enabled to 
 proceed in their inquiries by analysis and experiment : but indi- 
 viduals are seldom furnished with conveniencies for so doing, and 
 generally rest their opinion on reasonable conjecture. 
 
 I presume that were samples of different soils from different 
 
 parts of America, presented to the society for their inspection and 
 
 examination, it would greatly facilitate our knowledge of the 
 
 . internal earth, and give a new spring both to agriculture and 
 
 manufactures. 
 
 These hints are not intended to lament any loss of time, or 
 remissness in the pursuit of useful knowledge, but to furnish mat- 
 ter for future studies ; that while we glory in what we are, we 
 may not neglect what we are to be, 
 
 Of the present state we may justly say, that no nation under 
 heaven ever struck out in so short a time, and with so much spirit 
 and reputation, into the labyrinth of art and science ; and that, not 
 in the acquisition of knowledge only, but in the happy advantages 
 flowing from it. The world does not at this day exhibit a parallel, 
 neither can history produce its equal. 
 
 ATLANTICUS. 
 
Off THE UTILITY OF MAGAZINES.* 
 
 In a country whose reigning character is the love of science, \\ 
 is somewhat strange that the channels of communication should 
 continue so narrow and limited. The weekly papers are at 
 present the only vehicles of public information. Convenience 
 and necessity prove that the opportunities of acquiring and com- 
 municating knowledge, ought always to enlarge with the circle of 
 population. America has now outgrown the state of infancy : 
 her strength and commerce make, large advances to manhood, and 
 science in all its branches has not only blossomed, but even ripen- 
 ed on the soil. The cottages as it were of yesterday have grown 
 to villages, and villages to cities ; and while proud antiquity, like 
 a skeleton in rags, parades the streets of other nations, their 
 genius, as if sickened and disgusted with the phantom, comes 
 hither for recovery. 
 
 The present enlarged and improved state of things gives every 
 encouragement which the editor of a new magazine can reason- 
 ably hope for. The failure of former ones cannot be drawn as a 
 parallel now. Change of times adds propriety to new measures. 
 In the early days of colonization, when a whisper was almost suf- 
 ficient to have negociated all our internal concerns, the publishing 
 even of a newspaper would have been premature. Those times 
 are past ; and population has established both their use and their 
 credit. But their plan being almost wholly devoted to news and 
 commerce, affords but a scanty residence to the muses. Their 
 path lies wide of the field of science, and has left a rich and 
 unexplored region for new adventurers. 
 
 It has always been the opinion of the learned and curious, that 
 a magazine when properly conducted, is the nursery of genius ; 
 
 * First published in the Pennsylvania Magazine, Jan. 1775, 
 
ON THE UTILITY OP MACAZINES, 81 
 
 and by constantly accumulating new matter, becomes a kino of 
 market for wit and utility. The opportunities which it afforas to 
 men of abilities to communicate their studies, kindle up a spirit ot 
 invention and emulation. An unexercised genius soon contracts 
 a kind of mossiness, which not only checks its growth, but abates 
 its natural vigor. Like an untenanted house it falls into decay, 
 and frequently ruins the possessor. 
 
 The British magazines at their commencement, were the re- 
 positories of ingenuity : they are now the retailers of tale and 
 nonsense. From elegance they sun^c to simplicity, from sim- 
 plicity to folly, and from folly to voluptuousness. The Gentle- 
 man's, the London, and the Universal Magazines, bear yet some 
 marks of their originality? but the Town and Country, the 
 Covent-Garden, and Westminster are no better than incentives to 
 profligacy and dissipation. They have added to the dissolution 
 of manners, and supported Venus against the Muses. 
 
 America yet inherits a large portion of her first-imported virtue. 
 Degeneracy is here almost a useless word. Those who are con- 
 versant with Europe, would be tempted to believe that even the 
 air of the Atlantic disagrees with the constitution of foreign 
 vices ; if they survive the voyage, they either expire on their 
 arrival, or linger away in an incurable consumption. There is a 
 happy something in the climate of America, which disarms them' 
 of all their power both of infection and attraction. 
 
 But while we give no encouragement to the importation of 
 foreign vices, we ought to be equally carefully not to create any. 
 A vice begotten might be worse than a vice imported. The lat- 
 .er, depending on favor, would be a sycophant ; the other, by 
 pride of birth would be a tyrant : to the one we should be dupes, 
 to the other slaves. 
 
 There is nothing which obtains so general an influence over the 
 manners and morals of a people as the press ; from that, as from 
 a fountain, the streams of vice or virtue are poured forth over a 
 country : and of all publications, none are more calculated to 
 improve or infect than a periodical one. All others have their rise 
 and their exit ; but this renews the pursuit. If it has an evil ten- 
 dency, it debauches by the power of repetition ; if a good one, it 
 obtains favor by the gracefulness of soliciting it. Like a lover, 
 it courts its mistress with unabated ardor, nor gives up the pursuit 
 without a conquest. x 
 
82 ON THE TJTILITT OF MAGAZINES. 
 
 The two capital supports of a magazine are utility and enter- 
 tainment : the first is a boundless path, the other an endless 
 spring. To suppose that arts and sciences are exhausted sub- 
 jects, is doing them a kind of dishonor. The divine mechanism 
 of creation reproves such folly, and shows us by comparison, the 
 imperfection of our most refined inventions. I cannot believe 
 that this species of vanity is peculiar to the present age only. I 
 have no doubt but that it existed before the flood, and even in the 
 wildest ages of antiquity. 'Tis folly we have inherited, not 
 created ; and the discoveries which every day produce, have 
 greatly contributed to dispossess us of it. Improvement and the 
 world will expire together ■ and till that period arrives, wt. may 
 plunder the mine, but can never exhaust it? That "we have 
 found out every thing," has been the motto of every age. Let 
 our ideas travel a little into antiquity, and we shall find larger por- 
 tions of it than now : and so unwilling were our ancestors to de- 
 scend from this mountain of perfection, that when any new dis- 
 covery exceeded the common standard, the discoverer was 
 believed to be in alliance with the devil. It was not the ignorance 
 of the age only, but the vanity of it, which rendered it dangerous 
 to be ingenious. The man who first planned and erected a 
 tenable hut, with a hole for the smoke to pass, and the light to 
 enter, was perhaps called an able architect, but he who first im- 
 proved it with a chimney, could be no less than a prodigy ; yet 
 had the same man been so unfortunate as to have embellished it 
 with glass windows, he might probably have been burnt for a 
 magician. Our fancies would be highly diverted could we look 
 back, and behold a circle of original Indians haranguing on the 
 sublime perfection of the age : yet 'tis not impossible but future 
 times may exceed us almost as much as we have exceeded them. 
 I would wish to extirpate the least remains of this impolitic 
 vanity. It has a direct tendency to unbrace the nerves of inven- 
 tion, and is peculiarly hurtful to young colonies. A magazine can 
 never want matter in America if the inhabitants will do justice to 
 their own abilities. Agriculture and manufactures owe much of 
 their improvement in England, to hints first thrown out in some of 
 their magazines. Gentlemen whose abilities enabled them to 
 make experiments, frequently chose that method of communica- 
 tion, on account of its convenience. And why should not the 
 'same spirit operate in America ? I have no doubt of seeing, in a 
 
0I» THE UTILITY OP MAGAZINES; 83 
 
 little time, an American magazine full of more useful matter 
 than I ever saw an English one : because we are not exceeded in 
 abilities, have a more extensive field for inquiry, and, whatever 
 may be our political state, our happiness will always depend upon 
 ourselves. 
 
 Something useful will always arise from exercising the inven- 
 tions though perhaps, like the witch of Endor, we shall raise up a 
 being we did not expect. We owe many of our noblest dis- 
 coveries more to accident than wisdom. In quest of a pebble we 
 have found a diamond, and returned enriched with the treasure-. 
 Such happy accidents give additional encouragement to the mak- 
 ing experiments ; and the convenience which a magazine affords, 
 of collecting and conveying them to the public, enhances their 
 utility. Where this opportunity is wanting, many little inventions, 
 the forerunners of improvement, are suffered to expire on the spot 
 that produced them ; and, as an elegant writer beautifully ex- 
 presses on another occasion, 
 
 " They waste their sweetness on the desert air.* 
 
 In matters of humor and entertainment there can be no reason 
 to apprehend a deficiency. Wit is naturally a volunteer, delights, 
 in action, and under proper discipline is capable of great execu- 
 tion. 'Tis a perfect master in the art of bush-fighting ; and 
 though it attacks with more snbtiity than science, has often de- 
 feated a whole regiment of heavy artillery. — Though I have rather 
 exceeded the line of gravity in this description of wit, I am 
 Unwilling to dismiss it without being a little more serious. — 'Tis a 
 qualification which, like the passions, has a natural wildness that 
 requires governing. Left to itself, it soon overflows its banks, 
 mixes with common filth, and brings disrepute on the fountain. 
 We have many valuable springs of it in America, which at present 
 run purer streams, than the generality of it in other countries. 
 In France and Italy, 'tis froth highly fomented : in England it has 
 much of the same spirit, but rather a browner complexion. 
 European wit is one of the worst articles we can import. It has 
 an intoxicating power with it, which debauches the very vitals of 
 chastity, and gives a false coloring to every thing it censures or 
 defends. We soon grow fatigued with the excess, and withdraw 
 like gluttons sickened with intemperance. On the contrary, how 
 happily are the sallies of innocent humor calculated to amuse and 
 
84 ON THE UTILITY OF MAGAZINES. 
 
 sweeten the vacancy of business ! We enjoy the harmless luxury 
 without surfeiting, and strengthen the spirits by relaxing them. 
 
 The press has not only a great influence over our manners and 
 morals, but contributes largely to our pleasures ; and a magazine 
 when properly enriched, is very conveniently calculated for this 
 purpose. Volumnious works weary the patience, but here we are 
 invited by conciseness and variety. As I have formerly received 
 much pleasure from perusing these kind of publications, I wish 
 the present success ; and have no doubt of seeing a proper 
 diversity blended so agreeably together, as to furnish out an olio 
 worthy of the company for whom it is designed. 
 
 I consider a magazine as a kind of bee-hive, which both allures 
 the swarm, and provides room to store their sweets. Its division 
 into cells, gives every bee a province of its own ; and though 
 they all produce honey, yet perhaps they differ in their taste for 
 flowers, and extract with greater dexterity from one than from 
 another. Thus,' we are not all philosophers, all artists, nor 
 all poets. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 85 
 
 TO ELIHU PALMER. 
 
 Paris, February 21, 1802, 
 Dear Friend, since the Fable of Christ. 
 
 I received, by Mr. Livingston, the letter you wrote to me, and 
 the excellent work [the Principles of Nature] you have published. 
 I see you have thought deeply on'the subject, and expressed your 
 thoughts in a strong and clear style. The hinting and intimating 
 manner of writing that was formerly used on subjects of this kind, 
 produced skepticism, but not conviction. It is necessary to be 
 bold. . Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must 
 be shocked into it. Say a bold thing that will stagger them, and 
 they will begin to think. 
 
 There is arj intimate friend of mine, Colonel Joseph Kirkbridge 
 of Bordentown, New Jersey, to whom I would wish you to send 
 your work. He is an excellent man, and perfectly in our senti- 
 ments. You can send it by the stage that goes partly by land 
 and partly by water, between New York and Philadelphia, and 
 passes through Bordentown. 
 
 I expect to arrive in America in May next, I have a third 
 part of the Age of Reason to publish when I arrive, which, if I 
 mistake not, will make a stronger impression than any thing I 
 have yet published on the subject. 
 
 I write this by an ancient colleague of mirre in the French 
 Convention, the citizen Lequinio, who is going Consul to Rhode 
 Island, and who waits while I write. 
 
 Yours in friendship, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. ' 
 
 THOMAS PAINE AT 70. 
 
 [From Travels' in the U. S, of America in 1806, 7, and 9, 10, and 11, 
 by John Mellish.] 
 
 I continued in New York, transacting various mercantile business, until 
 the 25th of September ; during which time I again called on Thomas 
 Paine, in company with his friend, formerly mentioned. Paine was still 
 at the house of Mrs. Palmer, but his leg had got much better, and he was 
 in good spirits. News had arrived that morning that peace had been con. 
 eluded between France and England ; but Paine said, he did not believe 
 jt ; and again affirmed, that while the present form of government lasted 
 in England, there would be no peace. The government was committed 
 in a war system, and would prosecute it as long as they coujd command 
 
86 MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS AND ESSAYS. 
 
 the means. He then turned up a newspaper, which had recently been 
 established at New York, and, after reading several paragraphs, he ob- 
 served that he eould not understand what- the editor was driving at. He 
 pretended to be a great friend of Britain, and yet he was constantly 
 writing against peace, and the best interests of the country ; and in place 
 of being guided by the plain dictates of common sense, he aimed at flowery, 
 embellished language, and glided away into the airy regions of speculative 
 nonsense, more like a madman than the editor of a newspaper. After a 
 good deal of general conversation, we took our leave. 
 
 A few days after this, his friend handed me a piece in MS., intended for 
 the newspapers ; and requested me to copy it, and keep the original ; and 
 as Paine has made a great noise in the world, I shall here insert it, as a 
 relic of an extraordinary political character, and as a very good specimen 
 of the acuteness of his mind, and his turn for wit, at the advanced age 
 of 70. 
 
 FOR THE CITIZEN. 
 
 " It must be a great consolation to poor Mr. 's friends, if he 
 
 has any, to hear that his insanity increases beyond all hopes of a 
 recovery. His case is truly pitiable ; he works hard at the trade 
 of mischief-making ; but be is not a good hand at it, for the case 
 is,' the more he labors, the more he is laughed at, and his malady 
 increases with every laugh. 
 
 " In his paper of Thursday, September 18th, the spirit of pro-, 
 phecy seizes him, and he leaps from the earth, gets astride of a 
 cloud, and predicts universal darkness to the inhabitants of this 
 lower world. 
 
 " Speaking of the rumors of peace between France and Eng-. 
 land, he says, ' we will not believe it till we see it gazetted (mean- 
 ing in the London Gazette), and then,' says he, ' we will aver, that 
 the sun which dawns upon that event will be the darkest that ever 
 rose since the tnansgression of our first parents brought sin into the 
 world.' This is the first time we ever heard of the sun shining 
 darkness. But darkness or light, sense or nonsense, sunshine or 
 moonshine, are all alike to a lunatic. He then goes on : ' In a 
 continuance,' says he, ' of war only can Britain look for salvation. 
 That star once distinguished, all will be darkness and eternal night 
 over the face of the creation.' - The devil it will ! And pray, 
 
 Mr. , will the moon shine darkness too 1 and will all the stars 
 
 twinkle darkness ? If that should be the case, you had better sell 
 your press, and set up tallow-chandler. There will be more 
 demand for candles than for newspapers, when those dark days 
 come. 
 
 " But as you are a man that write for a livelihood, and I sup- 
 pose you find it hard work to rub on, I would advise you, as a 
 friend, not to lay out all your cash upon candle-making, for my 
 opinion is, that, whether England make peace or not, or whether 
 she is conquered or not conquered, the sun will rise as glorious, 
 and shine as bright, on that day, as if no such trifling things had 
 happened." 
 
 It appeared in the sequel, that Paine was correct in his opinion, and 
 the editor was gratified in his wish — there was no peace. 
 
THE 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, &C. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
 SECRETARY TO THE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS 
 
 IN THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, AUTHOR OF 
 
 "COMMON SENSE," "THE CRISIS," 
 
 "RIGHTS OF MAN," &u. 
 
 GRANVILLE, M1DDLETOWN, N, J. 
 GEORGE H. EVANS. 
 
 1844. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, Sec. 
 
 SONG. 
 
 Ttwe — Rule Britannia. 
 
 Hail great Republic of the world. 
 
 Which rear'd, which rear'd her empire in the west, 
 Where fam'd Columbus', Columbus' flag unfurl'd, 
 Gave tortured Europe scenes of rest ; 
 
 Be thou forever, forever great and free, 
 The land of Love, and Liberty ! 
 
 Beneath thy spreading, mantling vine, 
 
 Beside, beside each flowery grove and spring; 
 
 And where thy lofty, thy lofty mountains shine, 
 May all thy sons and fair ones sing, 
 
 Be thou forever, &c. 
 
 From thee, may hellish Discord prowl, 
 
 With all, with all her dark and hateful train ; 
 
 And whilst thy mighty, thy mighty waters roll, 
 May heaven descended Concord reign. 
 
 Be thou forever, &c. 
 
 Where'er the Atlantic surges lave, 
 Or sea, or sea the human eye delights, 
 
 There may thy starry, thy starry standard wave, 
 The Constellation of thy Rights ! 
 
 Be thou forever, &c. 
 
 May ages as they rise proclaim, 
 
 The glories, the glories of thy natal day ; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 And states from thy, from thy exalted name, 
 Learn bow to rule, and to obey. 
 
 Be thou forever, &c 
 
 Let Laureats make their birthdays known, 
 
 Or how, or how war's thunderbolts are hurl'd; 
 'Tis ours the charter, the charter ours alone, 
 To sing the birthday of a world ! 
 
 Be thou forever, forever, great and free, 
 The land of Love and Liberty ! 
 
 THE BOSTON PATRIOTIC SONG. 
 
 Tune — Anacreon in Heavfen. 
 
 Ye Sons of Columbia who bravely have fought, 
 
 For those rights which unstain'd from your sires have descended, 
 May you long taste the blessings your valor has bought, 
 And your sons reap the soil which their fathers defended; 
 Mid the reign of mild peace, ' 
 May your nation increase, 
 With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece. 
 
 •And ne'er may the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
 While the earth bears a plant or the sea rolls its waves. 
 
 In a clime whose rich vales feed the marts of the world, 
 Whose shore's are unshaken by Europe's commotion ; 
 The trident of commerce should never be hurl'd, 
 To increase the legitimate power of the ocean ; 
 But should pirates invade, 
 Though in thunder array'd, 
 Let your cannon declare the free charter of trade. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 The fame of our arms, of our laws the mild sway, 
 
 Had justly ennobled our nation in story, 
 Till the dark clouds of fiction obscured our bright day, 
 
 And envelop'd the sun of American glory; 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 But let traitors be told, 
 Who their country have sold, 
 And barter'd their God, for his image in gold, 
 
 That ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 While France her huge limbs bathes recumbent in bloodi 
 
 And society's base threats with wide dissolution ; 
 May Peace like the dove, who return'd from the flood, 
 Find an Ark of abode in our mild Constitution ; 
 But tho' peace is our aim, 
 Yet the boon we disclaim, 
 If bought by our Sovereignty, Justice, or Fame. 
 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c* 
 
 'Tis the fire of the flint each American warms, 
 
 Let Rome's haughty victors beware of collision 1 
 Let them bring all the vassals of Europe in arms, 
 We're a World by ourselves, and disdain a division ; 
 While with patriot pride, 
 To our laws we're allied, 
 No foe can subdue us, no faction divide ; 
 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Our mountains are crown'd with imperial oak, 
 
 Whose roots like our Liberty ages have nourish'd, 
 But long e'er the nation submits to the yoke, 
 
 Not a tree shall be left on the soil where it flourish'di 
 Should invasion impend, 
 Every grove would descend, 
 From the hill tops they shaded, our shores to defend* 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Let our patriots destroy vile anarchy's worm, 
 
 Lest our Liberty's growth should be check'd by corrosion, 
 Then let clouds thicken round us, we heed not the storm, 
 Our earth fears no shock, but the earth's own explosion, 
 Foes assail us in vain, 
 Tho' their fleets bridge the main, 
 For our altars, and claims, with our lives we'll maintain. 
 For ne'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
6 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 Should the tempest of war overshadow our land, 
 
 Its bolts can ne'er rend Freedom's temple asunder; 
 For unmoved at its portals would Washington stand 
 And repulse with his breast the assaults of the thunder. 
 His sword from its sleep, 
 In its scabbard would leap, 
 And conduct with its point every flash to the deep. 
 For rie'er shall the sons, &c. 
 
 Let Fame, to the world, sound America's voice, 
 
 No intrigue can her sons from their government sever ; 
 Its wise regulations and laws are their choice, 
 And shall flourish till Liberty slumber forever. 
 Then unite heart and hand, 
 Like Leonidas' band ; 
 And swear by the God of the Ocean and land, 
 
 That ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves, 
 While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves! 
 
 SONG. 
 
 Tune — Anacreon in Heaven. 
 
 To Columbia; who gladly reclined at her ease, 
 On Atlantic's broad bosom, lay smiling in peace, 
 Minerva flew hastily, sent from above, 
 And addrest her this message from thundering Jove : 
 . Rouse, quickly awake, 
 Your Freedom's at stake, 
 Storms arise, your renown'd Independence to shake, 
 Then lose not a moment, my aid I will lend, 
 If your sons will assemble your Rights to defend. 
 
 Roused Columbia rose up, and indignant declared, 
 That no nation she had wrong'd, and no nation she fear'd, 
 That she wished not for war, but if war were her fate, 
 She would rally up souls independent and great. 
 
\ 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS ETC. 
 
 Then tell mighty Jove, 
 
 That we quickly will prove, 
 We deserve the protection he'll send from above ; 
 For ne'er shall the sons of America bend, 
 But united their Rights and their Freedom defend. 
 
 Minerva smiled cheerfully as she withdrew, 
 Enraptured to find her Americans true, 
 "For," said she, "our sly Mercury ofttimes reports, 
 That your sons are divided" — Columbia retorts, 
 
 " Tell that vile god of thieves, 
 
 His report but deceiyes, 
 And we care not what madman such nonsense believes, 
 For ne'er shall the sons of America bend, 
 But united their Rights and their Freedom defend." 
 
 Jove rejoiced in Columbia .such union, to see, 
 And swore by old Styx she deserved to be free ; 
 Then assembled the Gods, who all gave consent. 
 Their assistance if needful her ill to prevent ; 
 
 Mars arose, shook his armor, 
 
 And swore his old Farmer 
 Should ne'er in his country see aught that could harm her. 
 For ne'er should the sons of America bend, 
 But united their Rights and their Freedom defend. 
 
 Minerva resolved that her iEgis she'd lend, 
 And Apollo declared he their cause would defend, 
 Old Vulcan an armor would forge for their aid, ' 
 More firm than th© one for Achilles he made. 
 
 Jove vow'd he'd prepare, 
 
 A compound most rare, 
 Of courage and union, a bountiful share; 
 And swore ne'er shall the sons of America bend, 
 But their Rights and their Freedom most firmly defend. 
 
 Ye sons of Columbia., then join hand in hand, 
 Divided we fall, but united we stand ; v 
 'Tis ours to determine, 'tis ours to decree, 
 That in peace we will live Independent and Free ; 
 
8 
 
 MISCELLAXEOUS POEMS. ETC. 
 
 And should from afar 
 
 Break the horrors of war, 
 We'll always be ready at once to declare, 
 That ne'er will the sons of America bend, 
 But united their Rights and their Freedom defend. 
 
 THE DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE* 
 
 In a mouldering cave, wnere the wretched retreat, 
 
 Britannia sat wasted with care ; 
 She mourn'd for her Wolfe, and exclaim'd against fate, 
 
 And gave herself up to despair. 
 The walls of her cell she had sculptured around 
 
 With the feats of her favorite son ; 
 And even the dust, as it lay on the ground, 
 
 Was engraved with the deeds he had done. 
 
 The sire of the Gods, from his crystalline throne, 
 
 Beheld the disconsolate dame, 
 And moved with her tears, he sent Mercury down, 
 
 And these were the tidings that came. 
 Britannia forbear, not a sigh nor a tear 
 
 For thy Wolfe so deservedly loved, 
 Your tears shall be changed into triumphs of joy, 
 
 For thy Wolfe is not dead but removed. 
 
 The sons of the East, the proud giants of old, 
 
 Have crept from their darksome abodes, 
 And this is the r news as in Heaven it was told, 
 
 They were marching to war with the Gods ; 
 
 * This Song was written immediately after the death of General Wolfe. 
 At this time a prize was offered for the best Epitaph on that celebrated hero. 
 Mr. Paine entered the list among other competitors, but his matter growing 
 too long for an Epitaph, and assuming another shape, he entitled it an Ode ; 
 and it was so published in the Gentleman's Magazine. It was soon after 
 set to music, became a popular song, and was sung at the Anacreontic and 
 other societies. — Ed. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS I'OEMS, ETC. 
 
 A council was held in the chambers of Jove, 
 
 And this was their final decree, 
 That Wolfe should be called to the armies above, 
 
 And the charge was entrusted to me. 
 
 To the plains of Quebec with the orders I flew, 
 
 He begg'd for a moment's delay ; 
 He cry'd, Oh! forbear, let me victory hear, 
 
 And then thy command I'll obey. 
 With a darksome thick film 1 encompass'd his eyes, 
 
 And bore him away in an urn, 
 Lest the fondness he bore to his own native shore, 
 
 Should induce him again to return. 
 
 LIBERTY TREE, 
 
 A Song, written early in the American Revolution, 
 
 Tune — Gods of the Greeks. 
 
 In a chariot of light, from the regions of day, 
 
 The Goddess of Liberty came, 
 Ten thousand celestials directed her way, 
 
 And hither conducted the dame. 
 A fair budding branch from the gardens above, 
 
 Where millions witfi millions agree, 
 She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love, 
 
 And the plant she named Liberty Tree. 
 
 The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground, 
 
 Like a native it flourished and bore ; 
 The fame of its fruit drew the nations around, 
 
 To seek out this peaceable shore. 
 Unmindful of names or distinctions they came, 
 
 For freemen like brothers agree ; 
 With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued, 
 
 And their temple was Liberty Tree. 
 
 Y 
 
10 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 Beneath this, fair tree, like the patriarchs of old, 
 
 Their bread in contentment they ate, 
 Unvexed with the troubles of silver or gold, 
 
 The cares of the grand and the great. 
 With timber and tar, they Old England supplied, 
 
 And supported her power on the sea : 
 Her battles they fought, without getting a groat, 
 
 For the honor of Liberty Tree. 
 
 But hear, O ye swains, ('tis a tale most profane,) 
 
 How all the tyrannical powers, 
 King, commons, and lords, are uniting amain, 
 
 To cut down this guardian of ours. 
 From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms, ' 
 
 Thro' the land let the sound of it flee : 
 Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer, 
 
 In defence of our Liberty Tree. 
 
 IMPROMPTU ON 
 
 BACHELORS' HALL, 
 
 At Philadelphia, being destroyed by Lightning, 1775. 
 
 Fair Venus so often was miss'd from the skies, 
 And Bacchus as frequently absent likewise, 
 That the synod began to inquire out the reason, 
 Suspecting the culprits were plotting of treason. 
 At length it was found they had open'd a ball 
 At a place by the mortals call'd Bachelors' Hall; 
 Where Venus disclosed every fun she could think of, 
 And Bacchus made nectar for mortals to drink of. 
 Jove, highly displeas'd at such riotous doings, 
 Sent Time to reduce the whole building to ruins ; 
 But Time was so slack with his traces and dashes, 
 That Jove in a passion consumed it to ashes. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 11 
 
 FARMER SHORT'S DOG, PORTER, A TALE. 
 
 The following story, ridiculous as it is, is a fact. A farmer at New 
 Shorehum, near Brighthelmstone, having voted at an election for a member 
 of parliament contrary to the pleasure of three neighboring justices, they 
 took revenge on. hU dog, which they caused to be hanged, for starting a 
 hare upon the high road. 
 
 Three justices (so sa3 f s the lale) 
 
 Once met upon the public weal. 
 
 For learning, law, and parts profound, 
 
 Their feme was spread the country round ; 
 
 Each by his wondrous art could tell ( 
 
 Of tilings as strange as Sydrophel ; 
 
 Or by the help of sturdy ale, 
 
 So cleverly could tell a tale, 
 
 That half the gaping slanders by 
 
 Would laugh aloud ; the re.st would cry. 
 
 Or by the help of nobler wine, 
 
 Would knotty points. so nice define, 
 
 That in an instant right was wrong, 
 
 Yet did not hold that station long, 
 
 For while they talk'd of wrong and right, 
 
 The question vanish'd out of sight. 
 
 Each knew by practice where to turn 
 
 To every powerful page in Bum, 
 
 And could by help of note a<nd book 
 
 Talk law like Littleton and Coke. 
 
 Each knew by instinct when and where 
 
 A farmer caught or kill'd a hare ; 
 
 Could tell of any man had got 
 
 One hundred pounds per ann. or not; 
 
 Or what was greater, could divine 
 
 If it was only ninety-nine. 
 
 For when the hundred wanted one, 
 
 They took away the owner's gun. 
 
12 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 Knew by the leering of an eye 
 If girls had lost their chastity, 
 And if they had not — would divine 
 Some way to make their virtue shine. 
 
 These learned brothers being assembled, 
 (At which the country feared and trembled,) 
 A warrant sent to bring before 'em, 
 One Farmer Short, who dwelt at Shorebam, 
 Upon a great and heavy charge, 
 Which we shall here relate at large, 
 That those who were not there may read, 
 In after days, the mighty deed : 
 
 Viz. 
 " That he, the 'foresaid Farmer Short; 
 Being by the devil moved, had not 
 One hundred pounds per annum got; 
 That having not (in form likewise) 
 The fear of God before his eyes, 
 By force and arms did keep and cherish, 
 Within the aforesaid town and parish, 
 Against the statute so provided, 
 A dog. And there the dbg abided. 
 That he, this dog, did then and there, 
 Pursue, and take, and kill a bare ; 
 Which treason was, or some such thing, 
 Against our sovereign lord the king;" 
 
 The constable was bid to jog, 
 And bring the farmer — not' the dog: 
 
 But fortune, whose perpetual wheel 
 Grinds disappointment sharp as steel, 
 On purpose to attack the pride 
 Of those who over others ride, 
 So nicely brought the matter round, 
 That Farmer Short could not be found, 
 Which plunged the bench in so much doubt, 
 They knew not what to go about. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMSj ETC. 13 
 
 But after pondering pro and con, 
 
 And mighty reasonings thereupon, 
 
 They found, on opening of the laws, 
 
 That he, the dog aforesaid, was 
 
 By being privy to the fact, 
 
 Within the meaning of the act, 
 
 And since the master had withdrawn, 
 
 And was the Lord knows whither gone, 
 
 They judged it right, and good in law, 
 
 That he, the dog, should answer for 
 
 Such crimes as they by proof could show, 
 
 Were aqted by himself and Co. 
 
 The constable again was sent, 
 
 To bring the dog ; or dread the event. 
 
 Poor Porter, right before the door, 
 Was guarding of his master's store; 
 And as the constable approach'd him, 
 He caught him by the leg and broach'd him ; 
 Poor Porter thought (if dogs can think) 
 He came to steal his master's chink. 
 
 The man, by virtue of his staff, 
 
 Bid people help ; not stand and laugh ; 
 
 On which a mighty rout began; 
 
 Some blamed the dog, and some the man. 
 
 Some said he had no business there* 
 
 Some said he had business every where. 
 
 At length the constable prevail'd, 
 
 And those who would not help were jail'd; 
 
 And taking Porter by the collar, 
 
 Commanded all the guards to follow. 
 
 The justices received the felon, 
 With greater form than I can tell on, 
 And quitting now their wine and punch, 
 Began upon him all at once. 
 
 At length a curious quibble rose, . 
 How far the law eould interpose, 
 
14 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 For it was proved, and rightly too, 
 That he, the dog, did not pursue 
 The hare with any ill intent, 
 But only follow'd by the scent ; 
 And she, the hare, by running- hard, 
 Thro' hedge and ditch, without regard, 
 Plunged in a pond, and there was drown'd, 
 And by a neighboring justice found; 
 Wherefore, though he the hare annoy 'd, 
 It can't be said that he destroy 'd ; 
 It even can't be proved he beat her, 
 And " to destroy," must mean " to eat her." 
 Did you e'er see a gamester struck, 
 With all the symptoms of ill luck? 
 Or mark the visage which appears, 
 When even Hope herself despairs? 
 So look'd the bench, and every brother 
 Sad pictures drew of one another; 
 Till one more learned than the rest 
 Rose up, and thus the court address'd : 
 
 " Why, gentlemen, I'll tell ye how, 
 
 Ye may -clear up this matter now, 
 
 For 1 am of opinion strong 
 
 The dog deserves, and should be hung; 
 
 I'll prove it by as plain a case. 
 
 As is the nose upon your face. 
 
 " Now if, suppose, a man, or so, 
 Should be obliged, or not, to go 
 About, or not about, a case, 
 To this, or that, or t'other place ; 
 And if another man, for fun, 
 Should fire a pistol (viz.) a gun, 
 And he, the first, by knowing not 
 That he, the second man, had shot, 
 Should undesign'dly meet the bullet, 
 Against the throat, (in Greek) the gullet, 
 And get such mischief by the hit 
 As should unsense him of his wit, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 15 
 
 And if that, after that he died, 
 
 D'ye think the fother mayn't be tried ■? 
 
 Most sure he must, and hang'd, because 
 
 He fired his gun against the laws: 
 
 For 'tis a case most clear and plain, 
 
 Had A not shot, B had not been slain : 
 
 So had the dog not chased the hare, 
 
 She never had been drown'd — -that's clear." 
 
 This logic, rhetoric, and wit, 
 So nicely did the matter hit, 
 That Porter — tho' unheard, was cast, 
 And in a halter breathed his last. 
 The justices adjourned to dine, 
 And whet their logic up with wine. 
 
 IMPROMPTU ON 
 
 A LONG NOSED FRIEND* 
 
 Paris, 1800. 
 
 Going along the other day, 
 
 Upon a certain plan ; 
 I met a nose upon the way, 
 
 Behind it was a man. 
 
 I called unto the nose to stop, 
 And when it had done so, — 
 
 The man behind it — he came up, 
 They made Zenobio. 
 
 * Count Zenobio. 
 
16 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 THE SNOWDROP AND CRITIC, 
 
 A DIALOGUE. 
 
 To the Editor of the Pennsylvania Magazine, 1775. 
 Sir^ 
 
 I have given your very modest " Snow Drop"* what, I think, 
 Shakspeare calls — " a local habitation and a name ;" that is, I have 
 made a poet of him, and have sent him to take possession of a 
 page in your next Magazine : here he comes, disputing with a critic 
 about the propriety of a prologue. 
 
 Enter Critic and Snow Drop. 
 
 critic. 
 
 Prologues to magazines ! — the man is mad, 
 No magazine a prologue ever had ; 
 But let us hear what new and mighty things 
 Your wonder working magic fancy brings. 
 
 SNOW DROP. 
 
 Bit by the muse in an unlucky hour, 
 
 I've left myself at home, and turn'd a flower, 
 
 And thus disguised came forth to tell my tale, 
 
 A plain white Snow Drop gathered from the vale ; 
 
 I come to sing that summer is at hand, 
 
 The summer time of wit, you'll understand ; 
 
 And that this garden of our Magazine, 
 
 Will soon exhibit such a, pleasing scene, 
 
 That even critics shall admire the show, 
 
 If their good grace will give us time to grow ; 
 
 Beneath the surface of the parent earth, 
 
 We've various seeds just struggling into birth ; 
 
 * Introduction to Magazine, No. 1 See p. 18, Miscellaneous Letters 
 
 and Essays. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 17 
 
 Plants, fruits, and flowers, and all tho. smiling race' 
 
 That can the orchard or the garden grace ; 
 
 Our numbers, Sir, so vast and endless are, 
 
 That when in full complexion we appear, 
 
 Each eye, each hand, shall pluck what suits its taste, 
 
 And every palate shall enjoy a. feast; 
 
 The Rose and Lily shall address the fair, 
 
 And whisper sweetly out, " My dears, take care ; 
 
 With sterling worth, the Plant of Sense shall rise, 
 
 And teach the curious to philosophize ; 
 
 The keen eyed wit shall claim the Scented Briar, 
 
 And sober cits the Solid Grain admire ; 
 
 While generous juices sparkling from the Vine, 
 
 Shall warm the audience till they cry — divine ! 
 
 And when the scenes of one gay month are o'er, 
 
 Shall clap their hands, and shout — encore ! encore . 
 
 All this js mighty fine ! but prithee, when 
 
 The frost returns, how fight you then your men ? 
 
 SNOW DROP. 
 
 I'll tell you, sir ! we'll garnish out the scenes 
 
 With stately rows of hardy Evergreens, 
 
 Trees, that will bear the frost, and deck their tops 
 
 With everlasting flowers, like diamond drops, 
 
 We'll draw, and paint, and carve, Vith so much skill, 
 
 That wondering wits shall cry, diviner still ! 
 
 Better, and better, yet! but now suppose, 
 Some critic wight, in mighty verse or prose, 
 Should draw his gray goose weapon, dipt in gall, 
 And mow ye down, Plants, Flowers, Trees, and all. 
 
 SNOW DROP. 
 
 Why, then we'll die like Flowers of sweet Perfume, 
 And yield a fragrance even in the tomb ! 
 
18 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 AN ADDRESS TO LORD HOWE. 
 
 At the time the following lines were written, Lord Howe was command- 
 er in chief of the British forces in the American revolutionary war. Mr. 
 Paine also addressed to him the second number of "The Crisis," dated at 
 Philadelphia, Jan. 13, 1777 ; in which he remarks, " Your avowed object 
 here, is to kill, conquer, plunder, pardon, and enslave ; and the ravages of 
 your army through the Jerseys, have been .marked with as much barbarism 
 as if you had openly professed yourself the prince of ruffians ; not even the 
 appearance of humanity has been preserved, either on the march or on the 
 retreat of your troops. In a folio general order book, belonging to colonel 
 Rhol's battalion, taken at Trenton, and now in possession of the council of 
 safety of this state, the following barbarous order is frequently repeated, 
 'His Excellency, the Commander in Chief, orders, that all inhabitants who 
 shall be found in arms, not having an officer with them, shall be immediately 
 taken and hung up' ! How many you may thus have privately sacrificed 
 we know not, and the account can only be settled in another world." 
 
 The rain pours down, the city looks forlorn, 
 And gloomy subjects suit the howling morn ; 
 Close by my fire, with door and window fast, 
 And safely shelter'd from the driving blast, 
 To gayer thoughts I bid a day's adieu, 
 To spend a scene of solitude with you. 
 
 So oft has black revenge engross'd the care 
 Of all the leisure hours man finds to spare ; 
 So oft has guilt, in all her thousand dens, 
 Call'd for the vengeance of chastising pens ; 
 That while I fain would ease my heart on you, 
 No thought is left untold, no passion new. 
 
 Frofn flight to flight the dental path appears, 
 Worn with the steps of near six thousand years, 
 And fill'd throughout with every scene of pain, 
 From George the murderer down to murderous Cain. 
 Alike in cruelty, alike in hate, 
 In guilt alike, but more alike in fate, 
 
MISCELLANEOUS t'OEMS, ETC. 19 
 
 Cursed supremely for the blood they drew, 
 Each from the rising world, while each was new. 
 
 Go, man of blood ! true likeness of the first, 
 And strew your blasted head with homely dust : 
 In ashes sit — in wretched sackcloth weep, 
 And with unpitied sorrows cease to sleep. 
 Go haunt the tombs, and single out the place 
 Where earth itself shall suffer a disgrace. 
 Go spell the letters on some mouldering urn, 
 And ask if he who sleeps there can return. 
 Go count the numbers that in silence lie, 
 And learn by study what it is to die ; 
 For sure your heart, if any heart you owii, 
 Conceits that man expires without a groan ; 
 That he who lives receives from you a grace, 
 Or death is nothing but a change of place: 
 That peace is dull, that joy from sorrow springs, 
 And war the most desirable of things. 
 Else why these scenes that wound the feeling mind, 
 This spot of death — this cockpit of mankind ! 
 Why sobs the widow in perpetual pain 1 
 Why cries the orphan ? — " Oh ! my father's slain ! 
 Why hangs the sire his paralytic head, 
 And nods with manly grief?—" My son is dead !" 
 Why drops the tear from off the sister's cheek, 
 And sweetly tells the misery she would speak 1 
 Or why, in sorrow sunk, does pensive John 
 To all the neighbors tell, " Poor master's gone !" 
 
 Oh ! could I paint the passion that I feel, 
 Or point a horror that would wound like steel, 
 To thy unfeeling, unrelenting mind, 
 I'd send destruction and relieve mankind. 
 You that are husbands, fathers, brothers, all 
 The tender names which kindred learn to call ; 
 Yet like an image carved in massy stone, 
 You bear the shape, but sentiment have none; 
 Allied by dust and figure, not with mind, 
 You only herd, but live not with mankind. 
 
20 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 Since then no hopes to civilize remain, 
 And mild Philosophy has preached in vain, 
 One prayer is left, which dreads no proud reply, 
 That he who made you breathe will make you die. 
 
 TO SIR ROBERT SMITH. 
 
 Paris, 1800. 
 As I will not attempt to rival your witty description of Love, (in 
 which you say, " Love is like paper, with a fool it is wit, with a 
 wit it is folly," &c.) I will relreat to sentiment, and try if I can 
 match you there : and that I may start with a fair chance, I will 
 begin with your own question, 
 
 WHAT IS LOVE? 
 
 'Tis that delightful transport we can feel, 
 Which painters cannot paint, nor words reveal, 
 Nor any art we know of — can conceal. 
 Canst thou describe the sunbeams to the blind, 
 Or make him feel a shadow with his mind % 
 So neither can we by description show 
 This first of all felicities below. 
 
 When happy Love pours magic o'er the soul, 
 And all our thoughts in sweet, delirium roll ; 
 When Contemplation spreads her rainbow wings, 
 And every flutter some new rapture brings ; 
 How sweetly then our moments glide away, 
 And drearcss repeat the raptures of the day,: 
 We live in.ecstacy, to all things kind, 
 For Love can teach a moral to the mind. 
 But are there not some other marks that prove, 
 What is this wonder of the soul, call'd Love? 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 21 
 
 O yes, there are, but of a different kind, . • 
 The dreadful horrors of a dismal mind. 
 Some jealous fury throws her poison'd dart, 
 And rends in pieces the distracted heart. 
 
 When Love's a tyrant, and the soul a slave, 
 No hopes remain to thought, but in the grave; 
 In that dark den, it sees an end to grief, 
 And what was once its dread, becomes relief. 
 
 What are the iron chains that hands have wrought 1 
 The hardest chains to break are those of thought, 
 Think well of this, ye lovers, and be kind, 
 Nor play with torture — or a tortured mind. 
 
 Mr. Paine, while in prison in Paris, corresponded with a lady, under the 
 signature of " The Castle in the Air," while she addressed her letters from 
 " The Little Corner of the World." For reasons which he knew not, their 
 intercourse was suddenly suspended, and for some time he believed his fair 
 Friend to be in obscurity and distress. Many years afterwards, however, he 
 met her unexpectedly at Paris, in affluent circumstances, and married to Sir 
 Robert Smith. The following is a copy of one of these poetical effusions. 
 
 FROJH 
 
 THE CASTLE IN THE AlR, 
 
 TO 
 
 ■THE LITTLE CORNER OF THE WORLD. 
 
 In the region of clouds, where the whirlwinds arise, 
 
 My Castle of Fancy was built ; 
 The turrets, reflected the blue from the skies, 
 
 And the windows with sunbeams were gilt. 
 Sir— 
 
 The rainbow sometimes, in its beautiful state, 
 
 Enamell'd the mansion around ; 
 
2i 22 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS) ETC. 
 
 And the figures that fancy in clouds can create, 
 Supplied me with gardens and ground. 
 
 I had grottoes, and fountains, and orange tree groves, 
 
 I had all that enchantment has told ; 
 I had sweet shady walks, for the Gods and their Loves, 
 
 I had mountains of coral and gold. 
 
 But a storm that I felt not, had risen and roll'd, 
 , While wrapp'd in a slumber I lay ; 
 
 And when I look'd out in the morning, behold 
 My Castle was carried away. 
 
 It pass'd over rivers, and vallies, and groves, 
 
 The world it was all in my view; 
 I thought of my friends, of fheir fates, of their loves; 
 
 And often, full often of you. 
 
 At length it came over a beautiful scene, 
 
 That nature in silence hadmade; 
 The place was but small, but 'twas sweetly serene, 
 ' And chequer'd with sunshine and shade. 
 
 I gazed and I envied with painful goodwill, 
 
 And grew tired of my seat in the air ; • 
 
 When all of a sudden my Castle stood still, 
 As if some attraction was there. 
 
 Like a lark from the sky it came fluttering down* 
 
 And placed me exactly in view, 
 When who should I meet in this charming retreat-, 
 
 This corner of calmness, but you. 
 
 Delighted to find you in honor and ease, 
 
 I felt no more sorrow, nor pain ; 
 But the wind coming fair, I ascended the breeze* 
 
 And went back with my Castle again. 
 
MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 23 
 
 CONTENTMENT ; OR, IF YOU PLEASE, CON- 
 FESSION. * 
 
 To Mrs. Barlow, on her pleasantly telling the author, that after 
 writing against the superstition of the Scripture religion, he was 
 setting up a religion capable of more bigotry and enthusiasm, 
 and more dangerdus to its votaries — that of making a religion 
 of Love. 
 
 could we always live and love, 
 And always be sincere, 
 
 1 would not wish for heaven above, 
 My heaven would be here. 
 
 Though many countries I have seen, 
 
 And more may chance to see, 
 My Little Corner of the World* 
 
 Is half the worid to me ; 
 
 The other half, as you may guess, 
 
 America contains ; 
 And thus, between them, I possess 
 
 The whole world for my pains. 
 
 I'm then contented with my lot, 
 
 I can no happier be ; 
 For neither world, I'm sure, has got 
 
 So rich a man as me. 
 
 Then send no fiery chariot down 
 
 To take me off from hence, * 
 But leave me on my heavenly ground — 
 
 This prayer is common-sense. 
 
 Let others choose another plan, 
 
 I mean no fault to find ; 
 The true theology of man 
 
 Is happiness of mind. 
 
 * Lady Smith. 
 
24 MISCELLANEOUS POEMS, ETC. 
 
 L,INES EXTEMPORE, BY THOS. PAINE. 
 
 July, 1808. ' 
 
 Quick as the lightning's vivid flash, 
 The poet's eye o'er Europe rolls ; 
 
 Sees battles rage — hears tempests crash, 
 And dims at horror's threat'ning scowls, 
 
 Mark ambition's ruthless king, 
 
 AVith crimson'd banners scath the -globe ; 
 While trailing after conquest's wing, 
 
 Man's fest'ring wounds his demons probe. 
 
 Pall'd with streams of reeking gore, 
 That stain the proud imperial day ; 
 
 He turns to view the western shore, 
 
 Where freedom holds her boundless sway, 
 
 'Tis here her sage triumphant sways, 
 An empire in the people's Jove, 
 
 'Tis here the sovereign will obeys, 
 No KING but He who rules above. 
 
A LETTER 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 ON THE SUBJECT OF 
 
 A TREATY CONCLUDED BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND 
 THE UNITED STATES OE AMERICA, 
 
 INCLUDING OTHER MATETRS. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 AFTER AN ABSENCE OF FIFTEEN TEAKS. 
 
 By THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 GRANVILLE, MIDDLETOWN, N, J. 
 
 GEORGE H. EVANS. 
 
 1844. 
 
♦Letter 
 
 TO 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 Paris, August 3, 1796. 
 
 As censure is but awkwardly softened by apology, I shall offer 
 you no apology for this letter. The eventful crisis to which your 
 double politics have conducted the affairs of your country, requires 
 an investigation uncramped by ceremony. 
 
 There was a time when the fame of America, moral and politi- 
 cal, stood fair and high in the world. The lustre of her revolution 
 extended itself to every individual, and to be a citizen of America 
 gave a title to respect in Europe. Neither meanness nor ingrati- 
 tude had been mingled in the . composition of her character. Her 
 resistance to the attempted tyranny of England left her unsuspected 
 of the one, and her open acknowledgment of the .aid she received 
 from France precluded all ■suspicion of the other. The politics of 
 Washington had not then appeared; 
 
 At the time I left America (April 1787) the Continental Conven- 
 tion, that formed the federal, constitution, was on the point of meet-, 
 ing. Since that time new schemes of politics, and new distinctions 
 of parties* have arisen. The term Anti T federalist has been applied 
 to all those 1 who combated the defects of that constitution, or oppo- 
 sed the measures of your administration. It was only to the absolute 
 necessity of establishing some federal authority, extending equally 
 over all the States, that an instrument so inconsistent as the present 
 federal constitution is, obtained a suffrage. I would have voted for 
 it myself,, had I been in America, or even for a worse rather than 
 
4 Ietter to Washington. 
 
 have had none, provided it contained the means of remedying its 
 defects by the same appeal to the people, by which it was to be es- 
 tablished. It is always better policy to leave remoVeaMe errors to 
 expose -themselves, than to hazard too much in contending against 
 them theoretically. 
 
 I have introduced these observations, not only to mark the gene- 
 ral difference between Anti-feder&list and Aiti-constitutionalist, but 
 to preclude the effect, and even the application, of the former of 
 these terms to myselfl I declare myself opposed to several matters 
 in the constitution, particularly to the manner in which what is call- 
 ed the executive is formed, and to the long duration of the somite; 
 and if I live to return to America, I will use all my endeavors to. 
 have them altered. I also declare myself opposed to almost the 
 whale of your administration; for I know it to have been deceitful, 
 if not perlidious, as I shall show in the course of this letter. But as. 
 to the point of consolidating the States into a Federal Government, it 
 so happens, that, the proposition for that purpose came originally 
 from myself. I proposed it in a letter to Chancellor Livingston in 
 the spring of the year 1782, while that gentleman was minister for 
 foreign affairs. The five per cent, duly recommended by Congress 
 had then, fallen through, having heierradopled'liy some of the Stales, 
 altered by others, rejected by Rhode Island, and repealed by Vir- 
 ginia, after it had been consented to. The proposal in the letter I 
 allude to, was to get over the whole difficulty at once, by annexing 
 a continental legislative body to Congress; for in order to have any 
 law of the Uriion uniform, the case could only be, that either Con- 
 gress, as ' il.then stood, must frame the law, and the States severally 
 adopt it without alteration, or, the States must erect a continental 
 legislature for the purpose. Chancellor Livingston, Robert Morris, 
 Governeur Morris, and myself, had a meeting at the house of Ro- 
 bert Morris on the subject of that letter. There was no diversity 
 of opinion on the proposition for a continental legislature: the only 
 difficulty was on the manner of bringing the proposition forward. 
 For my own part, as I considered it as a remedy in reserve, that 
 cottld be applied at anytime when the States saw themselves wrong 
 enough to be put right, (which did not appear to be the case at that 
 time,) I did not see the propriety of urging it precipitately, and de- 
 clined being the publisher of it myself. After this account of a fact, 
 the leaders of your party will scarcely have the hardiness to apply 
 to me the term of Anti-federalist. But I can go to a date and to a 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 5 
 
 fact beyond this, for the proposition for electing a continental con- 
 vention. To form the Continental Government, is oiu of the sub- 
 jects treated of in the pnrnplili-t Common Sense. 
 
 Having thus cleared away a little of the rubbish that might other- 
 wise have lain in my way, I lvturn to the point, df time at. which 
 the present federal consti.ution and your administration began. It 
 was very well said by an anonymous writer in Philadelphia, about 
 a yoar before thai p.-riod, that " thirteen staves and never a hoop 
 will not make a. barrel, and as any kind of Hooping the barrel, how- 
 ever defectively executed, would be belter than none, it was scarcely 
 possible bat t!i itwnsidjrable advantages must arise from the federal 
 hooping of the Sutes. It was with pleasure that every sincere 
 friend to Am -ric.i beheld as the natural effect of union, her rising" 
 prosperity, an 1 it was with grief they saw that prosperity mixed, 
 even in the blossom, with the germ of corruption. Monopolies of 
 every kind marked your administration almost in the moment of its 
 commencement. The. lands obtained by the revolution were lavish- 
 ed up in partizans; the interest, of the disbanded soldier was sold to 
 the speculator; injustice was acted under the pretence of faith; and 
 tiie chief of the army became the patron of the fraud. From such 
 a beginning what else could be expected, than what has happened 1 
 A mean and servile submission to the insults of one nation ; treach- 
 ery and ingratitude to another. 
 
 So n.e vhes make thair approach with such a splendid appear- 
 ance, that we scarcely know to what class of moral distinctions they 
 belong. They are rather virtues corrupted than vices originally. 
 But msaaness and ingratitude have nothing equivocal in their cha- 
 racter. There: is not a trait in them that renders them doubtful. 
 They are so originally vice, that they are generated in ilie dung of 
 other vices, and crawl into existence with the filth upon their backs. 
 The fugitives have found protection in you, and the levee-room is 
 their place of rendezvous. 
 
 As the federal constitution is a copy, though not quite so baSe as 
 the original, of the form of the British Government, an imitation of 
 its vices was naturally to be expected. So intimate is the connec- 
 tion between form and practice., that to adopt the one is to invite 
 the other. Imitation is naturally progressive, and is rapidly so in 
 matters that are vicious. 
 
 Soon after the federal constitution arrived in England, I receiv- 
 ed a Iettei" from a female literary correspondent (a native of New 
 
O LETT£K TO WASHINGTON: 
 
 York) very well mixed with friendship, sentiment, and politics; Iri 
 my answer to^that letter, I permitted myself to ramble into the wil- 
 derness of imagination, and to anticipate what might hereafter be 
 the condition of America. I had no idea that the picture I then drew 
 was realizing so fast, and still less that Mr. Washington was hurry- 
 ing it on. As the extract I alludeto is congenial with the subject I 
 am upon, I here transcribe it: 
 
 " You touch me on a very tender point, when .you say, that my 
 "friends on your side the water cannot 'be reconciled to the idea 
 " of my -abandoning America even for my native England. They 
 " are right. I had rather see my horse, Button, eating the grass of 
 " Bordentown or Morrissania, than see all the pomp and show of 
 " Europe. 
 
 " A thousand years hence, for I must indulge a few thoughts, 
 " perhaps in less, America may be what England now is. The in- 
 " nocence of her cbaracler, that won the hearts of all nations in 
 " her favor, may sound like a romance, and her inimitable virtue 
 "as if it had never been. The ruins of that liberty; which thou- 
 " sands bled to obtain, may just furnish materials for a village tale,' 
 '■ or extort a sigh, from fustic sensibility; while the fashionable of 
 " that day, enveloped in dissipation, shall deride the principle, and 
 "deny the fact. 
 
 " When we contemplate the fall of empires, and the extinction 
 "of the nations ,of the ancient world, we see but little more to ex- 
 " cite our regret than the mouldering ruins of pompous palaces, 
 " magnificent monuments, lofty pyramids, and walls and towers of . 
 " the most costly workmanship : but when the empire of America 
 " shall fall, the subject for contemplative sorrow will be infinitely 
 "greater than crumbling brass or marble can inspire. It will not 
 " then be said, Here stopd a temple of va9t antiquity, here rose a 
 " Babel of invisible height, or there a palace of sumptuous extrava- 
 14 gance ; but, here, ah painful thought ! the noblest work of human 
 " wisdom, the greatest scene of human glory, the fair cajise of free- 
 " dom, rose and fell : Read this, and then ask if I forget America." 
 
 Impressed, as I was, with apprehensions of this kind, I had 
 America constantly in my mind in all the publications I afterwards 
 made. The First, and still more the Second, Part of the Rights 
 of 3tan, bear evident marks of this watchfulness; and the Disser-, 
 taiion on First Principles of Government goes more directly to the 
 point than either of the former. I now pass on to other subjects; 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 7 
 
 It will be supposed by those into whose hands this letter may fall, 
 that I have some personal resentment against you ; and I will 
 therefore settle this point before I proceed further. 
 
 If I have any resentment, you must acknowledge that I have not 
 been hasty in declaring it, neither would it now be declared (for 
 what are private resentments to the public?) if the cause of it did 
 not unite itself as well with your public as with your private charac- 
 ter, and with the motives of your political conduct., 
 , The part I acted in the American revolution is well' known. . I 
 , shall not here repeat it, I know, also, that, had it not been for the 
 aid received from France, in men, money, and ships, your cold and 
 .unmilitary conduct (as I shall show in the course of this letter) 
 would in all probability have lost America ; at least she would not 
 have been the independent nation she now is. You slept away 
 your time in the field, till the finances of the country were com- 
 pletely exhausted, and you have but little share in the glory of the 
 final event. It is time, sir, to speak the undisguised language of 
 historical truth. 
 
 Elevated to the chair of the presidency, you assumed the merit 
 of every thing to yourself; and the natural ingratitude of your con- 
 stitution began to appear. You commenced your presidential ca- 
 reer • by encouraging and swallowing the grossest adulation ; and 
 you travelled America from one end to the other to put yourself in 
 the way of receiving it. You have as many addresses in your chest as 
 James the Second.. As to what were your views, for if you are 
 not great enough to have ambition you are little enough to have va- 
 nity, they cannot be directly inferred from expressions of your own ; 
 but the partizans of your politics have divulged the secret. 
 
 John Adams has said, (and John it is known was always a spel- 
 ler after places, and offices, and never thought his little services 
 were higbjyoemough paid,) — John has said, that as Mr. Washing- 
 ton had no child, the presidency should be made hereditary in the 
 family of Lund Washington. John might then have counted upon 
 some sinecure for himself, and a provision for his descendants. 
 He did not go so far as to say, also, that the vice presidency 
 should be hereditary in the family of John Adams. 'He prudent- 
 ly left that to stand on the ground, that one good turn deserves 
 another.* 
 
 * Two persons to whom John Adams said this, told me of it. The se- 
 cretary of Mr. Jay was present when it was told to me. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 John Adams is one, of those men who never contemplated 1 the 
 origin of government, or comprehended any thing of first princi- 
 ples. If he hud, he might h ive seen, that the right to set up and 
 , establish hereditary government, never did, and never can, exist 
 in any generation at any time whatever; that it is of the nature of 
 treason, because it is an attempt to take away the rights of all the 
 minors living at that time, and of all succeeding generations. It is 
 of a degree beyond common treason ; it is a sin against nature. 
 The equal rights of every generation is a fixed right iu the nature of 
 things ; it belongs to the son when of age, as it belonged to the fa- 
 titer before him. John Adams would himself deny the right that 
 any former deceased generation could have to decree authoritatively 
 a succession of governors over him or over his children, and yet he 
 assumes a pretended right, treasonable as it is, of acting it biniself. 
 His ignorance is his best excuse. 
 
 John Jay has said, (and this John was always the sycophant of 
 every thing in p:nver, from Mr. Girard in America, to Grenville 
 in England,) — John Jay has said, that the senate should have been 
 appointed for life. Hj w>uld than have been sure of never wanting 
 a lucrative appointment- for himself, and have had no fears about 
 impeachment. These are the disguised traitors that call themselves 
 federalists. * 
 
 Could I have known to what degree of corruption and perfnjy the 
 administrative part of the government of America had descended, 
 
 1 could have been at no loss to have understood the reservedness of 
 Mr. Washington towards me during my imprisonment in the Lux- 
 embourg. There are cases in which silence is a loud language. I 
 will here explain the cause of that imprisonment, and return to Mr. 
 Washington afterwards. 
 
 In the course of that rage, terror, and suspicion, which the bru- 
 tal letter of the Duke of Brunswick first started into\existence in 
 France, it happened that almost every man who was opposed to 
 violence, or who was not violent himself, became suspected. I had 
 constantly been opposed to every thing which was of the nature or 
 of the appearance of violence ; but as I had always done it in a 
 manner that showed it to be a principle founded in my heart, and 
 not a political manoeuvre, it precluded the pretence of accusing me. 
 I was reached, however, under another pretence. 
 
 * If Mr. John Jay desires to know on what authority I say this, I will 
 give that authority publicly when he chooses to call for it. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 9 
 
 A decree was passed to imprison all persons born in England ; 
 but as I was a member >f the Convention, and had been compli- 
 mented with the honorary style -of citizen of France, as Mr. Wash- 
 ington and some other 1 Americans have been, this decree fell short of 
 reaching me. A motion was afterwards made and curried, support- 
 ed chiefly by Bourdon del'Oise, for expelling foreigners from the 
 Convention. My expulsion being thus effected, fhe two committees 
 of public safety and of general surety, of which Robespierre was 
 the dictator, put mo in arrcstation under the former decree for im- 
 prisoning persons born in England. Having thus shown under what 
 pretence the imprisonment was effected, I come to speak of such 
 parts of the case as apply between me and Mr. Washington, either 
 as a president, or as an individual. 
 
 I have always considered that a foreigner, such as I was in fact, 
 with respect to France, might ho a member of a convention for 
 framing a constitution, without affecting his right of citizenship, in 
 the country to which he belongs, but not a^hiember of a govern- 
 ment after a constitution is formed ; and T have uniformly acted up- 
 on this distinction. To' be a member of a government requires a 
 person being in allegiance with that government and to the country 
 locally. But a Constitution, being a thing of principle, and not of 
 action, and which, after it is formed, is to be referred to the people 
 for their approbation or rejection, does not require allegiance in the 
 jtersons forming and proposing it; and besides this, it is only to the 
 thing after it is formed and established, and to the country after its 
 governmental character is fixed by the adoption of a Constitution, 
 that the allegiance can be given. No oath of allegiance or of citi- 
 zenship was required of the members who composed the Conven- 
 tion : there was nothing existing in form to swear allegiance to. If 
 any such condition had been required, I could not, as a citizen of 
 America, in fact, though citizen of France by compliment, have ac- 
 cepted a seat in the Convention. 
 
 As my citizenship in America was not altered or diminished by 
 any thing V had done in Europe, (on the contrary, it ought to have 
 been considered as strengthened, for it was the American principle 
 of government that I was endeavoring to spread in Europe,) and 
 as it is the duty of every government to charge itself with the care 
 of any of its citizens who may happen to fall under an arbitrary 
 persecution abroad, -(and this is also one of the reasons for which 
 ambassadors or ministers are appointed,) it was the duty of the ex- 
 
10 LETTEJt TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 ecutive department in America, to have made, at least, some enqui- 
 ries about me, as soon as it heard of my imprisonment. But if this 
 had not been the case, that government owed it to me oil every 
 ground and principle of honor and gratitude. Mr. .Washington 
 owed it to ma on every -score of private acquaintance, I will not 
 now say friendship; for it has some time, been known by those who 
 know him, that he has no friendships, that he is incapable of form- 
 ing any ; he can serve or desert a man, or a rause, with conslitu- 
 tional indifference ; and it is this cold hermaphrodite faculty that 
 imposed itself upon the world, and was credited awhile by enemies, 
 as by friends, for prudence, moderation, and impartiality. 
 
 Soon after I was put into arreslation, and imprisonment in the 
 Luxembourg, the Americnns who were then in Paris, went ina bo- 
 dy to the bar of the Convention to reclaim me. They were an- 
 swered by the then President Vadier, who has since absconded, 
 that I was horn in England, and it was signified to them, by some 
 of the Committee of General Surety, to whom they were referred, 
 (I have been told it was Billaud Varennes,) that their reclamation 
 of me was only the act of individuals, without any authority from 
 the' American government. 
 
 A few days after this, all communication between persons impri- 
 soned, and any person without the prison, was cut off by an order 
 of the police. I neither saw nor heard from any body for six 
 months; arid the only hope that remained to me was, that- a netf 
 minister Would arrive from America to supercede Morris, and that 
 he would be authorized to inquire into the cause of my imprison- 
 ment ; but even this hope, in the state to which matters were d.iily 
 arriving, was top remote to have any consolatory effect, and I con- 
 tented myself with the thought that I might be remembered when 
 it would be too late. There is, perhaps, no condition from which 
 a man, conscious of his own uprightness, cannot derive consolation; 
 for it is in itself a consolation for him to find, that he can bear that 
 condition with calmness and fortitude. 
 
 From about the middle of March ( 1794) to the fall of Robespierre 
 July 29, (9th of Thermidor,) the slate of things in the prisons was a 
 continued scene of horror. No man could c.)un.t upon life for twen» 
 ty-four hours. To such a pitch of rage and suspicion were Robes- 
 pierre and his committee arrived, tha it. seemed as if they feared 
 to leave a man to live. Scarcely a night passed in which ten, twenty, 
 thirty, forty, fifty, or more, were not taken out of the prison, carri' 
 
" Demand that Thomas Paine 
 " be decreed of accusation for 
 " the interest of America as 
 " well as of France." 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 11 
 
 ed before a pretended tribunal in the morning;, and guillotined be- 
 fore night. One hundred and sixty-nine were takan out of the Lux- 
 embourg one night, in the month of July, and one hundred and 
 sixty of them guillotined. A list of two hundred more, according 
 to the report in the prison, was preparing a few days before Ro- 
 bespierre fell. In this last list I have good reason to believe I was 
 included. A memorandum in the hand-writing of Robespierre was 
 afterwards produced in the Convention, by the committee to whom 
 the papers of Robespierre were referred, in these words : 
 
 " Dertiander que Thomas Paine 
 " suit decrcte d'accusation pour 
 " l'interet de l'Amerique, au- 
 " turn que de la France." 
 
 I had been imprisoned seven months, and the silence of the ex- 
 ecutive part of the government of America (Mr. Washington) up- 
 on the case, and upon every thing respecting me, was explanation 
 enough to Robespierre that he might proceed to extremities. 
 
 A. violent fever which had nearly terminated my existence, was, 
 I believe, the circumstance that preserved it. 1 was not in a con- 
 ditjcm to be removed, or to know of what was passing, or of what 
 had passed, for more than a month. It makes a blank in my re- 
 membrance of life. The first thing I was informed of was the fall 
 of Robespierre. 
 
 About a week after this, Mr. Monroe arrived to supercede Go- 
 Verneur Morris, and as soon as I was able to write a note legible 
 enough to be read, I found a way to convey one to him by means 
 of the man who lighted the lamps in the prison; and whose unabated 
 friendship to me, from whom he had never received any service, 
 and with difficulty accepted any recompense, puts the character of 
 Mr. Washington to shame. 
 
 In a few days I received a message from Mr. Monroe, conveyed 
 tome in a note from an intermediate person, with assurance of his 
 friendship, and expressing a desire that I would rest the case in his 
 liands. After a fortnight or more had passed, and hearing nothing 
 farther, I wrote to a friend who was then in Paris, a citizen of Phi- 
 ladelphia, requesting him to inform me what was the true situation 
 of tilings with respect to me. I was sure that something was the 
 matter ; I began to have hard thoughts of Mr. Washington, but I 
 was unwilling to encourage them. 
 
 In about ten days, 1 received an answer to my letter, in which 
 
12 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON; 
 
 the writer says,' " Mr. Monroe has told me that he has no order 
 " (meaning from the president, Mr. Washington) respecting you, - 
 " but that he (Mr. Monroe) will do every thing in his power to libe- 
 " rate you ; but, from what I learn from the Americans lately ar- 
 " rived in Paris, you are not considered, either by the American 
 "government, or by individuals, as an American citizen." 
 
 I was now at no loss to understand Mr* Washington and his new 
 fangled faction, and that their policy was silently to leave me to 
 fall in France. They were rushing as fast as they could venture,' 
 without awakening the jealousy of America, into all the vices and 
 corruptions of the British government } and it was no more consis- 
 tent with the policy of Mr. Washington, and those who immediately 
 surrounded him, than it was with that of Robespierre or of Pitt, 
 that I should survive. They have, however, missed the mark, and 
 the reaction is upon themselves. 
 
 Upon the receipt of the letter just alluded to, I sent a memorial 
 to Mr. Monroe, which the reader will find in the appendix, and I 
 received from him the following answer. It is dated the 18th of 
 September, but did not come to hand till about the 18th of October. 
 I was then falling into a relapse, the weather was becoming damp 
 and cold, fuel was not to be had, and the abscess in my side, the 
 consequence of those things, and of want of air and exercise, was 
 beginning to form, and has continued immoveable ever since. Here 
 follows Mr. Monroe's letter. 
 
 Paris, SepUrriber 18th, 1794. 
 " Dear Sir, 
 " I was favored, soon after my arrival here, with several letters 
 from you, and more latterly with one in the character of a memorial 
 upon the subject of your confinement ; and should have answered 
 them at the times they were respectively written; dad I not conclu- 
 ded you would have calculated with certainty upon the deep inter- 
 est I take in your welfare, and the pleasure with which 1 shall em- 
 brace every opportunity in my power to serve you. I should still 
 pursue the same course,' and for reasons which must obviously occur; 
 if I did not find that you are disquieted with apprehensions upon 
 interesting points; and which justice to you and our country equally 
 forbid you should entertain. You mention that 3'ou have been in- 
 formed you are not considered as an American citizen by the Ame- 
 ricans) and that you have likewise heard that I had no instructions 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON! 13 
 
 respecting you by the government. I doubt not the person who 
 gave you the information meant well, but I suspect he did not even 
 convey accurately his own ideas on the first point: for I presume 
 the most he could say is, that you had likewise become a French 
 citizen, and which by no means deprived you of being an American 
 one. Even this, however, may be doubted, I mean the acquisition 
 of citizenship in Franc: 1 , and I confess you have said much to show 
 that it has not been made. I .really suspect that this was all that the 
 gentleman who wrote to you, and those Americans he heard speak 
 up6.it the subject, meant. It becomes my duty, howeter, to declare 
 16 you, that [ consider you as an American citizen; and that you 
 are considered universally in that character by the people of Ame- 
 rica. As such you arc entitled to my .attention; and so far as it can 
 be given consistently with those obligations which are mutual be- 
 tween every government and even a transient passenger you shall, 
 receive it. 
 
 " The Congress have never decided, upon the subject of citizen* 
 ship, in a manner to regard the present case. By being with us 
 through the revolution, you are s of our country as absolutely as it 
 you had been born there,. and you are no more of England, than 
 every native American is. This is the true doctrine in the present 
 case* so far as it becomes complicated with any other consideration. 
 I have mentioned it to make you easy upon the only point which 
 could give you any disquieludei 
 
 " It is necessary for me to tell you how much all your country- 
 rrien, I speak af the great mass of the people, are interested in your 
 welfare. They have not forgotten the history of their own revolu- 
 tion, and the difficult scenes through which they passed; nor do they 
 ■rfeview its seven! stages without reviving in their bosoms a due 
 sensibility of the merits of those who served them, in that great and 
 arduous conflict'. The crime of ingratitude has not yet stained, and 
 1 trust never will stain, our national character. You are considered 
 by them, as not only having rendered important services in our own 
 i-evohition, but as being, on a more extensive scale, the friend of 
 human rights, and a distinguished and able advocate in favor of J 
 public liberty. To the welfare of Thomas Paine, the Americans 
 are not, nor can they be, indifferent. 
 
 " Of the sense which the President has always entertained of 
 your merits, and of his friendly disposition towards you, you are too 
 well assured, to require any declaration of it from me. That I for- 
 
14 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 ward his wishes in seeking your safety is what I well know; and 
 this will form an additional obligation on me to perform what I 
 should otherwise consider as a duty. 
 
 " You are, in my opinion, at present menaced by no kind of dan- 
 ger. To liberate you, will be an object of my endeavors, and as 
 soon as possible. But you must,' until that event shall be accom- 
 plished, bear your situation with patience and fortitude ; you will 
 likewise have die justice to recollect, that I am placed here upon a 
 difficult theatre,* many important objects to attend to, and with few 
 to consult. It becomes me in pursuit of those, to regulate my con- 
 duct in respect to each, as to the manner and the time, as will, in 
 my judgment, be best calculated to accomplish the whole. 
 
 "With great' esteem and respect consider me personally your 
 friend, " Jamks Monroe." 
 
 The part in Mr. Monroe's letter, in which he speaks of the Pre- 
 sident, (Mr. Washington,) is put in soft language. Mr. Monroe- 
 knew what Mr. Washington had said formerly, and he was willing 
 to keep that in view. But the fact is, not only that Mr. Washington 
 bad given no orders to Mr. Monroe as the letter stated ; but he did 
 not so much as say to him, inquire if Mr. Paine be dead er alive, 
 in prison or out, or see if there be any assistance we can give him. 
 
 While these matters were passing, the liberations from the pri- 
 sons were numerous ; from twenty to forty in the course of almost 
 every twenty-four hours. The continuance of my imprisonment 
 after a new minister had arrived immediately from America, which 
 was now more than two months, was a matter so obviously strange, 
 that I found the character of the American government spoken of 
 in very unqualified terms of reproach ; not only by those who still 
 remained in prison, but by those who were liberated, and by per- 
 sons who had access to the prison from without. Under these cir- 
 cumstances I wrote again to Mr. Monroe, and found occasion to say, 
 among other things, " It will not add to the popularity of Mr. Wash- 
 " ington, to have it believed in America, as it is believed here, that 
 '' he connives at my imprisonment." 
 
 The case, so far as it respected Mr. Monroe, was, that having to 
 get over the difficulties? which the strange conduct of Governeur 
 
 * This I presume alludes to the embarrassments winch the strange con. 
 <Juct of Governour Morris had occasioned, and which, I well know, had ere-, 
 ated suspicions of the sincerity of Mr. Washington. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 15 
 
 Morris had thrown in the way- of a successor, and having no autho- 
 rity from the American government, to speak officially upon any 
 thing relating to me, he found himself obliged to proceed by unof- 
 ficial means with individual members ; for though Robespierre was 
 overthrown, the Robespierrian members of the Committee of Public 
 Safety still remained in considerable force, and had they found. out 
 that Mr. Mon ,-oe had no official authority upon, {the case, they would 
 have paid little or norcgard to his reclamation of me. In the mean 
 time my health was suffering exceedingly, the dreary prospect of 
 winter was coming on, and imprisonment was still a thing of danger. 
 After the Robespierrian members of the Committee were removed, 
 by the expiration of their time of serving, Mr. Monroe reclaimed me, 
 land I was liberated the 4th of November, Mr. Monroe arrived in 
 Paris the beginning of August befor,e, AH that period of my impri- 
 sonment, at least, I owe not to Robespierre, but to his colleague in 
 projects, George Washington. Immediately upon my liberation, Mr. 
 Monroe invited me to his house, where I remained more than a year 
 and a half; and I speak of his aid and friendship, as an open-heart- 
 ed man will always do in such a case, with respect and gratitude. 
 
 Soon after my liberation, the Convention passed a unanimous 
 vote, to- invite me to return to my seat among them. The times 
 were still unsettled and dangerous, as well from without as within, 
 for the coalition was unbroken, and the constitution not settled. I 
 chose, however, to accept the invitation : for as I undertake nothing 
 but what I believe to be right, I abandon nothing, that I undertake ; 
 and 1 was willing also to show, that, as I was not of a cast of mind 
 to be deterred by prospects, or retrospects, of danger, so neither were 
 rny principles to be weakened by misfortune or perverted by disgust, 
 
 Being now once more abroad in the world, I began to find that 
 I was not the only one who had conceived an unfavorable opinion 
 of Mr, Washingtqn ; it was evident that his character was on the 
 decline as well among Americans, as among foreigners of different 
 nations. From being the chief of the government, he had made 
 himself the chief of a party ; and his integrity was questioned, for 
 his politics had a doubtful appearance. The mission of Mr. Jay, to 
 London, notwithstanding there was an American minister there al- 
 ready, had then taken place, and was beginning to be talked of. It 
 appeared to others, as it did to me, to be enveloped in mystery, which 
 every day served either to increase or to explain into matter of 
 suspicion. 
 
16 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 In the year 1790, of about that time,- Mr. Washington, as presi- 
 dent, had scut Governeur Morris to London, as his secret agent, to 
 have some communication with die British ministry. To cover, the 
 agency of Morris it was given out, I know not by whom, that he 
 went as an agent from Robert Morris, to borrow money in Europe, 
 and the report was permitted to pass uncontradicted. The event 
 of Morris's negotiation was, that Mr. Hammond was sent minister 
 from England to America, Pinkney from America to England, and 
 himself minister to France. If, while Morris was minister in Fiance, 
 he was not an emissary of tho British ministry and the coalesced 
 powers, he gave strong reason to suspect him of it. No one who 
 saw his conduct, and heard his conversation, could doubt his being 
 in their interest; and had he not got off at the time he did, after his 
 recall, he would have been in arrestation. Some letters of his had 
 fallen into the hands of the Committee of Public Safety, and enquiry 
 was making after him. 
 
 A great bustle has been made by Mr. Washington about the con-, 
 duct of Genet in America, while that of his own minister, Morris, 
 in France, was infinitely more reproachable. If Genet was impru- 
 dent or rash, he was not treacherous ; but Morris was all three. 
 He was the enemy of the French revolution, in every stage of it. 
 But notwithstanding this conduct on the part of Morris, and the 
 known profligacv of. his character, Mr. Washington, in a letter he 
 wrote to him at the time of recalling him on the complaint and re- 
 quest of the Committee of Public Safety, assures him, that though 
 he had complied with that request, he still retained the same esteem 
 and friendship for him as before. This letter, Morris was foolish 
 enough to tell of; and, as his own character and conduct were 
 notorious, tho telling of it could have but one effect, which was tha^ 
 of implicating the character of the writer. Morris still loiters in 
 Europe, chiefly in England ; and Miv Washington is still in corres? 
 pondence with him. Mr. Washington ought, therefore, to expect, 
 especially since his conduct in the afiiiirs of Jay's treaty, that 
 France must consider Morris and Washington as men of the same 
 description. The chief difference, however, between the two is, 
 (for in politics there is none,) that the one is profligate enough to 
 profess an indifference about moral principles, and the other is pru- 
 dent enough to conceal the want of them. 
 
 About three months after I was at liberty, the official note of Jay 
 to Grenville, on the subject of the capture of American vessels by 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 17 
 
 the British cruisers, appeared in the American papers that arrived 
 at Paris, Every thing was of a piece— every thing was mean. The 
 same kind of character went to all circumstances public pr private. 
 Disgusted at this national dbgradation, as well as at the particular 
 conduct of Mr. Washington to me, I wrote to him (Mr. Washing- 
 ton) on the twenty-second of February, 1795, under coyer to the 
 then secretary of state, (Mr. Randolph;) and entrusted the letter to ' 
 Mr. Letombe, who was appointed French consul to Philadelphia, 
 and was on the point of taking his departure. When I supposed 
 Mr. Letombe had sailed, I mentioned the letter to Mr. Monroe, 
 and as I was then in his house, I showed it to him. He expressed 
 a wish that I would recall it, which he supposed might be done, as 
 he had learned that , Mr. Letombe had not fhen sailed. I agreed 
 to do so, and it was returned by Mr. Letombe under cover to Mr, 
 Monroe. The letter, will, however, now reach Mr. Washington 
 publicly in the course of this work. 
 
 -About the month of September following, I had a severe relapse, 
 which gave occasion to the report of my death. I had felt it coming 
 on a considerable time before, which occasioned me to hasten the 
 work I had then on hand, The Second Part of the Age of Reason. 
 When I had finished the work, I bestowed another letter on Mr. 
 Washington, which I sent under cover to Mr. Franklin Bache, of 
 Philadelphia. The letter was as follows : 
 
 "TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 " PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " Paris, September 20, 1795. 
 " Sir, 
 *' I had. written you a letter by Mr. Letombe, French consul, 
 but, at the tequest of Mr. Monroe, I withdrew it, and the letter is 
 still by me. I was the more easiry prevailed upon to do this, as il 
 was then my intention to have returned 1 to America the latter end 
 of. the present year (1795;) but the illness I now suffer prevents 
 nie. In case I had come, I should have applied to you for such 
 parts of your official letters (and your private ones, if you had cho- 
 sen to give them) as contained any instructions or directions -either 
 to Mr. Monroe, to Mr. Morris; or to any other person, respecting 
 nie ; for after you were informed of my imprisonment in France, it 
 was incumbent on you to have made some enquiry intothe cause, 
 as you might' very well conclude that I had not the opportunity of 
 
1§ LETTER TQ WASHINGTON. 
 
 informing you of it. I cannot understand your silence upon this 
 subject upon any other ground, than; as connivance at my impri- 
 sonment ; and this -is the manner it is understood here, and will be 
 understood in America,, unless you will give me authority for con- 
 tradicting it. T therefore write you this letter, to propose to you 
 to send me copies of any lctteissi you have written, that I may re- 
 move this suspicion. In the preface to,' the Second Part of the Age 
 of Reason, I; have given a memorandum from the hand-writing of 
 Robespierre,, in which he proposed a degree of accusation against 
 me, "for the interest of America, as well as of France." He could 
 have no cause for putting America' in the case, but by interpreting 
 the silence of the American government into connivance and con- 
 sent. I was imprisoned on the ground of being born in England ; 
 and your silence in not enquiring the cause of that imprisonment, 
 a,nd reclaiming me against it,. was tacitly giving me up. I ought 
 not to have suspected you of treachery. ; but whether I recover 
 from the illness I now suffer, or not, I shall continue to think you 
 treacherous, till you give me cause to think otherwise. I am sure- 
 you would have found yourself more at your ease, had you acted 
 by me as you ought ; for whether your desertion of me was intend- 
 ed to gratify the English government, or to let me fall into destruc- 
 tion in France, that you might exclaim the louder against the 
 French revolution ; or whether you hoped by my extinction to meet 
 with less opposition in mounting up the American government ; 
 either of these, will involve you in reproach you will not easily 
 shake off. 
 
 "Thomas Paine." 
 
 Here follows: the letter above alluded to, which had been with- 
 drawn : 
 
 "TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 " PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 " Paris, February 22, 1795. 
 "• Sir, 
 " As it is always painful to reproach those one would wish to 
 respect, it is not without some difficulty that I have taken the reso- 
 lution to write to you. .The danger to which I have been exposed 
 cannot have been unknown to you, and the guarded silence yon 
 have ■observed, upon, that .circumstance, is.what I ought not to have 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 19 
 
 expected from you, either as a friend or as President of the United 
 States. 
 
 "You knew enough of my character, to be assured that I could 
 not have deserved imprisonment in Fiance ; and, without knowing 
 any tiling more than this, you had sufficient ground to have taken 
 some interest for my safety. Every motive arising from recollec- 
 tion ought to havf) suggested to you rhe consistency of such a mea- 
 sure. But I cannot find that you have so much as directed ah 
 enquiry to be made whether I was in prison or at liberty, dead or 
 alive ; what the cause of that imprisonment was, or whether there 
 Was any service or assistance you couid rendsr. Is this what I 
 ought to have expected from America, after the part I have acted 
 towards her '! Of will it redound to her honor or to your's that I 
 tell the story 1 I do not hesitate to say, that you have not served 
 America with more fidelity, or greater zeal, or more disinterested* 
 uess, than myself, and perhaps not with better effect. After the 
 revolution of America had been established, you rested at home to 
 partake its advantages, and I ventured into new scenes of difficulty 
 to extend the principles which that revolution had produced. In 
 the progress of events, you beheld yourself a president in America, 
 and me a prisoner in France ; you folded your arms, forgot your 
 friend, and became silent. 
 
 " As every thing I have been doing in Europe was Connected 
 with my wishes for the prosperity of America, I ought to be the 
 more surprised at this conduct on the part of her government. It 
 leaves me but one mode of explanation, which is, that every tiling 
 is not as it ought to.be amongst you, and that the presence of a 
 man who might disapprove, and who had credit enough with the 
 country to be heard and believed, was not wished for. This was 
 the operating motive with the despotic faction that imprisoned me 
 in France, (though the pretence was, that I was a foreigner,) and 
 those that have been silent and inactive towards me in America, 
 appear to me to have acted from the same motive. It is impossible 
 for me to discover any other. 
 
 " After the part I have taken in the revolution of America, it h 
 natural that I feel interested in whatever relates to her character 
 and prosperity. Though I am not on the spot to see what is im- 
 mediately acting there, I see some part of what she is acting in 
 Europe. For your own sake, as well as for that of America, I 
 was both surprised and concerned at the appointment of Govcrneur 
 
20 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 Morris! to be Minister to France^ His conduct has proved; that 
 the opinion I hasd formed of that appointment was well foundedi I 
 wrote that opinion to. Mr. Jefferson at the time, and I was frank 
 enough to say the same thing to Morris, that it was an unfortunate 
 appointment. His prating, insignificant pomposity rendered ford 
 at once offensive, suspected, and ridiculous ; and his total neglect 
 of all business, had so disgusted the Americans; that they proposed 
 drawing up a. protest against him. He carried this neglect to such 
 an extreme, that it was necessary to Inform him of it ; and I asked 
 him one day, if ha did not feel himself ashamed to take the money 
 of the country, and do nothing for it? But Morris is stf fond of 
 profit and voluptuousness; that he cares nothing abotft Character, 
 Had he not been removed at the timfe he was, I think his conduct 
 would have precipitated the two countries into a rupture ; and in 
 this case, hated systematically as America is, and ever will be, by 
 the British government, and at the same time suspected by France, 
 the commerce of America would have fallen a prey t& both. 
 
 If the inconsistent cobduct 1 of Morris exposed the interest of 
 America to some hazard in' France, the pusillanimous conduct of 
 Mr. Jay in England has rendered the American government con-" 
 temptiUe in Europe. Is it possible that any man, who has contri- 
 buted to the independence of America, and to free her from the 1 
 tyranny and injustice of the British government, can read without 
 $hame. and indignation the note of Jay to Grenville ? It is a satire 
 Upon the Declaration of Independence, and an enconragement to> 
 the British government to treat America with contempt. At the 
 time this minister of petitions was acting this miserable part, he 
 had every moans in his hands to enable him to hive done his busi- 
 ness as he ought. The success or failure of his" mission depended 
 upon the success or failure of the French arms. Had France failed,. 
 Mr. Jay might have put his humble petition in his pocket, and 
 gone home. The case happened to be otherwise,- and he has sa- 
 crificed the honor, and perhaps the advantage of it, by turning- 
 petitioner. I take it for granted, that he was sent over to demand 
 indemnification for the captured property; and, in this case, if he 
 thought he wanted a preamble to his demand, he might have said, 
 " That, tjiough the government of England might suppose itsfelf 
 "under the necessity of seizing American property bound ti> 
 " France, yet that supposed necessity could not preclude indemnL- 
 ft fixation to the proprietors, who, acting under the authority of 
 
LETTER TO WASHING ION. Si 
 
 " \aeii own government, were not accountable to any other." But 
 Mr. Jay sets out with an implied recognition of the right of the 
 British government to seize acid condemn : for he enters his com- 
 plaint against the irregularity of the seizures, and the condemna- 
 tion, as if they were reprehensible only by not being conformable 
 to the terms of the proclamation under which they were seized. 
 Instead of being the envoy of a government, he goes over like a 
 lawyer to demand a new trial. I can hardly help thinking that 
 Grenville wrote that note himself, and Jay signed it ; for the style 
 of it is domestic and not diplomatic. The term, his Majesty, 
 used without any descriptive epithet, always signifies the King 
 whom the minister represents. If this sinking of the demand into 
 a petition was a juggle between Gpenville and Jay to cover the 
 indemnification, I think it will end in another juggle, that of never 
 paying the money ; and be made use of afterwards to preclude the 
 tight of demanding it : for Mr. Jay has virtually disowned the right 
 by appealing to the magnanimity of his Majesty against the cap- 
 turers. He has made this magnanimous Majesty the umpire in the 
 Case, and the government of the United States must abide by- the 
 decision. If, Sir, I turn some part of this business into ridicule, it 
 is to avoid the unpleasant sensation of serious indignation. 
 
 " Among other things which I confess I do not understand, is 
 your proclamation of neutrality. This has always appeared to me 
 'as an assumption on the part of the executive. But passing this 
 oyer, as a disputable case, and considering it only as political, the 
 consequence has been that of sustaining the losses of war, without 
 the balance of reprisals. When the profession of neutrality, on the 
 part of America, was answered by hostilities on the part of Britain, 
 the object and intention of that neutrality existed no longer; and- 
 to maintain.it after this, Was not only to encourage firtlicr insults 
 and depredations, but was an informal breach of neutrality towards 
 France, by passively contributing to the aid of her enemy. That 
 the government of England considered the American government 
 as pusillanimous, is evident from the increasing insolence of the 
 conduct of the former towards thelatter, till the affair of General 
 Wayne. She then saw that it might be possible to kick a govern- 
 ment into some degree of spirit. So far as the proclamation* of 
 neutrality was intended to prevent a dissolute spirit of privateering 
 in America under foreign colors, it was undoubtedly laudable ; 
 but to continue it as a government neutrality, after the commerce 
 
22 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 of America was made war upon, was submission and not neutrality. 
 I have heard so much about this thing called neutrality, that I 
 know not if the ungenerous and dishonorable silence (for I must 
 call it such,) that has been observed by your part of the govern- 
 ment towards me, during; my imprisonment, has not in some mea- 
 sure arisen from that policy. 
 
 " Though I have written yon this letter, you ought not to sup- 
 pose it has been an agreeable undertaking to me. On the contrary, 
 I assure you, it has caused me some disquietude. I am sorry you 
 have given me cause to do it; for, as 1 have always remembered 
 your former friendship with pleasure, I suffer a loss by your de 1 - 
 priving me of that sentiment. 
 
 "THOMAS PAINE." 
 
 That this letter was not written in very good temper, is very 
 evident ; but it was just such a letter as his conduct appeared to 
 me to merit, and every thing on his part since has served to con- 1 
 firm that opinion. Had I wanteda commentary on his silence, with 
 respect to my imprisonment in France, some of his faction have 
 furnished me with it. What I here allude to, is a publication in a 
 Philadelphia paper, copied afterwards into a New York paper, 
 both under the patroriage of the Washington faction, in which the 
 writer, still supposing me in prison in France, wonders at my lengthy 
 respite from the scaffold. And he marks his politics still farther, 
 by saying, " It appears, moreover, that the people of England did 
 " not relish his (Thomas Paine's) opinions quite so well as he ex- 
 " pected ; and that for one of his last pieces, as destructive to the 
 " peace and happiness of their country, (meaning, I suppose, the 1 
 " Rights of Man,) they threatened our knight errant with such se- 
 " rious vengeance, that, to avoid a trip to Botany Bay, he fled over 
 " lo France, as a less dangerous voyage." 
 
 I am not refuting or contradicting the falsehood of this publica- 
 tion, for it is sufficiently notorious; neither am I censuring the 
 writer: on the contrary, I thank him for the explanation he has 
 incautiously given of the principles of the Washington faction. In- 
 significant, however, as the piece is, it was capable i f having some 
 ill effects, had it arrived in France during my imprisonment, a: d 
 in the time of Robespierre ; and I am in t uncharitable in sup- 
 posing that this was one of the intentions of the writer.* 
 
 * I know not who the writer of the piece is, but some of the Americans 
 
LETTER, TO WASHINGTON. 23 
 
 I have now done with Mr. Washington on the score of private 
 affairs. It would have been far more agreeable lo me had his eon- 
 duct been such as not to have merited these rfproaches. Errors, 
 or caprices of the' temper, can be. pardoned and forgotten; but a 
 cold, deliberate crime of the heart, such as Mr. Washington is ca- 
 pable of acting, is not to be washed' away. I now proceed to other 
 matter. 
 
 After Jay's! note; to Grenville arrived in Paris from America, 
 the character of every thing that was to follow might be easily 
 foreseen ; and it was upon this anticipation that: my letter of 
 February the 22d was founded; The event has proved that I was. 
 not mistaken, except that it has been much Worse than I expected. 
 
 It would naturally occur to Mr. Washington, that the secrecy of 
 Jay's mission to England, where there was already an American 
 minister, could • not but create some suspicion in the French go- 
 vernment, especially as the conduct of Morris had been notorious, 
 and the intimacy of Mr. Washington with Morris was known. 
 
 T;he character which Mr; Washington has attempted to act in 
 the. wprld, is- a sort of non-describable, camelion-colored thing, 
 called prudence. It is, in many- cases, a substitute for principle, 
 and is so nearly allied to hypocrisy, that it easily slides into it. 
 His genius for prudence furnished him, in this instance, with an 
 expedient that served (as is the natural and general character of 
 all expedients) to diminish the embarrassments of the moment, 
 and multiply them afterwards; for he caused it to be announced 
 to the French government as a confidential matter, (Mr. Washing- 
 ton should recollect that I was a member of the Convention, 
 and had the means of knowing' what I here state) — he caused 
 it, I say, to be announced, and that for the purpose of preventing 
 any uneasiness to France, on the score of Mr. Jay's mission to En- 
 gland, that the'objfect of that mission, and Mr. Jay's authority, 
 were restricted to the demanding of the surrender qf the west- 
 ern' posts', and indemnification for the cargoes captured in Ameri- 
 can vessels. Mr: Washington knows that this was untrue ; and 
 knowing this, he had good reason, to himself, for refusing to fur- 
 nish the House of Representatives with copies of the instructions 
 given to Jay, as he might suspect, among other things, that he 
 
 say it is Fhineas Bond, an American refugee, but now a British Consul, 
 and that he writes under the signature of Peter' Skunk, or Peter Porcupine, 
 or some such signature 
 
24 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 should also be called upon for copies of instructions given to other 
 ministers, and that, in the contradiction of instructions, his want of 
 integrity would be detected. Mr. Washington may now, perhaps, 
 learn, when it is too late to be of any use to him, that a man will 
 pass better through the world with a thousand open errors upon, 
 his back, than in being detected in one sly falsehood. When oqe 
 is detected, a thousand are suspected. 
 
 The first account that arrived in Paris of a treaty being negolia/: 
 ted by Mr. Jay, (for nobody suspected any?) came in ap English 
 newspaper, which announced that a treaty, offensive apd defensive 
 had been concluded between the United States of America and, 
 England. This was immediately denied by every American in 
 Paris, as an impossible thing and though it was disbelieved by 
 the French, it imprinted a suspicion that some underhand business 
 was going forward. At length the treaty itself arrived, and every 
 well-affected American blushed with shame. 
 
 It is curious to observe, how the appearances of characters will 
 change, whilst the root that produces them remains the same. The 
 Washington faction having waded through the slough of negocia- 
 tion, and whilst it amused FranSe with professions of friendship 
 contrived to injure her, immediately throws off the hypocrite, and, 
 assumes the air of a swaggering bravado. The parly papers of 
 that imbecile administration were on this occasion, filled with para- 
 graphs about sovereignty. A paltroon may boast of his sovereign 
 light to let another kick him, and this is the only kind of sove- 
 reignty shown in the treaty with England, But those daring parr 
 graphs, as Timothy Pickering well knows, were intended fos 
 France, without whose assistance, in mep, money, and ships, Mr. 
 Washington would have cut but a poor figure in the American 
 war. But of his. military talents I shall gpeak hereafter., 
 
 f. mean not to enter into any discussion of any article of Jay's 
 tr.eatyj I shall speak only of the whole of if., It is attempted to b^- 
 jusljified on the ground of its not being a violation of any articleor 
 articles of the treaty pre-existing with France. But the sovereign 
 right of explanation does not lie with George Washington and his 
 man Timothy ; France, on her part, has, at least, nn equal right : 
 and when nations dispute, it is not so much about words as about 
 things. 
 
 A man, such as the world calls a sharper, as versed as Jay must 
 be supposed to he in the quibbles of the tyyr; may find, P way to 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON, £5 
 
 enter into engagements, and make bargains, in such a manner as 
 to cheat some other party, without that party being able, as the 
 phrase is, to lake the law of him. This often happens in the eaba.- 
 listical circle of what is called law. But when this is attempted to 
 be acted on the national scale of treaties, it is too despicable to be 
 defended, or to be permitted to exist. Yet this is the trick upon 
 which Jay's treaty is founded, so far as it has relation to the treaty 
 pre-existing with France. It is a counter treaty to that treaty, and 
 perverts all the great articles of that treaty to the injury of France, 
 and makes them operate as a bounty to England, with whom 
 France is at war. The Washington administration shows great 
 desire th£t the treaty between France and the United States be 
 preserved. Nobody can doubt its sincerity upon this matter. There 
 is not a British minister, a British merchant, or a British agent, or 
 factor, in America, that does not anxiously wish the same thing. 
 The treaty with France, serves now as a passport to supply En- 
 gland with naval stores, and other articles of American produce ; 
 whilst the same articles, when coming to France, are made, contra- 
 band, or seizable, by Jay's treaty with England. The treaty with 
 France says, that neutral ships make neutral property, and thereby 
 gives protection to English property on board American ships ; 
 and Jay's treaty delivers up French property on board American 
 ships to be seized by the English. It is too paltry to talk of faith, 
 of national honor, and of the preservation of treaties, whilst such a 
 barefaced treachery as this stares the world in the face. 
 
 The Washington administration may save itself the trouble of 
 proving to the French government its most faithful intentions of 
 preserving the treaty with France ; for France has now no desire 
 that it should be preserved ; she had nominated an envoy extraor- 
 dinary to America, to make Mr. Washington and his government a 
 present of the treaty, and to have no more to do with that, or with 
 him. It was at the same time officially declared to the American 
 minister at Paris, that the French Republic had rather have the 
 American government for an open enemy than a treacherous friend. 
 This, sir, with the internal distractions caused in America, and the 
 loss of character in the world, is the eventful crisis alluded to in the 
 beginning of this letter, to which your double politics have brought 
 the affairs of your country. It is time that the eyes of America be 
 opened upon you. 
 
 How France would have conducted herself towards America, 
 
26 BETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 and American commerce, after all treaty stipulations had ceased, 
 and under the sense of services rendered and injuries received, I 
 know not. It is, however, an unpleasant reflection, that in all 
 national quarrels, the innocent, and even the friendly part of the 
 community, become involved with the culpable and the unfriendly ; 
 and as the accounts that arrived from America, continued to mani- 
 fest an invariable attachment, in the general mass of the people, to 
 their original ally, in opposition to the new fangled Washington 
 faction, the resolutions that had been taken in France were sus- 
 pended. It happened, also, fortunately enough, that Governeur 
 Morris was not minister at this time. 
 
 There is, however, one point that yet remains in embryo, and 
 which, among other things, serves to show the ignorance of Wash- 
 ington treaty-makers, and their inattention to pre-existing treaties, 
 when they were employing themselves in framing or ratifying the 
 new treaty with England. 
 
 The secpnd article of the treaty of commerce between the Uni- 
 ted States and France, says, "The most Christian King and the 
 " United States, engage mutually not to grant any particular favor 
 " to other nations in respect to commerce and navigation, that shall 
 " not immediately become common to the other party, who shall 
 " enjoy the same favor freely, if the concession was freely made, 
 " or on allowing the same compensation if the concession was con- 
 " ditional." 
 
 All the concessions, therefore, made to England by Jay's treaty, 
 are, through the medium of this second article in the pre-existing 
 treaty, made to France, and become engrafted into the treaty with 
 France, and can be exercised by her as a matter of right, the same 
 as by England. 
 
 Jay's treaty lnakes a concession to England, and that uncondi- 
 tionally, of seizing naval stores in American ships, and condemning 
 them as contraband. It makes also a concession to England to 
 seise provisions and other articles in American ships* Other arti- 
 cles, are all other articles ; and none but an ignoramus, or some- 
 thing worse, would have put such a phrase into a treaty. The con- 
 dition annexed to- this case is, that the provisions and other articles 
 so seized, are to be paid for at a price to be agreed upon. Mr. 
 Washmgtpn, as president, ratified this treaty after he knew the 
 British government had recommenced an indiscriminate seizure of 
 provisions, and of all other articles in Amot ican ships : and it is 
 
Better to Washington. 27 
 
 now known that those seizures were made to fit out the expedition 
 going to Quiberon Bay, and it Was known beforehand that they 
 would be made. The evidence goes also a good way to prove that 
 Jay and Ghmville understood each other upon that subject. Mr. 
 Pinkncy, when ho passed through F ranee in his way to Spain, 
 spoke of the recommencement of the seizures as.a thing that Would 
 take place. The French government had by some means received 
 information from London to the same purpose, with the addition, 
 that the recommencement of the seizures would cause no misunder- 
 standing between the British and American governments. Gren- 
 ville, in defending himself against the opposition in' Parliament, on 
 account of the scarcity of corn, said (see his speech at the opening 
 of the parliament that met October 29, 1795) that the supplies for 
 the Quiberon expedition wefe furnished out of the Ahierican ships, 
 and all the accounts received at that time from England stated that 
 those seizures were made under the treaty. After the supplies for 
 the Quiberon expedition had 1 been procured, and the expected suc- 
 cess had failed, the seizures were countermanded ; and had the 
 French seized provision vessels going to England, it is probable 
 that the Quiberon expedition could not have been attempted. 
 
 In one point of view, the treaty with England operates as a loan 
 to the English government. It gives permission to that govern- 
 ment to take American property at sea, to any amount, and pay for 
 it when it suits her ; and, besides this, the treaty is in every point 
 of view a surrender of the rights of American commerce and navi- 
 gation, and a refusal to France of the rights of neutrality. The 
 American flag is not now a neutral flag to France ; Jay's treaty of 
 Surrender gives a monopoly of it to England. 
 
 On the contrary, the treaty of commerce between America and 
 France was formed on the most liberal principles, and calculated to 
 give the greatest encouragement to' the infant commerce of America. 
 France was neither a carrier nor an exporter of naval stores, or of 
 provisions : those articles belonged wholly to America ; and they 
 had all the protection m that treaty which a treaty can give. But 
 so much has that treaty been perverted, that the liberality of it on 
 the part of France has served lo encourage Jay to form a counter- 
 treaty with England; for he must have supposed the hands of 
 France tied up by her treaty with America, when he was making 
 such large concessions in favor of England. The injury which Mr. 
 Washington's administration has done to the character, as well as to 
 
28 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 the' commerce, of America, is too great to be repaired by him. Fo- 
 reign nations will be shy of making treaties with a government that 
 has given the faithless example of perverting the liberality of a 
 former treaty to the injury of the party with whom it was made. 
 
 In what a fraudulent light must Mr- Washington's character ap- 
 pear in the world, when his declarations and his conduct are com- 
 pared together ! Here follows the letter he wrote to the Committee 
 of Public Safety, while Jay was negociating in profound secrecy 
 this treacherous treaty : 
 
 " George Washington, President of the United States of Ame- 
 " rica, to the representatives of the French people, members 
 " of the Committee of Public Safety of the French re- 
 " public, the great and good friend and ally of the United 
 " States; 
 
 " On the intimation of the wish of the French republic that a new 
 " minister should be sent from the United States, I resolved to 
 "manifest my sense of the readiness with which my request was 
 " fulfilled, (that of recalling Genet,) by immediately fulfilling the 
 " request of your government, (that of recalling Morris.) 
 
 " It was some time before a character could be obtained worthy 
 " of the high office of expressing the attachment of the United 
 " States to the happiness of our allies) and draining closer the bonds 
 " of our friendship. I have now made choice of James Monroe, 
 " one of our distinguished citizens, to reside near the French re- 
 *' public, in quality of minister plenipotentiary of the United States 
 " of America. He is instructed to bear to you our sincere solici- 
 " tudefor your welfare, and to cultivate with zeal the cordiality so 
 " happily subsisting between us. From a knowledge of his fidelity, 
 " probity, and good conduct, I have entire confidence that he will 
 " render himself acceptable to you, and give effect to your desire 
 " of preserving and advancing, on all occasions, the interest and 
 " connexion of the two nations. I beseech you, therefore* to give 
 " full credence to whatever he shall say to you on the part of the 
 " United States, and most of all, when he shall assure you that, your 
 " prosperity is an object of our affection. And I pray God to have! 
 " the French republic in his holy keeping. 
 
 " G. WASHINGTON." 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 29 
 
 Was it ,by entering into a treaty with England to surrender 
 French property on board American ships to be seized by the En- 
 glish, while English property on board American ships was declared 
 by the French treaty not to be seizable, that the bonds cf friend- 
 ship between America and' France were to be drawn closer? Was 
 it by declaring naval stores contraband when coming to France, 
 whilst by the .French treaty they were not contraband when going 
 to England; that the connexion between France and America was 
 to be advanced ? Was it by opening the American ports to the 
 British navy in the present war, from which ports the same navy had 
 been expelled by the aid solicited from France in the American war 
 (and that aid gratuitously given) that the gratitude of America was 
 to be shown, and the solicitude spoken of in the letter demon- 
 strated ? 
 
 As the letter was addressed to the Committee of Public Safety, 
 Mr. Washington did not expect it would get abroad in the world, 
 "or be seen by any other eye than that of Robespierre, or be heard 
 by any Other ear than that of the Committee ; that it would pass as 
 a whisper across the Atlantic from one dark chamber to the other, 
 and there terminate. It was calculated to' remove from the mind 
 of the committee all suspicion upon Jay's mission to England, and 
 in this point of view it was suited to the circumstances of the move- 
 ment then passing ; but as the event of that mission has proved the 
 letter to be hypocritical, it serves no other purpose of the present 
 moment than to show that the writer is not to be credited. Two 
 circumstances serve to make the reading of the letter necessary 
 in the Convention: the one was, that they who succeeded On the 
 fall of Robespierre, found it most proper to act with publicity ; the 
 other, to extinguish the suspicions which the strange conduct of 
 •Morris had occasioned in France. 
 
 When the British treaty and the ratification of it by Mr. Wash- 
 ington were known in France, all further declarations from him of 
 his good disposition as an ally and a friend, parsed for so many 
 'cyphers ; but still it appeared necessary to him to keep up the 
 farce of declarations. It is stipulated in the British treaty, that 
 commissioners are to report at the end of two years, on the case 
 of neutral ships making neutral property. In the mean time, 
 neutral ships do not make neutral property according to the British 
 treaty, and they do according to the French treaty. The preserva- 
 tion, therefore, of the French treaty became of great importance to 
 
30 LETTER TO WASHINGTON; 
 
 England, as by that means she can employ American ships as car- 
 riers while the same advantage is denied to France. Whether the 
 French treaty could exist as a matter of. right after this clandestine 
 perversion of it, could not but give some apprehensions to the parti- 
 zans of the British treaty, and it became necessary to them to make 
 up by fine words what was wanting in good actions. 
 
 An opportunity offered to that purpose. The Convention, on the 
 public reception of Mr. Monroe, ordered the American flag and the 
 French flag to be displayed unitedly in the hall of the Convention. 
 Mr. Monroe made a present of an American flag for the purpose. 
 The Convention returned this compliment, by sending a French 
 flag to America, to be presented by their minister, Mr. Adet, to the 
 American government. This resolution passed long before Jay's 
 treaty was known or suspected: it passed in the days of confi- 
 dence; but the flag was not presented by Mr. Adet till several 
 months after the treaty had been ratified. Mr. Washington made 
 this the occasion of saying some fine things to the French minister; 
 and the better to get himself into tune to do this, he began by say- 
 ing the finest things of himself. 
 
 " Born, sir," said he, " in a land of liberty ; having learned its 
 " value ; having engageji in a perilous conflict to defend it ; having, 
 " in a word, devoted the best years of my life to secure its perma- 
 " nent establishment in my own country ; my anxious recollections, 
 "my sympathetic feelings, and my best wishes, are irresistibly ex- 
 " cited, whenever, in any country, I see an oppressed people un- 
 "furl the banner of freedom." Mr. Washington, having expended 
 so many fine phrases upon himself, was obliged to invent a new 
 one for the French, and he calls them " Wonderful people 1" 
 The coalesced powers acknowledged as much. 
 
 It is laughable to hear Mr. Washington talk of his sympathetic 
 feelings, who has always been remarked, even among his friends, 
 for not having any. He has, however, given no proofs of any to 
 me. As to the pompous encomiums he so liberally pays to himself 
 on the score of, the American revolution, the propriety of them may 
 be questioned; and since he has forced them so much into notice, 
 it is fair to examine his pretensions. 
 
 A stranger might be led to suppose, frpm the egotism with which 
 Mr. Washington speaks, that himself, and himself only, had gene- 
 rated, conducted, completed, established, the revolution. In fine, 
 that it was all his, own doing. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 31 
 
 In the first place, as to the, political part, he had no share in it ; 
 and, therefore, the whole of that is out. of the question with respect 
 to him. There remains, then, only the military part ; and it would 
 have been prudent in Mr. Washington not to have awakened in- 
 quiry upon that subject. Fame then was cheap ; he enjoyed it 
 cheaply ; and nobody was disposed to take away the laurels that, 
 whether they were acquired or not, had been given. 
 
 Mr. Washington's merit consisted in constancy. But constancy 
 was the common virtue of the revolution. Whowas there that, was 
 inconstant? I know but of one military defection, that of Arnold, 
 and I know of no political defection, among those who made them- 
 selves eminent when the revolution was formed by the Declaration 
 of Independence.' Even Silas Deane, though he attempted to de- 
 fraud, did not betray. 
 
 But when we speak of military character, something more is to 
 be understood than constancy; and something more ought to be 
 understood than the Fabian system of doing nothing. The nothing 
 part can be done by any body. Old Mrs. Thompson, the houser 
 keeper of head, quarters, (who. threatened! to make the sun and the 
 wind, shine through BJvington of ,New York,) could hav 5 e done, it as 
 well as Mr. Washingron. Deborah would have been as good as 
 Barak. 
 
 Mr. Washington had the nominal rank of commander-in-chief, 
 but he was not so in fact, He had, in reality, only a separate com- 
 mand. He had no control over, or direction of, the army to the 
 northward under Gates, that captured Burgoyne ; or of that to the 
 south under Greene, that recovered the southern states.* The m> 
 minal rank, however, of commander-in-chief, served to throw upon 
 him the lustre of those actions, and to make him appear as the soul 
 and centre of all military operations in America. 
 
 He commenced his command June, 1775, during the time the 
 Massachusetts army lay before Boston, and after, the affair of Bun- 
 ker's Hill. The commencement of his command was the com- 
 mencement of inactivity. Nothing was afterwards done^or at- 
 tempted to' be done, during the nine months he remained before 
 Boston. If we may judge.from the resistance made at Concord, and 
 afterwards at Bunker's Hill, there was a spirit of enterprise at that 
 time, which the presence of Mr, Washington chilled into cold de- 
 
 * See Mr. Winterbotham's valuable History of America, lately pub; 
 lished. 
 
32 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 fence. By the advantage of a good exterior he attracts respect, 
 which his habitual silence tends to preserve ; but he has not the 
 talent of inspiring ardor in an army. The enemy removed from 
 Boston to Halifax, in Marc*!], 1776, to wait for reinforcements from 
 Europe, and to take a more advantageous position at New York. 
 
 The inactivity of the campaign of 1775, on the part of General 
 Washington, when the enemy had a less force than in any other 
 future period of the war, and the injudicious choice of positions 
 taken by him in the campaign of 1776, when the enemy had its 
 greatest force, necessarily produced the losses and misfortunes that 
 marked that gloomy campaign. The positions taken were either 
 islands or necks of land. In the former, the enemy, by the aid of 
 their ships, could bring their whole force against a part of General 
 Washington's, as in the affair of Long Island ; and in the latter, he 
 might be shut up as in the bottom of a bag. This had nearly been 
 the case at New York, and it was so in part ; it was actually the 
 case at Fort Washington ; and it would have been the case at Fort 
 Lee, if General Greene had not moved precipitately off, leaving 
 every thing behind, and by gaining Hackinsuch bridge, got out of 
 the bag of Bergen Neck. How far Mr. Washington, as General, is 
 blameable for these matters, I am not undertaking to determine ; 
 but they are evidently defects in military geography, The success- 
 ful skirmishes at the close of that campaign, (matters that would 
 scarcely be noticed in a better state of things,) make the brilliant 
 exploits of General Washington's seven campaigns. No wonder 
 we see so much pusillanimity in the President, when we see so 
 little enterprise in the General ! 
 
 The campaign of 1777 became famous, not by any thing on the 
 part of General Washington, but by the capture of General Bur- 
 goyne, and the army under his command, by the northern army at 
 Saratoga, under General Gates. So totally distinct and unconnectr 
 ed were the two armies of Washington and Gates, and so indepenr 
 dent was the latter of the authority of the nominal commander-in-. 
 chief, that the two Generals did not so much as correspond, and it 
 was only by a letter of General (since Governor) Clinton, that 
 General Washington was informed of that event. The British took 
 possession of Philadelphia this year, which they evacuated the next, 
 just time enough to save their heavy baggage and fleet of transports 
 from capture by the French Admiral D'Estaign, who arrived at the 
 mouth of the Delaware soon after. 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON, 33 
 
 The capture of Burgoyne gave an eclat in Europe to the Ame- 
 rican arms, and facilitated the alliance with France. The eclat, 
 however, was not kept up by any thing on the part of General 
 Washington. The same unfortunate languor that marked his en- 
 trance into the field, continued always. Discontent began to pier 
 vail strongly against him, and a party was formed in Congress, 
 whilst sitting at Yorktown, in Pennsylvania, for removing him from 
 the command of the army. The hope, however, of better times, 
 the news of the alliance with France, and the unwillingness of show- 
 ing discontent, dissipated the matter. 
 
 Nothing was done in the, campaign of 1778, 1779, 1780, in the 
 part where General Washington commanded, except the taking 
 Stony Point by General Wayne, The southern states in the mean 
 time were overrun by the enemy. They were afterwards recover- 
 ed by General Greene, who had in a very great measure created 
 the army that accomplished that recovery. In all this General 
 Washington had no share. The Fabian system of war,, followed by 
 him, began now to unfold itself with all its evils ; for what is Fabian 
 war without Fabian means to support it 1 The finances of Con- 
 gress depending wholly on emissions qf paper money, were ex- 
 hausted. Its credit was gone. The continental treasury was not 
 able to pay the expense of a brigade^ of wagons to transport the 
 necessary stores to the army, and yet the sole object, the establish- 
 ment of the revolution, was a thing of remote distance. The time 
 I am now speaking of is in the latter end of the year 1780. 
 
 In this situation of things it was found not only expedient, but 
 absolutely necessary, for Congress to state the whole case to its ally. 
 I know more of this matter, (before it came into Congress, or was 
 known to General Washington,) of its progress, and its issue, than 
 I choose to state in this letter. Colonel John Laurens was sent to 
 France, as an envoy extraordinary on this occasion, and by a pri- 
 vate agreement between him and me, I accompanied him. We 
 sailed from Boston in the Alliance frigate, February 11th, 1781. 
 France had already done much in accepting and paying bills drawn 
 by Congress ; she was now called upon to do more. The event of 
 Colonel Laurens's mission, with the aid of the venerable minister, 
 Franklin, was, that France gave in money, as a present, six millions 
 of livres, and ten millions more as a loan, and agreed to send a fleet 
 of not less than thirty sail of the line, at her own expense, as an 
 aid to America. Colonel Laurens and myself returned from Brest 
 
34 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 the first of June following, taking with us two millions and a half of 
 livres (upwards of one hundred thousand pounds sterling) of the 
 money given, and convoyingtwo ships with stores. 
 
 We arrived at' Boston the 25th of August following. De Grasse 
 arrived with the French fleet in the Chesapeake at the same time, 
 and was afterwards joined by that of Barras, making thirty-one sail 
 of the line. The money was transported in wagons from Boston 
 to the Bank of Philadelphia, of which Mr. Thomas Willing, who has 
 since put himself at the head of the list of petitioners in favor of the 
 British treaty, was then president. And it was by the aid of this 
 money, and this fleet, and of Rocbambeau's army, that Cornwallis 
 was taken ; the laurels of which have been unjustly given to Mr, 
 Washington. His merit in that affair was no more than that of any 
 other American officer. 
 
 1 have had, and still have, as much pride in the American revolu- 
 tion as any man, or as Mr. Washington has a right to have ; but that 
 pride has never made me forgetful whence the great aid came that 
 completed the business. Foreign aid (that of France) was calculated 
 upon at the commencement of the revolution. It is one of the sub- 
 jects treated of in the pamphlet Common Sense, but as a matter 
 that could not be hoped for, unless independence was declared. The 
 aid, however, was greater than could have been expected. 
 
 It is as well the ingratitude as the pusillanimity of Mr. Washings 
 ton, and the Washington faction, that has brought upon America 
 the loss of character she now suffers in the world, and the numeri 
 ous evils her commerce has undergone, and to which it is still ex- 
 posed. The British-ministry soon found out what sort of men they 
 had to deal with, and they dealt with them accordingly ; and if 
 furdier explanation was wanting, it has been fully given since, in 
 the snivelling address of the New York Chamber of Commerce to 
 the president, and in that of sundry merchants of Philadelphia, 
 which was not much better. 
 
 When the revolution of America was finally established by the, 
 termination of the war, the world gave her credit for great charac- 
 ter ; and she had nothing to do but to stand firm upon that ground. 
 The British ministry had their hands too full of trouble to have pror 
 voked a rupture with her, had she shown a proper resolution to de-. 
 fend her rights: but encouraged as they were by the submissive 
 character of the American administration, they proceeded from in- 
 sult to jnsult, till none mpre were left to be offered. The proposals 
 
LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 35 
 
 made by Sweden and Denmark to the American government, were 
 'disregarded. I know not if so much as an answer has been return- 
 ed to them. The minister penitentiary, (as some of the British 
 prints called him,) Mr. Jay, was sent on a pilgrimage to London; 
 to make all up by penance and petition. In the mean time the 
 lengthy and drowsy writer of the pieces signed Camillus held him- 
 self in reserve to vindicate every thing; and to sound in America 
 the tocsin of terror upon the inexhaustible resources of England. 
 Her resources, says he, are greater than those of all the other pow- 
 ers. This man is so intoxicated with fear and finance, that he 
 knows not the difference between plus and minus — between a hun- 
 dred pounds in hand; and a hundred pounds worse than nothing. 
 
 The commerce of America, so far as it had been established, by 
 all the treaties that had been formed prior to that by Jay, was free, 
 and the principles upon which it was established were good. That 
 ground ought never to have been departed from. It was the justi- 
 fiable ground of right; and no temporary difficulties ought to have 
 induced an abandonment of it. The case is now otherwise. The 
 ground, the scene, the pretensions, the every thing is changed. The 
 commerce of America is, by Jay's treaty, put under foreign domi- 
 nion. The sea is not free for her. Her right to navigate it is re- 
 duced to the right of escaping ; that is, until some ship of England 
 or France stops her vessels, and carries them into port. Every 
 article of American, produce, whether from the sea or the sand, 
 fish, flesh, vegetable, or manufacture, is, by Jay's treaty, made 
 ■either contraband or seizable. Nothing is exempt. In all other 
 "treaties of commerce^ the article which enumerates the contraband 
 articles", such as fire arms-, gunpowder, &c, is followed by another, 
 which enumerates the articles not contraband ; but it is not so in 
 Jay's treaty. There is no exempting article. Its place is supplied 
 by the article for seizing and carrying into port : and the sweeping 
 phrase of provisions and other articles includes every thing. 
 There never was such a base and servile treaty of surrender, since 
 treaties began to exist. 
 
 This is the ground upon which America now stands. All her 
 rights of commerce and navigation are to begin anew, and that with 
 loss of character to begin with. If there is sense enough left in the 
 heart to call a blush into the cheek, the Washington administration 
 must be ashamed to appear. And as to you, Sir, treacherous in 
 private friendship (for so you have been to me, and that in the day 
 
36 
 
 LETTER TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 of danger) and a hypocrite in public life, the world will be puzzled 
 to decide, whether you are an APOSTATE or an IMPOSTOR ? 
 Whether you have abandoned good principles, or whether you ever 
 had any ? 
 
 "THOMAS PAINE." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 MEMORIAL, 
 
 OF 
 
 THOMAS PAINE TO MR. MONROE, 
 
 ALLUDED TO IN THE FOREGOING LETTER. 
 
 Luxembourg, September 10, 1794. 
 
 I adpress this memorial to you, in consequence of a letter I re- 
 ceived from a friend 1.8th Fructidor, (September 14th,) in which he 
 says, " Mr. Monroe has told me, that he has no orders (meaning 
 " from the Congress) respecting you ; but I am sure he will leave 
 "'nothing undone to liberate you. But, from what I can learn, from 
 " all the late Americans, you are not considered either by the go- 
 " vernment, or by the individuals, as an American citizen. You 
 "have been made a French citizen* which you have accepted, 
 " and you have further made yourself a servant of the French re- 
 " public ; and, therefore, it would be out of character for an Ame- 
 " rican minister to interfere in their internal concerns. You must 
 " therefore either be liberated out of compliance to America, or 
 " stand your trials which you have a right to demand." 
 
 This information was so unexpected by me, that I am at a loss 
 how to answer it. I know not on what principle it originates ; 
 whether from an idea that I had voluntarily abandoned my citizen- 
 ship of America for that of France, or from any article of the Ame- 
 rican constitution applied to me. The first is untrue with respect 
 to any intention on my part ; and the second is without founda- 
 tion, as I shall show in the course of this memorial. 
 
 The idea of conferring honor of citizenship upon foreigners, who 
 had distinguished themselves in propagating the principles of liberty 
 and humanity, in opposition to despotism, war, and bloodshed, was 
 first proposed by me to La Fayette, at the commencement of the 
 French revolution, when his heart appeared to be warmed by 
 
38 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 those principles. My motive in making this proposal, was to ren- 
 der the people of different nations more fraternal than they had 
 been, or then were. I observed that almost every branch of science 
 had possessed itself of the exercise of this right, so far as it regarded 
 its institution. Most of the academies and societies in Europe, and 
 also those of America, conferred the rank of honorary member, 
 upon foreigners eminent in knowledge, and made them, in fact, 
 citizens of their literary or scientific republic ; without affecting or 
 anywise diminishing their rights of citizenship in their own country 
 or in other societies : and why the science of government should 
 not have the same advantage, or why the people in one nation 
 should not, by their representative's, exercise the right of conferring 
 the honor of citizenship upon individuals eminent in another nation, 
 without affecting their rights of citizenship, is a problem yet to be 
 solved. 
 
 I now proceed to remark ori that part of the letter, in which the 
 writer says, that, "from all he can learn from the late Americans; 
 " I am not considered in America, eitkef" by the government or by 
 " the individuals, as an American citizen:" 
 
 In the first place I wish to ask, what is here meant by the go- 
 vernment of America? The members who compose the govern- 
 ment, are only individuals when in conversation, and who, most 
 probably, hold very different opinions upon the subject. Have 
 Congress as a body made any declaration respecting me, that they 
 now no longer consider me as a citizen ? If they have not, any 
 thing they otherwise say, is no more than the opinion of individu- 
 als, and consequently is not legal authority, or anywise sufficient 
 authority to deprive any man of his citizenship. Besides, whether 
 a man has forfeited his rights of citizenship, is a question not deter- 
 minable by Congress, but by a court of judicature, and a jury ; and 
 must depend upon evidence, and the application of some law or 
 article of the constitution to the case. No such proceeding has yet 
 been had, and consequently I remain a citizen until it be had, be 
 that decision what it may ; for there can be no such thing as a sus- 
 pension of rights in the -interim: 
 
 I am very well aware, and always was, of the article of the con- 
 stitution which says, as nearly as I can recollect the words, that 
 " any citizen of the United States, who shall accept any title, place, 
 " or office, from any foreign king, prince, or state, shall forfeit and 
 *' lose his right of citizenship of the United States." 
 
APPENDIX. 39 
 
 Had the article said, that any 'citizen of the United States, who 
 shall be a member of any foreign convention, for the purpose of 
 forming a free constitution, shalljbrfeit and lose the right of citi- 
 zenship of the United States, the article had been directly applica- 
 ble to me ; but the idea of such an article never could have entered 
 tfhe mind of the American convention, and the present article is 
 altogether foreign lo the case with respect to me. It supposes a 
 government in active existence, and not a government dissob/ed ; 
 and it supposes a citizen of America, accepting titles and offices 
 under that government, and not a citizen of America, who gives 
 his assistance in a convention, chosen by the people, for the pur- 
 pose of forming a government de novo, founded on their authority. 
 
 The late constitution and government of France was dissolved 
 the 10th of August, 1792. The national legislative assembly then, 
 in being, supposed itself without sufficient authority to continue its 
 sittings, and it proposed to the departments to elect, not another 
 legislative assembly, but a convention for the express purpose of 
 forming a view constitution. When the assembly were discoursing 
 on this matter, some of the members said, that they wished to gain 
 all the assistance possible upon the subject of free constitutions ; and 
 expressed a wish to elect and invite foreigners of any nation to the 
 convention, who had distinguished themselves in defending, explain- 
 ing, and propagating the principles of liberty. It was on this occa- 
 sion that ray name was mentioned in the assembly. After this, a 
 deputation from a body of the French people, in order to remove 
 any objection that might be made against my assisting at the pro- 
 posed convention, requested the assembly, as tbeir representatives, 
 to give me the title of French Citizen ; after which, 1 was elected 
 a member of the French convention, in four different departments, •- 
 as is already known. 
 
 The case, therefore, is, that I accepted nothing from any king, 
 prince, or state ; or from any government : for France was without 
 any government, except what arose from common consent, and the 
 necessity of the case. Neither did " I make myself a servant of 
 the French republic" as"~the letter alluded to expresses ; for at 
 that time France was no Republic, not even in nanje. She was 
 altogether a people in a state of revolution. 
 
 It was not until the convention pet, that France was declared a 
 republic, and monarchy abolished ; soon after which, a committee 
 was elected, of which I \yas a member, to form a constitution, which 
 
40 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 was presented to the convention the 15th and 16th of February 
 following, but was not to be taken into consideration till after the 
 expiration of two months, and if, approved of by the convention, 
 was then to be referred to the people for their acceptance,, with 
 such additions or amendments as the convention should make. 
 
 In thus employing myself upon the formation of a constitution, I 
 certainly did nothing inconsistent with the American constitution. 
 I took no oath of allegiance to France, or any other oath whatever. 
 I -considered the citizenship they had presented me, as an honorary 
 mark of respect paid to me not only as a friend to liberty, but as 
 an American citizen. My acceptance of that, or the deputyship, 
 not conferred on me by any king, prince, or state, but by a people 
 in a state of revolution, and contending for liberty, required no 
 transfer of my allegiance, or of my citizenship, from America to 
 France. There I was a real citizen, paying taxes ; here, I was a 
 Voluntary friend, employing myself on a temporary service. Every 
 American in Paris knew that it was my constant intention to return 
 to America, as soon as a constitution should be established, and 
 that I anxiously waited for that event. 
 
 I ever must deny, that the article of the American constitution 
 already mentioned, can be applied either verbally, intentionally, or 
 constructively, to me. It undoubtedly was the intention of the con- 
 vention that framed it, to preserve the purity of the American re- 
 public from being debased by foreign and foppish customs ; but it 
 never could be its intention to act against the principles of liberty, 
 by forbidding its citizens to assist in promoting those principles in 
 foreign countries ; neither could it be its intention to act against 
 the principles of gratitude. France had aided America in the esta- 
 blishment of her revolution, when invaded and oppressed by'En- 
 gland and her auxiliaries. France in her turn was invaded and 
 oppressed by a combination of foreign despots. In this situation, I 
 conceived it an act of gratitude in me, as a citizen of America, to 
 render her in return the best services I could perform. I came to 
 France (for J was in England when when I received the invitation) 
 not to enjoy ease, emoluments, and foppish honors, as the article 
 supposes ; but to encounter difficulties and dangers in defence of 
 liberty; and I much question whether those who now malignantly 
 seek (for some I believe do) to, turn this to my injury, would have 
 had courage to have done the same. I am sure GoVerneur Morris 
 would not. He told me the second day after my arrival, {in Paris,) 
 
APPENDIX. 41 
 
 that the Austrians and Prussians, who were then at Verdun, would 
 be in Paris in a fortnight. I have no idea, said he, that seventy 
 thousand disciplined tro,ops can be stopped in their march by any 
 power in France. 
 
 Besides the reasons I have already given for accepting the invi- 
 tation to the Convention, I had another that has reference particu- 
 Jarly to America, which I mentioned to Mr. Pinkney the night 
 before I left London to come to Paris ; " That it was to the in- 
 " teresf! of America that the system of European governments 
 -" should be changed and placed on the same principle with her 
 *' own." 
 
 It is certain that governments upon similar systems agree better 
 together than those that are founded on principles discordant with 
 •each other ; and the same rule holds good with respect to the peo- 
 ple living under them. In the latter case they offend each other by 
 pity, or by reproach ; and the discordancy carries itself to matters 
 of commerce. I am not an ambitious man, but perhaps I have been 
 an ambitious American. I have wished to see America the mother 
 church of government. 
 
 I have now stated sufficient matter, to show that the article in 
 question is not applicable to me ; and that any such application to 
 my injury, as well in circuumstances as in rights, is contrary both 
 to the letter and intention of that article, and is illegal and uncon- 
 stitutional. Neither do I believe that any jury in America, when 
 they are informed of the whole of the case, would give a verdict to 
 deprive me of my rights upon that article. The citizens of Ameri- 
 ca, I believe, are not very fond of permitting forced and indirect 
 explanations to be put upon matters of this kind. I know not what 
 were the merits of the case with respect to the person who was 
 prosecuted for acting as prize master to a French privateer, but I 
 know that the jury gave a verdict against the prosecution. The 
 rights I have acquired are dear to me. They have been acquired 
 by honorable means, and by dangerous service in the worst of 
 times, and I cannot passively permit them to be wrested from me. 
 I conceive it my duty to defend them', as the case involves a con- 
 stitutional and public question, which is, how far- the power of the 
 federal government extends, in depriving any citizen of his right* 
 of citizenship, or of suspending them. 
 
 That the explanation of national treaties belongs to Congress is 
 strictly constitutional ; but not the explanation of the constitution 
 
42 APPENDIX, 
 
 itself, any more thairthe explanation of law in the case of individual 
 citizens. These are altogether judiciary questions. It is, however, 
 worth observing, that Congress in explaining the article of the treaty 
 with respect to French prizes and French privateers, confined itself 
 strictly to the letter of the article. Let them explain the article of 
 the constitution with respect to me in the same manner, and the 
 decision, did it appertain to them, could not deprive me of my 
 rights of citizenship, or suspend them, for I have accepted nothing 
 from any king, prince, state, or government, 
 
 You will please to observe, that I speak as if the federal govern- 
 ment had made some declaration upon the subject of my citizen- 
 ship ; whereas the fact is otherwise ; and your saying that you have 
 no order respecting me, is a proof of it, They, therefore, who 
 propagate the report of my not being considered as a citizen of 
 America by government, do it to the prolongation of my imprison- 
 ment, and without authority ; for Congress, as a government, has, 
 neither decided upon it, nor yet taken the matter into considera- 
 tion ; and I request you to caution such persons against spreading 
 such reports. But be these matters as they may, I cannot have a 
 doubt that you find and feel the case very different, since you have 
 heard what I have to say, and known better what my situation is 
 than you did before your arrival. r 
 
 Painful as the want of liberty may be, it is a consolation to me 
 to believe, that my imprisonment proves to the world, that I had no 
 share in the murderous system that then reigned, That I was an 
 enemy to it, both morally and politically, is known to all "who had 
 any knowledge of me ; and eould I have written French as well as 
 I can English, I would publicly have exposed its wickedness, and 
 shown the ruin with which it was pregnant. They who have 
 esteemed me on former occasions, whether in America or in Eu- 
 rope, will, I know, feel no cause to abate that esteem, when they 
 reflect, that imprisonment with preservation of character, is prefer- 
 able to liberty ysith disgrace. 
 
 The letter before quoted in the first page of this memorial, says, 
 '' It would be out of character for an American minister to interfere 
 " in the internal affairs of France." This goes on the idea that I 
 am a citizen of France, and a member of the Convention ; which is 
 not the fact. The Convention have declared me to be a foreigner ; 
 and consequently the citizenship and the election are null and void, 
 It also has the appearance of a decision, fb.at the article of the con- 
 
APPENDIX. 43 
 
 Sstitutioni respecting grants made to American citizens by foreign 
 kings, princes, or states, is applicable to me ; which is the very point 
 in question, and against the application of which I contend. I state 
 evidence to the minister, to show that I am not within the letter or 
 meaning of that article ; that it cannot operate against me ; and 1 
 apply to him for the protection that I conceive I have a right to 
 ask and to receive. The internal affairs of France are out of the 
 question with respect to my applicati'on, or his interference. I ask 
 it not as a citizen of France, for I am not one ; I ask it not as A 
 member of the Convention, for I am not one ; both these, as before 
 said, have been rendered null and void ; I ask it not as a man 
 against wbom there iS any accusation, for there is none ; I ask it 
 not as an exile from America, whose liberties I have honorably and 
 generously contributed to establish ; I ask it as a citizen of Arae^ 
 rica, deprived of his liberty in France, under the plea of being 
 a foreigner ; and I ask it because I conceive I am entitled to it; 
 Vipon every principle of constitutional justice and national honor; 
 
LETTERS 
 
 CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 * 
 
 After an absence of almost fifteen years, I am again returned 
 to the country in whose dangers I bore my share, and to whose 
 greatness I contributed' my part. 
 
 When I sailed for Europe, in the spring of 1787, it was my in- 
 tention to return to America the next year, and enjoy in retirement 
 the esteem of my friends, and the repose I was entitled to. I had 
 stood out the storm of one revolution, and had no wish to embark 
 in another. But other scenes and other circumstances than those 
 of contemplated ease were allotted to me. The French revolution 
 was beginning to germinate when I arrived in France. The prin- 
 ciples of it were good, they were copied from America, and the men 
 who conducted it were honest. But the fury of faction soon extin- 
 guished the one, and sent the other to the scaffold. Of those who 
 began that revolution, I am almost the only survivor, and that 
 through a thousand dangers. I owe this not to the prayers of 
 priests, nor to the piety of hypocrites, but to the continued protec- 
 tion of Providence. 
 
 But while I beheld with pleasure, the dawn of liberty rising in 
 Europe, I saw with regret the lustre of it fading in America. In 
 less than two years from the time of my departure, some distant 
 symptoms painfully suggested the idea that the principles of the 
 revolution were expiring on the soil that produced them. I receiv- 
 ed at that time a letter from a female literary correspondent, and in 
 my answer to her, I expressed my fears on that head, in the follow- 
 ing pensive soliloquy. 
 
46 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 " You touch me on a very tender point, when you say that my 
 friends on your side the water cannot be reconciled to the idea of 
 my abandoning America, even for my native England. They are 
 right ; I had rather see rriy horse Button eating the grass of Bor- 
 defltown or Morisania, than see all the pomp and show of Europe. 
 
 " A thousand years hence, for I must indulge a few thoughts, 
 perhaps in less, America may be what Europe now is. The inno- 
 cence of her character, that won the hearts of.all nations in her fa- 
 vor, may sound like a romance, and her inimitable virtue as if it 
 had never been. The ruins of that liberty, for which thousands 
 have bled, may just furnish materials for a village fale, or extort a 
 sigh from rustic sensibility; whilst the fashionable of that day, en- 
 veloped in dissipation, shall deride the principles and deny the fact. 
 
 " When we contemplate the fall of empires, and the extinction 
 of the nations of the ancient world, we see but little more to «xcite 
 our regret, than the mouldering ruins of pompous palaces, magnifi- 
 cent monuments, lofty pyramids, and walls and towers of the most 
 costly workmanship : but when the empire of America shall fall, 
 the subject for contemplative sorrow will be infinitely greater than 
 crumbling brass or marble can in inspire. It will not then be said; 
 here stood a temple of Vast antiquity, here rose a Babel of invisible 
 height, or there a palace of sumptuous extravagance ; but here ! ah 
 painful thought ! the noblest work of human wisdom — the grandest 
 scene of human glory; the fair cause of freedom rose and fell. 
 Read this, and then ask if I forget America." 
 
 I now know from the information I obtain upon the spot, that 
 the impressions that then distressed me, for I was proud of Ameri- 
 ca, were but too well founded. She was turning her back on her 
 own glory, and making hasty strides in the retrograde path of obli- 
 vion. But a spark from the altar of Seventy-six, unextinguished and 
 unextinguishable through that long night of error, is again lighting 
 up, in every part of the Union, the genuine flame of rational liberty: 
 
 As the French revolution advanced, it fixed the attention of the 
 world, and drew froril the pensioned pen of Edmund Burke a furi- 
 ous attack. This brought me once more on the public theatre of 
 politics, and occasioned the pamphlet Rights of Man. It had the 
 greatest run of any work ever published in the English language; 
 The number of copies circulated in England, Scotland, and Ireland, 
 besides translations into ^foreign languages, was between four and 
 five hundred thousand. The principles of that work were the samtJ 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 47 
 
 as those in Common Sense, and the effects would have been the 
 same in England as that had produced in America, could the vote 
 of the nation have been quietly taken, or had equal opportunities of 
 consulting or acting existed. The only difference between the two 
 works was, that the one was adapted to the local circumstances pf 
 England, and the other to those of America. As to myself, I acted 
 in both cases alike : I relinquished to the people of England, as I 
 had done to those of America, all profits from the work. My re- 
 ward existed in the ambition to do good, and the independent hapr 
 piness of my own mind. 
 
 But a faction, acting in disguise, was rising in America; they 
 had lost sight of first principles. They were beginning to contem- 
 plate government as a profitable monopoly, and the people as heri- 
 ditary property. It is, therefore, no wonder that the Rights of Man 
 was attacked by that faction, and its author continually abused. 
 But let them go on, give them rope enough, and they will put an 
 end to-their own insignificance. There is too much common sense 
 and independence in America to be long the dupe of any faction,' 
 foreign or domestic. 
 
 But, in the midst of the freedom "we-enjoy, the licentiousness of 
 the papers called federal, (and I know not why they are called so, 
 for they are in their principles anti-federal and despotic,) is a dis- 
 honor to the character of the country, and an injury to its reputa- 
 tion and importance abroad. They represent the whole people of 
 America a? destitute of public principle and private manners. As 
 to any injury they can do at home to those whom they abuse, or 
 service they can render to those who employ them, it is to be set 
 down to the account of noisy nothingness. It is on themselves the 
 disgrace recoils, for the reflection easily presents itself to every 
 thinking mind, that those who abuse liberty when they possess it 
 would abuse power could they obtain it ; and, therefore, they may 
 as well take as a general motto, for all such papers, We and our 
 ■patrons are not ■.fit to lie trusted with power. 
 
 There is in America, more than in any other country, a large 
 body of people who attend quietly to their farms, or follow their 
 several occupations, who pay no regard to the clamors of anony- 
 mous scribblers, who think for themselves, and judge of govern- 
 ment, not by the fury of newspaper writers, but by the prudent 
 frugality of its measures, and the encouragement it gives to the 
 improvement and ^prosperity of the country, and who, acting on 
 
48 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 their own judgment, never come forward in an election but on some 
 important occasion. 
 
 When this body moves, all the little barkings of scribbling and 
 witless curs pass for nothing. To say to this independent descrip- 
 tion of men, You must turn out such and such persons at the next 
 election, for they have taken off a great many taxes, and lessened 
 the expenses of ^government, they have dismissed my son, or my 
 brother, or myself, from a lucrative office, in which there was no- 
 thing to do — is to show the cloven foot of faction, and preach the 
 language of ill disguised mortification. In every part of the Union, 
 this faction is in the agonies of death, and in proportion as its fate 
 approaches, gnashes its teeth and struggles. My arrival has struck 
 it as with an hydrophobia, it is like the sight of water to canine 
 madness. 
 
 As this letter is intended to announce my arrival to my friends, 
 and to my enemies, if I have any, for I ought to have none in 
 America, and as introductory to others that will occasionally follow, 
 I shall close it by detailing the line of conduct I shall pursue. 
 
 I have no occasion to ask, and do not intend to accept any place 
 or office in the government. There is none it could give me that 
 would be any ways equal to the profits I could make as an author, 
 for I have an established fame in the literary world, could. I recon- 
 cile it to my principles to make money by my politics or religion ; 
 1 must be in every thing what I have ever been, a disinterested 
 volunteer; my proper sphere of action is on the common floor of 
 citizenship, and to honest men I give my hand and my heart 
 freely. 
 
 I have some manuscript works to publish, of which I shall give 
 proper notice, and some mechanical affairs to bring forward, that 
 will employ all my leisure time. I shall continue these letters as I 
 sec occasion, and as to the low party prints that choose to abuse me, 
 they are welcome, 1 shall not descend to answer them. I have 
 been too much used to such common stuff to take any notice of it. 
 The government of England honored me with a thousand mart3'r- 
 doms, by burning me in effigy in every town in that country, and 
 their hirelings in America may do the same. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE, 
 
 City of Washington, 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 49 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 As the affairs of the country, to which I am returned, are of 
 more importance to the world and to me, than of that I have lately- 
 left, (for it is through the new world the old must he regenerated, if 
 regenerated at all,) I shall not take up the time of the reader with 
 an account of scenes that have passed in France, many of which 
 are painful to remember and horrid to relate, hut come at once to 
 the circumstances in which I find America on nay arrival. 
 
 Fourteen years, and something more, have produced a change, 
 at least among a part of the people, and I ask myself what it is? I 
 meet or hear of thousands oj my former connexions, who are men 
 of the same principles and friendships as when I left them. But a 
 non-descript race, and of equivocal generation, assuming the name 
 of federalist, a name that describes no character of principle good 
 or bad, and may equally be applied to either, has since started up 
 with the rapidity of a mushroom, and like a mushroom, is withering 
 on its rootless stalk. Are those men federalized to support the 
 liberties of their country or to overturn them 1 To add to its fair 
 fame or riot on its spoils ? The name contains no defined idea. It 
 is like John Adams's definition of a republic in his letter to Mr. 
 Wythe of Virginia. It is, says he, an empire of laws and not of 
 men. But as laws may be had as well as good, an empire of laws 
 may be the best of all governments or the worst of all tyrannies. 
 But John Adams is a man of paradoxical heresies, and consequently 
 of a bewildered mind. He wrote a book entitled, "A Defence of 
 the. American Constitutions," and the principles of it are an attack 
 upon them. But the book is descended to the tomb of forgetful- 
 ness, and the best fortune that can attend its author is quietly to 
 follow its fate. John was not born for immortality. But, to return 
 to federalism. 
 
 In the history of parties and the names they assume, it often 
 happens, that they finish by the direct contrary principles with which, 
 they profess to begin, and thus it has happened with federalism. 
 
 During the time of the old Congress, and prior to the establish- 
 ment of the federal government, the continental belt was too loosely 
 buckled. The several states were united in name but not in fact, 
 and that nominal union had neither centre nor circle. The laws of 
 
50 
 
 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 one state frequently interfered with, and sometimes opposed, those 
 of another. Commerce between state and state was without pro- 
 tection, and confidence without a point to rest on. The condition 
 the country was then in, was aptly described by Pelatiah Webster, 
 when he said, " thirteen staves and ne'er a hoop will not make a 
 barrel." 
 
 If, then, by federalist is to be understood one who was for ce- 
 menting the Union by a general government operating equally over 
 all the states, in all matters that embraced the common interest, and 
 to which the authority of the states severally was not adequate, for 
 no one state can make laws to bind another ; if, I say, by a. federalist 
 is meant a person of this description, (and this is the origin of the 
 name,) I ought to stand' first on the list of federalists, for the pro- 
 position for establishing a general government over the Union, came 
 originally from me in 1783, in a written memorial to Chancellor 
 Livingston, then secretary for foreign affairs to. Congress, Robert 
 Morris, minister of finance, and his associate, Governeur Morris, all 
 of whom are now living, and we had a dinner and conference at 
 Robert Morris's on the subject. The occasion was as follows : 
 
 Congress had proposed a duty of five per cent, on imported arti- 
 cles, the money to be applied as a fund towards paying the interest 
 of loans to be borrowed in Holland. The resolve was sent to the 
 several states to be -enacted into a law. Rhode Island absolutely 
 refused. I was at the trouble of a journey to Rhode Island to rea- 
 son with them on the subject. Some other of the states enacted it 
 with alterations, each one as it pleased. Virginia adopted it, and 
 afterwards repealed it, and the affair came to nothing. 
 
 It was then visible, at least to me, that either Congress must 
 frame the laws necessary for the Union, and send them to the seve- 
 ral states to be enregistered without any alteration, which would in 
 itself appear like usurpation on one part, and passive obedience on 
 the other, or some method must be devised to accomplish the same 
 end by constitutional principles ; and the proposition I made in the 
 memorial was, to add a continental legislature to Congress, to be 
 elected^ by the several states. The proposition met the full appro- 
 bation of the gentlemen to whom it was addressed, and the conver- 
 sation turned on the manner of bringing it forward. Governeur 
 Morris, in walking with me after dinner, wished rne to throw out 
 the idea in the newspapers ; I replied, that I did not like to be al- 
 ways the proposer of new things, that it would have too assuming 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 51 
 
 ai\ appearance ; and besides, that I dicf not think the country was 
 f quite, wrong enough to be put right. I remember giving the same 
 reason to Dr. Rush, at Philadelphia, and to General Gates, at whose 
 quarters I spent a day on my return from Rhode Island, and I 
 suppose they will remember it, because the observation seemed to 
 strike them. 
 
 But the embarrassments increasing, as they necessarily must from 
 the want of a better cemented union, the state of Virginia proposed 
 holding a commercial convention, and that convention, which was 
 not sufficiently numerous, proposed that another convention, with 
 more extensive and better denned powers, should be held at Phila- 
 delphia, May 10, 1787. 
 
 When the plan of the federal government, formed by this con- 
 vention, was proposed and submitted to the consideration of the 
 several states, it was strongly objected to in each of them. But 
 the objections were not on anti-federal grounds, but on constitu- 
 tional points. Many were shocked at the idea of placing, what is 
 called, executive power, in the hands of a single individual. To 
 them it had too much the form and appearance of a military go- 
 vernment, or a despotic one. Others objected that the powers given 
 to a president were too great, and that in the hands of an ambitious 
 and designing man, it might grow into tyranny, as it did in England 
 under Oliver Cromwell, and as it has since done in France. A 
 republic must not only be so in its principles, but in its forms. The 
 executive part of the federal government was made for a man, and 
 those who consented, against their judgment, to place executive 
 .power in the hands of a single individual, reposed more on the 
 supposed moderation of the person they had in view, than on the 
 wisdom of the measure itself. 
 
 Two considerations, however, overcame all objections. The 
 one was, the absolute uecessity of a federal government. The 
 other, the rational reflection, that as government in America is 
 founded on the representative system, any error in the first essay 
 •could be reformed by the same quiet and rational process by which 
 the constitution was formed ; and that, either by the generation 
 then living, or by those who were to succeed. If ever America 
 lose sight of this principle, she will no longer be the land of liberty. 
 The father will become the assassin of the rights of the son, and his 
 descendants be a race of slaves. 
 
 As many thousands who were minors are grown up to manhood 
 
52 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 Since the name of federalist began, it became necessary, for their 
 information, to go back and show the origin of the name, which is 
 now no longer what it originally was ; but it is the more necessary 
 to do this, in order to bring forward, in the open face of day, the 
 apostacy of those who first called themselves, federalists. 
 
 To them it served as a cloak for treason, a mask for tyranny. 
 Scarcely were they placed in the seat of power and office, than 
 federalism was to be destroyed, and the representative System of 
 government, the pride and glory of America, and the palladium of 
 her liberties, was to be overthrown and abolished. The next gene- 
 ration was not to be free; The son was to bend his neck beneath 
 the father's foot, and live, deprived of his rights, under hereditary 
 control. Among the men of this apostate description, is to be 
 ranked the ex-president John Adams. It has been the political 
 career of this man to begin with hypocrisy,' proceed with arrogance, 
 and finish in contempt. May such be the fate of all such charac- 
 ters. 
 
 I have had doubts of John Adams ever since the year 1776. Iri 
 a conversation with me at that time^ concerning the pamphlet Com- 
 mon Sense, he censured it because it attacked the English form of 
 government. John was^ for independence because he expected to 
 be made great by it ; but it was not difficult to perceive, for the 
 surliness of his temper makes him an aWkward hypocrite, that his 
 head was as full of kings, queens, and knaves, as a pack of cards. 
 But John has lost deal. 
 
 When a man has a concealed project in his brain that he wants 
 to bring forward, and fears will not succeed, he begins with it as 
 physicians do by suspected poison, try it first on an animal ; if it 
 agree with the stomach of the aVimal; he makes further experi- 
 ments, and this was the way John took. His brain was teeming 
 with projects to overturn the liberties of America, and the repre- 
 sentative system of government, and he began by hinting it in little 
 companies. The secretary of John Jay, an excellent painter and 
 a poor politician, told me, in presence of another American, Daniel 
 Parker, that in a company where himself was present, John Adams 
 talked of making the government hereditary, and that as Mr. Wash- 
 ington had no children, it should be made hereditary in the family 
 of Lund Washington. John had not impudence enough to propose 
 himself in the first instance, as the old French Normandy baron did, 
 who offered to come over to be king of America, and if Congress 
 
OF THE UNITES STATES; 53 
 
 did not accept his offer, that they would give him thirty thousand 
 pounds for the generosity of it; but John, like a mole, was grubbing 
 his way to it under ground. He knew that Lund Washington was 
 unknown, for nobody had heard of llim, and that as the president 
 had no children to succeed him, the vice president had,' and if the 
 treason had succeeded, and the hint with it, the goldsmith might be 
 sent for to take measure of the head of John or of his son for a 
 golden wig. In this case, the good people of Boston might have for 
 a king the man they have rejected as a delegate. The representa- 
 tive system is fatal to ambition. 
 
 Knowing, as I do, the consummate vanity of John Adams, and 
 the shallowness of his judgment, I can easily picture to myself that 
 when he arrived at the federal city, he was strutting in the pomp of 
 his imagination before the presidential house, or in the audience 
 hall, and exulting in the language of Nebuchadnezzar, " Is not this 
 great Babylon that I have built for the honor of my majesty !" But 
 in tliat unfortunate hour, or soon after, John, like Nebuchadnezzar, 
 was driven from among men, and fled with the speed of a post 
 horse. 
 
 Some of John Adams's loyal subjects, I see, have betn to present 
 hint with an address on his birthday ; but the language they use 
 is too tame for the occasion. Birthday addresses, like birthday 
 odes, should, not creep along like mildrops down a cabbage leaf, 
 but roll in a torrent of poetical metaphor. I will give them a spe- 
 cimen for the next year. Here it is — 
 
 When an Ant, in travelling over the, globe, lift up its foot, and 
 put it again on the ground, it shakes the earth to its centre : but 
 when YOU, the mighty Ant of the East, was born, &c. &c. &c, 
 the centre jumped upon the surface. 
 
 This, gentlemen, is the proper style of addresses from well-bred 
 ants to the monarch of the ant hills; and as I never take pay for 
 preaching, "praying, politics, or poetry, I make you a present of it. 
 Some people talk of impeaching John Adams ; but I am for softer 
 measures. I would keep him to make fun of. He will then answer 
 one of the ends for which he was born, and he ought to be thankful 
 that I am arrived to take his part. I voted in earnest to save the 
 life of one unfortunate king, and I now vote in jest to save another. 
 It is my fate to be always plagued with fools. But to return to 
 federalism and apo'stacy. 
 
 The plan of the leaders of 'the faction was to overthrow the liber- 
 
54 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 ties of the new world, and place government on the corrupt system 
 of the old. They wanted to hold their power by a more lasting 
 tenure than the choice of their constituents. It is impossible ■ to 
 account for their conduct and the measures they adopted on any 
 other ground. But to accomplish that object, a standing army and 
 a prodigal revenue must be raised ; and to obtain these, pretences 
 must be invented to deceive. Alarms of dangers that did not exist 
 even in imagination, but in the direct spirit of lying, were spread 
 abroad. Apostacy stalked through the land in thq garb of patriot- 
 ism, and the torch of treason blinded for a while the flame of liberty. 
 
 For what purpose could an army of twenty-five thousand men be 
 wanted ? A single reflection might have taught the most credulous 
 that while the war raged between France and England, neither 
 could spare a man to invade America. For what purpose, then, 
 could it be wanted 1 The case carries its own explanation. It 
 was wanted for the purpose of destroying the representative system, 
 for it could be employed for no other. Are these men federalists 1 
 If they are, they are federalized to deceive and to destroy. 
 
 The rage against Dr. Logan's patriotic and voluntary mission to 
 France was excited by the shame they felt at the detection of the 
 false alarms they had circulated. As to the opposition given by 
 the remnant of the faction to the repeal of the taxes laid on during 
 the former administration, it is easily accounted for. The repeal 
 of those taxes was a sentence of condemnation on those who laid 
 them on, and in the opposition they gave in that repeal, they are 
 to be considered in the light of criminals standing on their defence, 
 and the country has passed judgment upon them. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 City of Washington, LoveWs Hotel, 
 Nov. 19 1802. 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 55 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 To elect, and to reject, is the prerogative of a free people. 
 
 Since the establishment of independence, no period has arrived, 
 that so decidedly proves the excellence of the representative sys- 
 tem of government, and its superiority over every other, as the time 
 we now live in. Had America been cursed with John Adams's 
 hereditary monarchy, or Alexander Hamilton's senate for life, she 
 must have sought, in the doubtful contest of civil war, what she now 
 obtains by the expression of public will. An appeal to elections, 
 decides better than an appeal to the sword. 
 
 The reign of terror that raged in America, during the latter end 
 of the Washington administration, and the whole of that of Adams, 
 is enveloped in mystery to me. That there were men in the go* 
 vernment hostile to the representative system, though it is now their 
 overthrow, was once their boast, and therefore the fact is established 
 against them. But that so large a mass of the people should be- 
 come the dupes of those who were loading them with taxes, in order 
 to load them with chains, and deprive them of the right of election, 
 can be ascribed only to that species of wildfire rage, lighted Up by 
 falsehood, that not only acts without reflection, but is too impetu- 
 ous to make any. 
 
 There is a general and striking difference between the genuine 
 effects of truth itself, and the effects of falsehoods believed to be 
 truth. Truth is naturally benign ; but falsehood believed to be 
 truth is always furious. The former delights in serenity, is mild 
 and persuasive, and seeks not the auxiliary aid of invention. The 
 latter sticks at nothing. It has naturally no morals. Every lie is 
 welcome that suits its purpose. It is the innate character of the 
 the thing, to act in this manner, and the criterion by which it may 
 be known, whether in politics or religion. When any thing is at- 
 tempted to be supported by lying, it is presumptive evidence that 
 the thing so supported is a lie also. The stock on which a lie can 
 be engrafted must be of the same species as the graft. 
 
 What is become of the mighty clamor of French invasions, and 
 the cry that our country is in danger, and taxes and armies must be 
 raised to defend it ] The danger is fled with the faction that created 
 it, and what is worst of all, the money is fled too. It is I only that 
 have committed the hostility of invasion, and all the artillery of pop 
 
56 
 
 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 guns are prepared for action. Poor fellows, how they foam ! They 
 set half their own partisans in laughter ; for among ridiculous 
 things, nothing is more ridiculous than ridiculous rage. But I hope 
 they will not leave off. I- shall lose half my greatness when they 
 cease to lie. 
 
 So far as respects myself, I have reason to believe, and a right 
 to say, that the leaders of the reign of terror in America, and the 
 leaders of the reign of terror in France, during the time of Robes-; 
 pierre, were in character the same sort of men ; or how is it to be 
 accounted for, that I was persecuted by both at the same timel 
 When I was voted out of the French Convention, the reason assign- 
 ed for it wa<, that I was a foreigner, When Robespierre had me 
 seized in ths night, and imprisoned in the Luxembourg, (where I 
 remained eleven months,) he assigned no reason for it. But when 
 he proposed bringing me to the tribunal, which was like sending 
 me at once to the scaffold, he then assigned a reason, and the rea- 
 son was, /or the interest of America as well as of France. " Pour 
 Vinteret de VAmerique autant que de la France" The words 
 are in his own hand writing, and reported to the Convention by the 
 committee appointed to examine his papers, and are printed in their 
 report, with this reflection added to them, " Why Thomas Paine 
 more than another ? Because he contributed to the liberty of both 
 worlds." 
 
 There must have been a coalition in sentiment, if not in fact, 
 between the terrorists of America and the terrorists of France, and 
 Robespierre must have known it, or he could not have had the idea 
 of putting America into the bill of accusation against me. Yet 
 these men, these terrorists of the new world, who were waiting in 
 the devotion of their hearts, for the joyful news of my destruction, 
 are the same banditti who are now bellowing in all the hacknied 
 language of hacknied hypocrisy, about humanity, and piety, and 
 often about something they call infidelity, and they finish with the 
 chorus of Crucify him, crucify him. I am become so famous 
 among them, they cannot eat or drink without me. I serve them as 
 a standing dish, and they cannot make up a bill of fare if I am not 
 in it. 
 
 But there is one dish, and that the choicest of all, that tbey have 
 not presented on the table, and it is time they should. They have 
 not yet accused Providence of infidelity. Yet according to their 
 outragepus piety, she must be as bad as Thomas Paine ; she has pro- 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 57 
 
 tected him in all his dangers, patronized him in all his undertakings, 
 encouraged him in all his ways, and rewarded him at last by bring- 
 ing him in safety and in health to the promised land. This is more 
 than she did by the Jews, the chpsen people, that they tell us she 
 brought out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage ; 
 for they all died in the wilderness, and Moses too. 
 
 I was one of the nine members that composed the first Pommitr 
 tee of Constitution. Six of them have been destroyed. Sieyes 
 and myself have survived — he by bending with the times, and I by 
 not bending. The other survivor joined Robespierre, he was seiz- 
 ed and imprisoned in his turn, and sentenced to transportation. He 
 has since apologized to me for having signed the warrant, by say.r 
 ing, he felt himself in danger and was obliged to do it. , 
 
 Herault Sechelles, an acquaintance of Mr. Jefferson, and a good 
 patriot, was my suppliant as member of the Committee of Consti- 
 tution, that is, he was to supply my place, if I had not accepted or 
 resigned, being next in number of votes to me. He was imprisoned 
 in the Luxembourg with me, was taken to the tribunal and the guil- 
 lotine, and I, his principal, was left. 
 
 There were two foreigners jn the Convention, Anarcharsis Gloots 
 and myself. We were both put out of the Convention by the same 
 vote, arrested by the same order, and carried to prison together the 
 same night. He was taken to the guillotine, and I was again left. 
 Joel Barlow was with us when we went to prison. 
 
 Joseph Lebon, one of the vilest characters that ever existed, and 
 who made the streets of Arras run with blood, was my suppliant, 
 as member of the Convention for the department of the Pas de 
 Calais. When I was put out of the Convention he eame and took 
 my place. When I was liberated from prison and voted again into 
 the Convention, he was sent to the same prison and took my place; 
 there, and he was sent to the guillotine instead of me. He supplied 
 my place all the way through. 
 
 One hundred and sixty-eight persons were taken out of the, Lux- 
 embourg in one night, and a hundred and sixty of them guillotined 
 next day, of which 1 now know I was to have been one ; and the 
 manner I escaped that fate is curious, and has all the appearance of 
 accident. 
 
 The room in which I was lodged was on the ground floor, and 
 one of a long range of rooms under" a gallery, and the door of it 
 opened- outward and flat 'against the wall ; so that when it was 
 
 K 
 
58 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 open the inside of the door appeared outward, and the contrary 
 when it was shut. I had three comrades, fellow prisoners with me, 
 Joseph. Vanhuile of Bruges, since president of the municipality of 
 that town, Michael, and Robbins Bastini, of Louvain. 
 
 When persons by scores and by hundreds were to be taken out 
 of the prison for the guillotine it was always done in the night, and 
 those who performed that office had a private mark or signal, by 
 which they knew what rooms to go to, and what number to take. 
 We, as I have said, were four, and the door of our room was .mark- 
 ed, unobserved by us, with that number in chalk ; but it happened, 
 if happening is a proper word, that the mark was put on when the 
 door was open,-and flat against the wall, and thereby came on the 
 inside when we shut it at night, and the destroying angel passed by 
 it. A few days -after this, Robespierre fell, and Mr. Monroe arrived 
 and reclaimed me, and invited me to his house. 
 
 During the whole of my imprisonment, prior to the fall of Robes- 
 pierre, there was no time when I could think my life worth twenty- 
 four hours, and ray mind was made up to meet its fate. The 
 Americans in Paris went in a body to the Convention to reclaim 
 me, but without success. There was no party among them with 
 respect to me. My only hope then rested on the government of 
 America ( that it would remember me. But the icy heart of ingrati- 
 tude, in whatever man it be placed, has neither feeling nor sense of 
 honor. The letter of Mr. Jefferson has served to wipe away the re- 
 proach, and done justice to the mass of the people of America. 
 
 When a party was forming, in the latter end of seventy-seven, 
 and beginning of seventy-eight, of which John Adams was one, to 
 remove Mr. Washington from the command of the army on the 
 complaint that he did nothing, I wrote the fifth number of the Cri- 
 sis, and published it at Lancaster, (Congress then being at York- 
 town, in Pennsylvania,) to ward off that meditated blow: for though; 
 I well knew that the black times of seventy-six was the natural con- 
 sequence of his want of military judgment in the choice of positions 
 into which the army was put about New York and New Jersey, I 
 could see no possible advantage, and nothing but mischief, that 
 could arise by distracting the army into parties, which would have 
 been the case had the intended motion gone on. 
 
 General Lee, who, with a sarcastic genius, joined a great fund of 
 military knowledge, was .perfectly right when he said, " We have 
 jwhmmss on islands, and in the bottom of bogs, where the enemy, 
 
OP 'THE UNITED STATES. 59 
 
 by the aid of its ships, can bring its whole force against apart of 
 ours and shut it up. This had like to have been the case at New 
 York, and it was the case at Fort Washington, and would have been 
 the case at Fort Lee if General Greene had not moved instantly 
 off on the first news of the enemy's approach. I was with Greene 
 through the whole of that affair, and know it perfectly. 
 
 Bnt though I came forward in defence of Mr. Washington when 
 he was attacked, and made the best that could be made of a series 
 of blunders that had nearly ruined the country, he left me to perish 
 when I was in prison. But as I told him of it in his life-time, I 
 should not now bring it up, if the ignorant impertinence of some of 
 the federal papers, who are pushing Mr. Washington forward as 
 their stalking horse, did not make it necessary. 
 
 That gentleman did not perform his part in the revolution bet- 
 ter, nor wilh more- honor, than I did mine, and the one part was as 
 necessary as the other. He accepted as a present, (though he was 
 already rich,) a hundred thousand acres of land in America, and left 
 me to occupy six foot of earth in France. I wish, for his own repu- 
 tation, he had acted with more justice. But it was always known 
 of Mr. Washington, by those who best knew him, that he was of 
 such an icy and death-like~ constitution, that he neither loved his 
 friends nor hated his enemies. But, be this as it may ,1 see no rea- 
 son that a difference between Mr. Washington and me should be 
 made a theme of discord with other people. There are those who 
 may see merit in both, without making themselves partisans of 
 either, and with this reflection I close the subject. 
 
 As to. the hypocritical abuse thrown out by the federalists on 
 other subjects, I recommend to them the observance ofaoeommand- 
 ment that existed before either Christian or Jew existed. 
 
 '"Thou shall make a covenant with thy senses. 
 
 " With thine eye, that it behold no "evil. 
 
 "With thine ear, that it hear no evil. 
 
 " With thy tongue, that it speak no evil. 
 
 " With thy hands, that they commit no evil." 
 
 If the federalists will follow this commandment, they will leave 
 off lying. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 Federal City, LoveWs Hotel, 
 . Nov. 26, 1802. 
 
€0 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 As Congress is on the point of meeting; the public papers will 
 necessarily be occupied with the debates of the ensuing session, 
 and as, in consequence of my long absence from America, my pri- 
 vate affairs require my attendance, (for it is necessary I do this, or 
 I could hot preserve, as I do, my independence,) I shall close my 
 address to the public with this letter. 
 
 I congratulate them on the success Of the late elections, and that 
 with the additional confidence, that while honest men are chosen 
 and wise measures pursued, neither the treason of apostacy, masked 
 under the name of federalism, of which I have spoken in my second 
 letter, nor the intrigues of foreign emissaries, acting in concert with 
 that mask, can prevail. 
 
 As to the licentiousness of the papers calling themselves federal j 
 a name that apostacy has taken, it can hurt nobody but the party 
 or the persons who support such papers; There is naturally a 
 wholesome pride in the public mind that revolts at open vulgarity. 
 It feels itself dishonored even by hearing it, as a chaste woman feels 
 dishonor by hearing obscenity she cannot avoid. It can smile at 
 wit, or be diverted with strokes of satirical humor, but it destests the 
 blackguard. The same sense of propriety that governs in private 
 companies, governs in public life. If a man in company runs his 
 wit Upon another, it may draw a smile from some persons present, 
 but as soon as he turns a blackguard in his language, the company 
 gives him up ; and it is the same in public life; The event of the 
 late election shows this to be true ; for in proportion as those pa- 
 pers have become more and more vulgar and abusivej the elections 
 have gone more and more against the party they support, or that 
 supports them. Their predecessor; Porcupine, had wit^— these scrib- 
 blers have none. But as soon as his olackguardistfi (for it is the 
 proper name of it) outrun his wit, he was abandoned by every body 
 but the English minister that protected hhn: 
 
 The Spanish proverb says, " there never was a cover large 
 enough to hide itself;" and the proverb applies to the case of those 
 papers and the shattered remnant of the faction that supports them: 
 The falsehoods they fabricate, and the abuse they circulate, is a 
 cover to hide something from being seen, but it is not large enough 
 to hide itself. It is as a tub thrown out to the whale to prevent its 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES; 61 
 
 attacking and sinking the vessel. Tliey want to draw the attention 
 of the public from thinking about, or inquiring into, the measures 
 of the late administration, and the reason why so much public mo- 
 ney was raised and expended ; and so far as a lie today, and a new 
 one tomorrow, will answer this purpose, it answers theirs. It is 
 nothing to them whether they be believed or not, for if the negative 
 purpose be answered, the main point is answered to them. 
 
 He that picks your pocket always tries to make you look another 
 way. " Look," says he, " at yon man t'other side the street — what 
 a nose he has got?— Lord, yonder is a chimney on fire ! — Do you 
 see yon man going along in the salamander great coat? That is the 
 very man that stole tine of Jupiter's satellites, and sold it to a coun- 
 tryman for a gold watch, and it set his breeches on fire !" Now 
 the man that has his hand in your pocket, does not Care a farthing 
 whether you believe what he says or not. All his aim is to prevent 
 your looking at him ; and this is the case wtth the remnant of the 
 federal faction. The leaders of it have imposed upon the country, 
 a~nd they want to turn the attention of it from the subject; 
 
 In taking Up any public matter, I have never made it a consider- 
 ation, and never will, whether*it be popular or unpopular ; but 
 whether it be right or wrong. The right will always become the 
 popular, if it has courage to show itself, and the shortest way is 
 always a straight line. I despise expedients, they are the gutter hole 
 of politics, and the sink where reputation dies. In the present case, 
 as in every other, I cannot be accused of using any ; and I have no 
 doubt but thousands will hereafter be ready to say, as Governcttr 
 Morris said to me> after having abused me pretty handsomely in 
 Congress, for the Opposition' I gave the fraudulent demand of Silas 
 Deane of two thousand pounds sterling : " 'Well! we were all duped, 
 and I among the rest!' 1 '' 
 
 Wore the late administration to be called upon to give reasons 
 for the expense it put the country to, it can give none. The dan- 
 ger, of an invasion was a bubble that served as a cover to raise taxes 
 and armies to be employed on some other purpose. But if the 
 people of America believed it true, the cheerfulness with which they 
 supported those measures and paid those taxes, is an evidence of 
 their patriotism ; arid iT they supposed me their enemy, though in 
 that supposition they did me injustice, it was not injustice in them. 
 He th'at acts as he believes, though he may act wrong, is not con- 
 scious of wrongs- 
 
G2 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 But though there was no danger, no thanks are due to the late 
 administration for it. They sought to blow up a- .flame between 
 the two countries ; and so intent were they upon this, that they 
 went out(of their way to accomplish it. In a letter which the se- 
 cretary of state, Timothy Pickering, wrote to Mr. Skipwith, the 
 American Consul at Paris, he broke off from the official subject ot 
 his letter, to thank God, in very exulting language, that the Rus- 
 sians had cut the French army to pieces. Mr. Skipwith, after 
 showing me the letter, very prudently concealed it. 
 
 It was the' injudicious and wicked acrimony of this letter, and 
 some other like conduct of the then secretary of state, that occa- 
 sioned me, in a letter to a friend in the government, to say, that it 
 there was any official business to be done in France, till a regular 
 minister could be appointed, it could not be trusted to a more pro- 
 per person than Mr. Skipwith. 
 
 " He is," " said I, " an honest man, and will do business, and 
 that with good manners to the government he is commissioned to act 
 with. A faculty which that bear, Timothy Pickering, wanted, 
 and which the bear of that bear, John Adams, never possessed." 
 
 In another letter to the same friend, in 1797, and which was put 
 unsealed under cover to Colonel Burr, I expressed a satisfaction 
 that Mr. Jefferson, since he was not president, had accepted the 
 vice presidency, "for," said I, "John Adams has such a talent for 
 blundering and offending, it will be necessary to keep an eye over' 
 him." He has now sufficiently proved, that though I have not the 
 spirit of prophecy, I have the gift of judging right. And all the 
 world knows, for it cannot help knowing, that to judge rightly, and 
 to write clearly, and that upon all sorts of subjects ; to be able to 
 command thought, and, as it were, to play with it at pleasure, and 
 be always master of one's temper in writing, is the faculty only of a 
 serene mind, and the attribute of a happy and philosophical tempera- 
 ment. The scribblers, who know me not, and who fill their papers 
 with paragraphs about me, besides, their want of talents, drink^too 
 many slings and drams in a morning, to have any chance with me. 
 But, poor fellows ! they must do something for the little pittance 
 they get from their employers. This is my apology for them. 
 
 My anxiety to get back to America was great for many years. 
 It is the country of my heart, and the place of my political and lite- 
 rary birth. It was the American revolution that made me an author, 
 and forced into action the mind that had been dormant, and had 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 63 
 
 no wish for public life, nor has it now. By the accounts I received, 
 she appeared to me to be going wrong, and that some medita'ted 
 treason against her liberties lurked at the bottom of her government. 
 I heard that my friends were oppressed, and I longed to take my 
 standing among them, and if " other times to try men's souls" were 
 to arrive, that I might bear my share. But my efforts to return 
 were ineffectual. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Monroe had made a good standing with the French 
 government, for the conduct of his predecessor had made his recep- 
 tion as minister difficult, he wanted to send despatches to his own 
 gpvernment by a person to whom he could confide a verbal com- 
 munication, and he fixed his choice on me. He then applied to the 
 Committee of Public Safety for a passport ; but as I had been voted 
 again into the Convention, it was only the Convention that could 
 give the passport ; and as an application to them for that purpose, 
 would have made my going publicly known, I was obliged to sus- 
 tain the disappointment, and Mr. Monroe to lose the opportunity. 
 
 When that gentleman left France to return to America, I was to 
 have gone with him. It was fortunate I did not. The vessel he 
 sailed in was visited by a British frigate, that searched every part of 
 it, and down to the hold, for Thomas Paine. I then went, the same 
 year, to embark at Havre. But several British frigates were cruiz- 
 ing in sight of the port who knew I was there, and I had to return 
 again to Paris. Seeing myself thus cut off from every opportunity 
 that was in my power to command, I wrote to Mr. Jefferson, that, 
 if the fate of the election should put him in the chair of the presi- 
 dency, and he should have occasion to send a frigate to France, he 
 would give me the opportunity of returning by it, which he did. 
 But I declined coming by the Maryland, the vessel that was offered 
 ine, and waited for the frigate that was to bring the new minister, 
 Mr. Chancellor Livingston, to France ; but that frigate was ordered 
 round to the Mediterranean ; and as at that time the war was oyer, 
 and the British cruisers called in, I could come any way. I then 
 agreed to come with Commodore Barney in a vessel he had en- 
 gaged. It was again fortunate I did not, for the vessel sunk at sea, 
 and the people were preserved in the boat. 
 
 Had half the number of evils befallen me that the number of 
 dangers amount to through which I have been preserved, there are 
 those who would ascribe it to the wrath of heaven ; why then do 
 they not ascribe my preservation to the protecting favor of heaven 1 
 
64 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 Even in my worldly concerns I have been blessed. The little pro- 
 perty I left in America, and which I cared nothing about, not even 
 to receive the rent of it, has been increasing in the value of its capi-. 
 tal more than eight hundred dollars every year, for the fourteen 
 years and more that I have been absent from it. I am now in my 
 circumstances independent ; and my economy makes me rich. As 
 to my health, it is perfectly good, and I leave the world to judge of 
 the stature of my mind. I am in every instance a living contradic-. 
 tion to the mortified federalists. 
 
 In my publications, I follow the rule I began with in Common 
 Sense, that is, to consult nobody, nor to let any body see what J 
 write till it appears publicly. Were I to do otherwise, the case would 
 be, that between the timidity of some, who are so afraid of doing 
 wrong, that they never do right, the puny judgment of others, and 
 the despicable craft of preferring expedient to right, as if the world 
 was a world of babies in leading strings, I should get forward with 
 nothing. My path is a right line, as straight and clear to me as a 
 ray of light. The boldness (if they will have it to be so) with which 
 I speak on any subject, is a compliment to the judgment of the read-, 
 er. 1 1 is 1 i ke s ay i ng t o h i m , I treat y o u as a m an and not as a child. 
 With respect to any worldly object, as it is impossible to discover 
 any in me, therefore what I do, and my manner of doing h^ o'ught to 
 be ascribed to a good motive. 
 
 In a great affair, where the happiness of man is at stake, I love 
 to work for nothing ; and so fully am I under the influence of this 
 principle, that I should lose the spirit, the pleasure, and the pride of 
 it, were I conscious that I looked for reward ; and with this decla- 
 ration, I take my leave for the present, 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Federal City, Lovett's Ifotel, 
 Dec. 3 1802. 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 65 
 
 LETTER V 
 
 Towards the latter end of last December, I received a letter 
 from a venerable patriot, Samuel Adams, dated Boston, Nov. 30. 
 It came by a private hand, which I suppose was the cause of the 
 delay. I wrote Mr. Adams an answer, dated Jan. 1st, and that I 
 might be certain of his receiving it, and also that I might know of 
 that reception, I desired a friend of mine at Washington to put it 
 under coyer to some friend of his at Boston, and desire him to 
 present it to Mr. Adams. The letter was accordingly put under 
 cover while I was present, and given to one of the clerks of the 
 post office to seal and put in the mail. The clerk put it in his 
 pocket book, and either forgot to put it into the mail, or supposed 
 he had done so among other letters. The postrmaster general, on 
 learning this mistake, informed me of it, last Saturday, and as the 
 coyer was then out of date, the letter was put under a new cover, 
 with the same request, and forwarded by the post. I felt concern at 
 this accident, lest Mr. Adams should conclude I was unmindful 
 of his attention to me; and therefore, lest any further accident 
 should prevent or delay his receiving it, as well as to relieve myself 
 from that concern, I give the letter an opportunity of reaching him 
 by the newspapers. I am the more induced to do this, because 
 some manus.cript copies have been taken of both letters, and 
 therefore, there is a possibility of imperfect copies getting into print ; 
 and besides this, if some of the federal printers (for I hope they are 
 not all base alike) could get hold of a copy, they would make no 
 scruple of altering it, and publishing it as mine. I therefore send 
 you the original letter, of Mr. Adams, and ray own copy of the 
 answer. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Federal City. 
 
GS LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Boston, Nov. 30, 1802. 
 
 Sir: 
 
 I have frequently with pleasure reflected on your services to my 
 native and your adopted country. Your Common Sense and your 
 Crisis unquestionably awakened the public mind, and led the people 
 loudly to call for a declaration of our national independence. I 
 therefore esteemed you as a warm friend to the liberty and lasting 
 welfare of the human race. But when I heard that you had turned 
 your mind to a defence of in6delity, I felt myself much astonished 
 and more grieved, that you had attempted a measure so injurious to 
 the feelings and so repugnant to the true interest of so great a part 
 of the citizens of the United States. The people of New England, 
 if you will allow me to use a scripture phrase, are fast returning to 
 their first love. Will you excite among them the spirit of angry 
 controversy, at a time when they are hastening to unity and peace? 
 I am told that some of our newspapers have announced your inten- 
 tion to publish an additional pamphlet upon the principles of your 
 Age of Reason. Do you think that your pen, or the pen of any 
 other man, can unchristianize the mass of our citizens, or have you 
 hopes of converting a few of them to assist you in so bad a cause ? 
 We ought to think ourselves happy in the enjoyment of opinion 
 without the danger of persecution by civil or ecclesiastical law. 
 
 Our friend, the president of the United States, has been calumni- 
 ated for his liberal sentiments, by men who have attributed that 
 liberality to a latent design to promote the cause of infidelity. This 
 and all other slanders have been made without a shadow of proof. 
 Neither religion nor liberty can long subsist in the tumult of alterca- 
 tion, and amidst the noise and violence of faction. 
 Felix qui cautus 
 Adieu. 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Paine. 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 6t 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 TO SAMUEL ADAMS. 
 Mr DEAR AND VENERABLE FRIEND, 
 
 I received with great pleasure your friendly and affectionate 
 letter of Nov. 30th, and I thank you also for the frankness of it. 
 Between men in pursuit of truth, and whose object is the happiness 
 of man both here and hereafter, there ought to be no reserve. 
 Even error has a claim to indulgence, if not to respect, when it is 
 believed to be truth. I am obliged to you for your affectionate re- 
 membrance of what you style my services in awakening the public 
 mind to a declaration of independence, and supporting it after it 
 was declared. I also, like you.) have often looked back on those 
 times, and have thought, that if independence had not been de- 
 clared at the time it was, the public mind could not have been 
 brought up to it afterwards. It will immediately occur to you, 
 who were so intimately acquainted with the situation of things at 
 that time, that I allude to the black times of seventy-six; for though 
 I know, and you my friend also kno\v, they were no other than the 
 natural consequences of the military blunders of that campaign, 
 the country might have viewed them as proceeding from a natural 
 inability to support its cause against the enemy, and have sunk un- 
 der the despondency of that misconceived idea. This was the 
 impression against which it was necessary the country should be 
 strongly animated. 
 
 I now come to the second part of your letter, on which I shall 
 be as frank with you as you are with me. " But (say you) when I 
 heard you had turned your mind to a defence of infidelity, I felt 
 myself much astonished,*' &c. What* my good friend, do you 
 call believing in God itifidelity? for that is the great point mention- 
 ed in the Age of Reason against all divided beliefs and allegorical 
 divinities. The Bishop of Llaridaff (Dr. Watson) not only ac- 
 knowledges this, but pays me some compliments upon it, in his 
 answer to the second part of that work. " There is (says he) a 
 philosophical sublimity in some of your ideas, when speaking of 
 the Creator of the Universe,." 
 
 What then, my much esteemed friend, (for I do not respect you 
 the less because we differ, and that perhaps not much* in religious 
 
68 LETTERS tO THE CITIZENS 
 
 sentiments,) what, I ask, is the thing called infidelity 1 If we go 
 back to your ancestors and mine, three Or four hundred years ago, 
 for we must have fathers, and grandfathers, or we should not have 
 been here, we shall find them praying to saints and virgins, and be- 
 lieving in purgatory and transubstantialion ; and therefore, all of us 
 are infidels according to our forefathers' belief. If we go back t6 
 times more ancient, we shall again be infidels according to the be- 
 lief of some other forefathers. 
 
 The case, my friend, is, that the world has been overrun with 
 fable and creed of human invention; with Sectaries of whole nations 
 against other nations; and sectaries of those sectaries in each of 
 them against each other". Every sectary/except the Quakers, have 
 been persecutors'. Those who fled from persecution, persecuted in 
 their turn, and it is this confusion of creeds that has filled the world 
 with persecution, and deluged it with blood: Even the depredation 
 On your commerce by the 1 Barbary powets, sprang fsom the crusades 
 of the church against those powers. It was a War of creed against 
 creed, each boasting of God for its author, and reviling each other 
 With the name of infidel. If I do not believe as you believe, it 
 proves that you do not believe 1 as I believe, and this is all that it 
 proves. 
 
 There te, however; one point of union wherein all religions meet, 
 and that is the first article of every man's creed, and of every na- 
 tion's creed; that has any creed at all, I believe in God. Those 
 who rest here, and there are millions who do, cannot be wrong as 
 ' far as their creed goes". Those who choose to go farther may be 
 wrong, for it is impossible that all can be right, since there is so 
 much contradiction among them. The first, therefore, are, in my 
 opinion, on the safest side. 
 
 I presume you are so far acquainted with ecclesiastical history as 
 to know, and the bishop who has answered me has been obliged to 
 acknowledge the fact, that the Book's that compose the New Testa- 
 ment, were voted by yeas and nays to be the Word of God, as you 
 now vote a law, by the Popish Councils of Nice and LaodociaJ 
 about fourteen hundred and fifty years ago. With respect to the 
 fact there is no dispute, neither do I mention it for the sake of con- 
 troversy. This vote may appear authority enough to some, and 
 not authority enough to others. It is proper, however, that every 
 body should know the fact*. 
 
 With respect 'to the Age of Reason, which you so much con- 
 
OP THE UN'tT'Et) STATED. 69 
 
 tfemfi, and that, I believe, without having read it, for ydu say only 
 that you heard of it, I will inform you of a circumstance, because 
 you cannot know it by other means'. 
 
 "I have said in the first page of the first part of that work, that it 
 had long been my intention to publish my thoughts upon religion, 
 but that I had reserved it to a later 'time of lifei I have now to in 
 form you why 1 wrote if* and published it at the time I did. 
 
 In the first place, 1 saw my life in continual danger. My friends 
 were falling as fast as the guillotine could cut their heads off, and 
 as I expected every day the same fate, i resolved to begin my work. 
 I appeared to rnyself to be on my death bed) for death was on 
 every side of me, and I had no time to lose. This accounts for 
 iny writing at the time I did, and so nicely did the time and inten- 
 tion meet, that I had not finished the nrst part of the work more 
 than six hours before I was arrested and taken to prison. Joel 
 Barlow was whji me, and knows the fact. 
 
 In the second place, the people of France were running head- 
 long into atheism, and I had the work translated and published in 
 their own language, to stop them in that career, and fix them to the 
 first article (as I have before said) of every man's creed, whtt has 
 any creed at all, I believe in God. I endangered my own life, in 
 the first place, by opposing in the Convention the executing of the 
 iiing, and laboring to show they were trying the monarch and not 
 the man, and that the crimes imputed to him were the crimes of the 
 monarchical system ; and sndangered it a second time by opposing 
 atheism, and yet some of your priests, for I do wot believe that all 
 are perverse, cry out, in the war-whoop of monarchical priestcraft, 
 what an infidel ! what a wicked man is Thomas Paine ! They 
 might as well add, for he believes in God, and is against shedding 
 blood. 
 
 But all (his wart-whoop of the pulpit has some concealed object. 
 Religion is not the cause, hut it is the stalking horse. They put it 
 forward to conceal themselves behind it. It is not a secret that 
 "there has been a 'party composed of the leaders of the Federalists, 
 for I do not include all Federalists with their leaders, who have 
 been working -by various means for several years pasty to overturn 
 the Federal Constitution established on the representative system, 
 and place government in the new world on the corrupt system of 
 the old. To accomplish this, a large standing army was necessary, 
 and as a pretence for such an army, the danger of a foreign inva- 
 
70 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 sion must be bellowed forth, from the pulpit, from the press, and by 
 their public orators; , u 
 
 I am not of a disposition inclined to suspicion. It is in its na- 1 
 ture a mean and cowardly passion, and upon the whole, even ad- 
 mitting error into the case, it is belter, I am sure it' is more gene- 
 rous to be wrong on the side of confidence, than on the side of sus- 
 picion. But I know as a fact, that the English Government dis» 
 tributes annually fifteen hundred pounds sterling among the Pres- 
 byterian ministers in England, and one hundred among those of 
 Ireland;* and when I hear of the strange discourses of some of 
 your ministers and professors of colleges I cannot, as the Quakers 
 say, find freedom in my mind to acquit them. Their anti-revolu- 
 lionary doctrines invite suspicion, even against one's will, and in 
 spite of one's charity to believe well of them. 
 
 As you have given me one Scripture phrase, 1 will give yon' 
 another for those ministers. It is said in Exodus, chapter XxiiL 
 verse 28, " Thou shalt not revile the Gods* nor eurse the ruler of 
 thy people." But those ministers, such I mean as Dr. Emmons, 
 curse ruler and people both, for the majority are, politically, the 
 people, and it is those who have chosen the, ruler whom they curse. 
 
 As to the first part of the verse, that of not reviling the Godsj 
 it makes no part of my Scripture : I have but one God. 
 
 Since I began this letter, for I write it by piecemeals as I have 
 leisure, I have seen the four letters that passed between you and 
 John Adams. In your first letter you say; " Let divines and phi-* 
 losophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate 
 the age, by inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of 
 the Deify and universal philanthropy." . Why, my dear friendj 
 this is exactly my religion, and is the whole of it. That you may 
 have an idea that the Age of Reason (for I believe you have not 
 read it) inculcates, this reverential fear and love of Deity, I will 
 give you a -paragraph from it. 
 
 " Do we want to contemplate his power ? We see it hi the im- 
 mensity of the Creation. Do we want to contemplate his wisdom? 
 We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incomprehensi- 
 ble whole is governed. Do we want to contemplate his munificence 1 
 We see it in the abundance with which he fills the earth. Do we 
 
 * There must undoubtedly be a very gross mistake in respect to the amount 
 said to be expended; the sums intended to be expressed wore probably fifteen 
 hundred thousand and one hundred thousand pounds. — Ed. . . 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 71 
 
 want to contemplate his mercy 1 We see it in his not withholding 
 that abundance even from the unthankful." 
 
 As I am fully with you in your first part, that respecting the 
 Deity, so am I in your second, that of universal philanthropy ; by 
 which I do not mean merely the sentimental benevolence of wishing 
 well, but the practical benevolence of doing good. We cannot 
 serve the Deity in the manner we serve those who cannot do with- 
 out that service. He needs no services from us. We can add 
 nothing to eternity. But it is in our power to render a service ac- 
 ceptable to him, and that is, not by praying, but by endeavoring to 
 make his creatures happy. A man does not serve God when he 
 prays, for it is himself" he is trying to serve; and as to- hiring or 
 paying men to pray, as if the- Deity needed instruction, it is in my 
 opinion an abomination. One good school-master is of more use 
 and of more value than a load of such parsons as Dr. Emmons, 
 and some others. 
 
 You, my dear and much respected friend, are now far in the vale 
 qf years ; I have yet, I believe, some years in store, for I have a 
 good state of healtl) and a happy mind : I take care of both, by 
 flourishing the first with temperance, and the latter with abundance. 
 
 i This.Ji believe you will allow, to be the true philosophy of life. 
 You will see hy my third letter to the citizens of the United States, 
 that I have been exposed to, and' preserved through-many dangers ; 
 but, instead of buffeting the Deity with prayers, as if I distrusted 
 him, or must dictate to him, I reposed myself on his protection: 
 and you, my friend, will find, even in your la^t moments, more 
 consolation in the silence of resignation than in the murmuring 
 wish of prayer. 
 
 In every thing which you say in your second letter to John 
 Adams, respecting our rights as men and citizens in this world, I 
 am perfectly with you. On other points we have to answer to our 
 Creator and not to each other. The key of heaven is not in the 
 keeping of any sect, nor ought the road to it to be obstructed by any. 
 Our relation to each other in this world is, as men, and the man 
 who is a friend to man and to his rights, let his religious opinions 
 be what they may, is a good citizen, to whom I can give, as I ought 
 to do, and as every other ought, the right hand of fellowship, and 
 ' to none with more hearty good will, my dear friend, than to you. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Federal City, Jan. 1, 1803. 
 
72 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The Editor cannot resist the inclination, to give the following quota-*, 
 ttonfrom the Bishop of Llandaff, after the foregoing letters. 
 
 " It would give me much uneasiness to be reputed an enemy to, 
 free inquiry in religious matters, or as capable of being animated into 
 any degree of personal malevolence, against those who differ from 
 me in opinion. On the contrary, I look upon the right of private 
 judgment, in every concern respecting God and ourselves, as superior 
 to the control of human authority; and have ever regarded free dis- 
 quisition as the best means of illustrating the doctrine, and estab- 
 lishing the truth of Christianity. Let the followers of Mahomet, and 
 the zealots of the Church of Rome, support their several religious 
 systems, by damping every effort qf the human intellect to pry into 
 the foundations of their faith ! but never can it bocome a Christian to 
 be afraid of being asked- a reason of the faith that is in him ; nor a 
 protestant to be studious of enveloping his religion in mystery and 
 ignorance ; nor the Church of England, to abandon that moderation 
 by which she permjts every individual, et sentire quae yelit, et quasi 
 senfiat dicere,'' 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 73 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 It is always the interest of a far greater part of the nation to 
 have a thing right than to have it wrong ; and, therefore, in a coun- 
 try whose government is founded on the system of election and re- 
 presentation, the fate of every party is decided by its principles. 
 
 As this system is the only form and principle of government by 
 which liberty can be preserved, and the only one that can embrace ' 
 all the varieties of a great extent of country, it necessarily follows, 
 that to have the representation real, the election must be real ; and 
 that where the election is a fiction, the representation is a fiction 
 also. Like will always produce like. 
 
 A great deal has been said and written. concerning fhe conduct 
 ,of Mr. Burr, during the late .contest, in the federal legislature, 
 whether Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Burr should be declared President 
 of the United States. Mr. Burr has been accused of intriguing to 
 obtain the Presidency,, Whether this change be substantiated or 
 not, makes little or no part of the purport of this letter. There is 
 a point of much higher importance to attend to than any thing that 
 relates to the individual, Mr. Burr: for the great point is not 
 whether Mr. Burr ha^ intrigued, but whether the legislature has in- 
 trigued with him. 
 
 Mr. Ogden, a relation of one of the senators of New Jersey, of 
 the same name, and of the party assuming the style of federalists, 
 has written a letter published in the New York papers, signed with 
 his name, the purport of which is to exculpaate Mr. Burr from the 
 charges brought against him. In $iis letter he says, 
 
 "When about to return from Washington, two or three members 
 of Congress of the federal party spoke to me of their views, as to 
 the election of a president, desiring me to converse with Colonel 
 Burr on the subject, and to ascertain whether he would enter into 
 perms. On my return to New York, I called on Colonel Burr, and 
 communicated the above to him. He explicitly declined the expla- 
 nation, and did neither propose nor agree to any terms." 
 
 How nearly is human cunning allied to folly ! The animals to 
 whom nature has given the faculty we call cunning, know always 
 when to use it, and use it wisely ; but when man descends to cun- 
 ning, he blunders and betrays. 
 
 Mr. Ogden's letter is intended to exculpate Mr. Burr from the 
 
74 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 charge of intriguing to obtain the presidency ; and the letter that 
 he (Ogden) writes for this purpose, is direct evidence against his 
 party in Congress, that they intrigued with Burr to obtain him for 
 President, and employed him (Ogden) for the purpose. To save 
 Aaron, he betrays Moses, and then turns informer against the 
 Golden Calf. 'f 
 
 It is but of little importance to the world to know if Mr. Burr 
 listened to an intriguing proposal, but it is of great importance to 
 the constituents to know if their representatives in Congress made 
 one. The ear can commit no crime, but the tongue may, and 
 therefore the right policy is to drop Mr. Burr as being only the 
 hearer, and direct the whole charge against the federal faction in. 
 Congress as the active original culprit, or, if the priests will haver 
 scripture for it, as the serpent that beguiled Eve. 
 
 The plot of the intrigue was to make Mr. Burr President, on the 
 private condition of liis agreeing to, and entering" into, terms with 
 them, that is, with the proposers. Had then this election been 
 made, the country, knowing nothing of ihis private and illegal trans- 
 action, would have supposed, for who could have supposed other- 
 wise, that it had a President according to the forms, principles, 
 and intention "of the constitution. No such thing. Every form, 
 principle, and intention of the constitution would have been vio- 
 lated ; and instead of a President, it would have had a mute, a 
 sort of image, hand-bound and tongue-tied, the dupe and slave of 
 a party, placed on the theatre of the United States, and acting the 
 farce of President. 
 
 It is of little importance, in a constitutional sense, to know what 
 the terms to be proposed might be, because any terms other than those 
 which the constitution prescribes to a President is criminal. TMei- 
 ther do I see how Mr. Burr, or any other person ,put in the same 
 condition, could have taken the oath prescribed by the constitution 
 to a President, which is, " I do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that J 
 will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, 
 and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the 
 Constitution of the United States." 
 
 How, I ask, could such a person have taken such an oath, 
 knowing at the same time that he had entered into the Presidency 
 on terms unknown in the constitution, and private, and which would 
 deprive him of the freedom and power of acting as President of 
 the United States, agreeably to his constitutional oath ? 
 
t>F THE UNITED STATES. 75 
 
 Mft Burr, by not agreeing to terms, has escaped the danger to 
 which they exposed him, and the perjury that would have followed, 
 and also the punishment annexed thereto. Had he accepted the 
 Presidency on terms unknown in the- constitution, and private, and 
 had the transaction afterwards transpired, (which it most probably 
 would, for roguery is a thing difficult to conceal,) it would have pro- 
 duced a sensation in the country too violent to be quieted, and too 
 just to be resisted; and in any case the election must have been 
 void. 
 
 But what are we to think of those members of Congress, who 
 having taken an oath of the same constitutional import as the oath 
 of the President, violate that oath by tampering to obtain a Presi- 
 dent on private conditions. If this is not sedition against the con- 
 stitution and the country, it is difficult to define what sedition in a 
 representative can be. 
 
 Say not that this statement of the case is the effect of personal or 
 party resentment. No. It is the effect of sincere concern, that such 
 corruption, of which this is but a sample, should, in the space of a 
 few years, have crept into a country, that had the fairest opportunity 
 that Providence ever gave, within the knowledge of history, of 
 making itself an illustrious example to the world. 
 
 What the terms were, or were to be, it is probable^ we never 
 shall know; or what is more probable, that feigned ones, if any, 
 will be given. But from the conduct of the party since that time, 
 we may conclude, that no taxes would have been taken off, that 
 the clamor for war would have been kept up, new expenses incur- 
 red, and taxes and offices increased in consequence ; and among 
 the articles of a private nature, that the leaders in this seditious 
 traffic were to stipulate with the mock President for lucrative ap- 
 pointments for themselves. 
 
 But if these plotters against the constitution understood their 
 business, and they had been plotting long enough to be masters of 
 it, a single article would have comprehended every thing, which is, 
 
 That the President (thus made) should be governed in all cases 
 whatsoever by a private junto appointed by themselves. •■ 
 
 They could'then, through the medium of a mock President, 
 have negatived all bills which the party in Congress could not 
 have opposed with success, and reduced representation to a 
 nullity. 
 
 The country has been imposed upon, and the real culprits are 
 
76 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 but few; and as it is necessary for the peace, harmony, and honor 
 of the Union, to separate the deceiver from the deceived, the be- 
 trayer from the betrayed, that men who once were friends, and 
 that iri the worst of times, should be friends again, it is neces- 
 sary, as a beginning, that that this dark business be brought to full 
 investigation. Ogden's letter is direct evidence of the fact of 
 tampering to obtain a conditional President. He knows the two 
 or three members of Congress that commissioned him, and they 
 know who commissioned them. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE 
 Federal City, Lovett's Hotel; 
 Jan.- 29th, 1803.- 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 The malignant mind, like the jaundiced eye, sees every thing 
 through a false medium of its own creating. The light of heaven 
 appears stained with yellow to the distempered sight of the one ; 
 and the fairest actions have the form of crimes iff the venomcd 
 imagination of the other. 
 
 For several months; both before and after my return to America, 
 in October last, the apostate papers, styling themselves federal, 
 were filled with paragraphs arid essays respecting a letter from Mr. 
 Jefferson to me at Paris, and though none of them knew the contents 
 of the letter, nor the occasion of writing it, malignity taught them 
 to suppose it, and the lying tongue of injustice lent them its aid. 
 
 Thatjhe public may be no longer imposed upon by federal apos- 
 tacy, I will now publish the letter, and the occasion of its being 
 written. 
 
 The treaty negociated in England by John Jay, and ratified by 
 the Washington administration, had so disgracefully surrendered 
 the right and freedom of the American flag, that all the commerce 
 of the United States on the ocean became exposed to capture, and 
 suffered in consequence of it. The duration of the treaty was 
 limited to two years after the war ; and consequently, America 
 could not, during that period, relieve herself from the chains which 
 that treaty had fixed typbn her. 
 
 This being the case; the only relief that, could come must arise 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 77 
 
 out of something originating in Europe, that would, in its conse- 
 quences, extend to America. It had long been my opinion that 
 commerce contained within itself the means of its own protection ; 
 but as the time for bringing forward any new system is not always 
 happening, it is necessary to watch its approach, and lay hold of it 
 before it passes away. 
 
 As soon as the late Emperor Paul of Russia abandoned his coali- 
 tion with England, and became a neutral power, this crisis of time, 
 and also of circumstances, was then arriving; and I employed it in 
 arranging a plan for the protection of the commerce of neutral na- 
 tions during War, that might, in its operation and consequences, 
 relieve the commerce of America* The plan, with the pieces 
 accompanying it; consisted of about forty pagesi The Citizen 
 Bonneville, with whom I lived in Paris, translated it into French. 
 Mr. Skipwith, the American consul, Joel Barlow, and myself, had 
 the translation printed and distributed as a present to the foreign 
 ministers of all the neutral nations then resident' in Paris. This 
 was in the summer of 1800. 
 
 It was entitled Maritime Compact (in French Path Maritime.) 
 The plan, exclusive of the pieces that accompanied it* Consisted of 
 the following preamble and articles. 
 
 MARITIME COMPACT. 
 
 Being an Unarmed Association of Nations for the protection bf the rights 
 and commerce of Nations that phall be neutral in time of war. 
 
 Whereas, the vexations and injuries to which the rights and com- 
 merce of neutral nations have been, and continue to be* exposed 
 during the time of maritime war-, render it necessary to establish a 
 law of nations ror the purpose of putting an end to such vexations 
 and injuries* and to guarantee to the neutral nations the exercise of 
 their just rights. 
 
 We, therefore, the undersigned powers, fornl ourselves into an 
 association, and establish the following as a law of nations oh the seas. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 Definition of the rights of neutral nations. 
 
 The rights of nations, such as are exercised by thehi in their 
 intercourse with each other in time of peace, are, and of right ought 
 to be, the rights of neutral nations at all times; because, 
 
78 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 First, Those rights not having been abandoned by them, remain 
 with them. 
 
 Secondly, Because those rights cannot become' forfeited or void < 
 in consequence of war breaking out between two or more other 
 nations. 
 
 A war of nation against nation being exclusively the act of the 
 nations that make the war, and not the act of the neutral nations, 
 cannot, whether considered in itself or in its consequences, destroy 
 or diminish the rights of the nations remaining in peace. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 The ships and vessels of nations that rest neuter and at peace! 
 with the world during a war with other nations, have a right to 
 navigate freely on the seas as they navigated before that war broke 
 out, and to proceed to and enter the port or ports of any of the bel j 
 ligerent powers, with the consent of that power, without being seiz^ 
 ed, searched, visited, or any ways interrupted, by the nation or 
 nations with which that nation is at war. 
 
 ARTICLE III, 
 
 For the conservation of the aforesaid rights, we, the undersigned 
 powers, engaging to each other our sacred faith and honor, declare, 
 
 That if any belligerent power shall seize, search, visit, or any 
 ways interrupt any ship or vessel belonging to the citizens or sub- 
 jects of any of the powers composing this association, then each and 
 all of the said undersigned powers will cease to import, and will not 
 permit to be imported into the ports or dominions of any of the said 
 undersigned powers, in any ship or vessel whatever, any goods, 
 wares, or merchandize, produced or manufactured in, or exported 
 from, the dominions of the power so offending against the asociation 
 hereby established and proclaimed. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 That all the ports appertaining to any and all of the powers 
 composing this association shall' be shut against the flag of the 
 offending nation. 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 79 
 
 any of the powers composing this association, to the citizens or 
 subjects of the offending nation, for the term of one year, or until 
 reparation be made. The reparation to be times 
 
 the amount of the damages sustained. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 If any ship or vessel appertaining to any of the citizens or sub- 
 jects of any of the powers composing this association shall be seized, 
 searched, visited, or interrupted, by any belligerent nation, or bo 
 forcibly prevented entering the port of her destination, or be seized, 
 searched, visited, or interrupted, in coming out of such port, or bo 
 forcibly prevented from proceeding to any new destination, or bo 
 insulted or visited by any agent from on board any vessel of any 
 belligerent power, the government or executive power of the nation 
 to which the ship or vessel so seized, searched, visited, or interrupt- 
 ed belongs, shall, on evidence of the fact, make public proclamation 
 of the same, and send a copy thereof to the government, or execu- 
 tive, of each of the powers composing this association, who shall 
 publish the same in all the extent of his dominions, together with a 
 declaration, that at the expiration of days after 
 
 publication, the final articles of this association shall be put in exe- 
 cution against tho offending nation. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 If reparation be not made within the space of one year, the said 
 proclamation shall be renewed for one year more, and so on. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. 
 
 The association chooses for itself a flag to be carried at the 
 mast head conjointly with the national flag of each nation composing 
 this association. 
 
 The flag of the association shall be composed of the same colors 
 as compose the rainbow, and arranged in the same order as they 
 .appear in that phenomenon. 
 
 ARTICLE IX, 
 
 And whereas, it may happen that one or more of the nations 
 composing this association may be, at the time of forming it s en- 
 gaged in war, or become so in future, in that case, the ships and 
 vessels of such nation shall carry the flag of the .association bound 
 
80 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 round the mast, to denote that the nation to which she belongs is a 
 member of the association and a respecter of the laws. 
 
 N. B. This distinction in the manner of carrying the flag is 
 merely for the purpose, that neutral vessels having the flag at the 
 mast head, may be known at first sight. 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 And whereas, it is contrary to the moral principles of neutrality 
 and peace, that any neutral nation should furnish to the belligerent 
 powers, or any of them, the means of carrying on war against each 
 other ; we, therefore, the powers composing this association, declare 
 that we will, each one "for itself, prohibit in our dominions the 
 exportation or transportation of military stores, comprehending 
 gunpowder, cannon, and cannon balls, fire arms of all kinds, and 
 all kinds of iron and steel weapons used in war, excluding therefrom 
 all kinds of utensils and instruments used in civil or domestic life, 
 and every other article that cannot, in its immediate state, be 
 employed in war. 
 
 Having thus declared the moral motives of the foregoing article, 
 we declare also the civil and political intentions thereof, to wit : 
 
 That as belligerent nations have no right to visit or search any 
 ship or vessel belonging to a nation at peace, and under the protec- 
 tion of the laws and government thereof, and as all such visit or 
 search is an insult to the nation to which such ship or vessel belongs, 
 and to the government of the same, we, therefore, the powers com- 
 posing this association,will take the right of prohibition on ourselves, 
 to whom it properly belongs, and by whom only it can be legally 
 exercised, and not permit foreign nations, in a state of war, to usurp 
 the right of legislating, by proclamation, for any of the citizens or 
 subjects of the powers composing this association. 
 
 It is, therefore, in order tp take away all pretence of search or 
 visit, which, by being offensive, might become a new cause of war, 
 that we will provide laws, and publish them by proclamation, each 
 in his own dominion, to prohibit the supplying, or carrying to, the 
 belligerent power's, or either of them, the military stores, or articles 
 before mentioned, annexing thereto a penalty to be levied or inflicted 
 upon any persons within our several dominions, transgressing the 
 same. And we invite all persons, as well of the belligerent nations 
 as of our own, or any other, to give information of any knowledge 
 they may have of any transgression against the s,aid law, that the 
 offenders may be prosecuted. 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 81 
 
 By this conduct we restore the word contraband [contra and 
 ban] to its true and original signification, which means against law 
 edict, or proclamation ; and none tmt the government of a action 
 can have, or can exercise, the right of making laws, edicts, or pro- 
 clamations, for the conduct of its citizens or subjects. 
 
 Now \vs, the undersigned powers, declare the aforesaid articles 
 to be a law of nations, at all times, or until a congress of nations 
 shall meet to form some law more effectual. 
 
 And we do recommend that immediately on the breaking out of 
 war between any two or more nations, that deputies be appointed 
 by all the neutral nations, whether members ot this association or 
 not, to meet in congress, in some central place, to take cognizance 
 of any violations of the rights of neutral nations. 
 
 Signed, &c. 
 
 For the purpose of giving operation to the aforesaid plan of an 
 unarmed association, the following pagraraph was subjoined: 
 
 It may be judged proper for the order of business, that the associ- 
 ation of nations have a President for a term of years, and the 
 Presidency to pass by rotation, to each of the parties composing the 
 association. 
 
 In that case, and for the sake of regularity, the first President to 
 be the executive power of the most northerly nation composing the 
 the association, and his deputy or minister at the congress to be 
 President of the congress, and the next most northerly to be Vice- 
 President, who shall succeed to the Presidency, and so on. The line 
 determining the geographical situation of each to be the latitude of 
 the capital of each nation. 
 
 If this method be adopted, it will be proper that the first President 
 be nominally constituted in order to give rotation to the rest. In 
 that case the following article might be added to the foregoing, viz. 
 " The constitution of the association nominates the .Emperor Paul 
 to be first President of the association of nations for the protection 
 of neutral commerce, and the securing the freedom of the seas." 
 
 The foregoing plan,, as I have before mentioned, was presented to _ 
 the ministers of all neutral nations then in Paris, in the summer 
 of 1800. Six copies were given to the Russian general Springpor- 
 ten; and a Russian gentleman Who was going to St. Petersburg 
 Jook two, expressly for the purpose of putting them into the hands 
 of Paul. I sent the original manuscript, in my own hand-writing, 
 
 L 
 
82 
 
 LETTER TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 to Mr. Jefferson, and also wrote him four letters, dated the 1st, 4th, 
 6th, and 16th of October, 1800, giving him an account of what was 
 then going on in Europe, respecting neutral commerce. 
 
 The case was, that in order to compel the English government 
 to acknowledge the rights of neutral commerce, and that free ships 
 make free goods, the Emperor .Paul, in the month of September 
 following the publication of the plan, shut all the ports of Russia 
 against England. Sweden and Denmark did the same by their 
 ports, and Denmark shut up Hamburgh. Prussia shut up the Elbe 
 and the Weser. The ports of Spain, Portugal, and Naples were shut 
 up, and in general, all the ports of Italy, except Venice, which the 
 Emperor of Germany held, and had it not been for the untimely 
 death of Paul, a law of nations, founded on the authority of nations, 
 for establishing the rights of neutral commerce and the freedom of 
 tho seas, would have been proclaimed, and the government of 
 England must have consented to that law, or the nation must have 
 lost its commerce: and the consequence to America would have 
 been, that such a law would in a great measure, if not entirely, have 
 released her from the injuries of Jay's treaty. 
 
 Of all these matters I informed Mr, Jefferson. This was before 
 he was President, and the letter he wrote me after he was Presi- 
 dent was in answer to those I had written to him, and the manuscript 
 copy of the plan I had sent him. Here follows the letter. 
 
 Washington, March 18th, 1801. 
 Dear Sir : 
 
 Your letters of Oct. 1st, 4th, 6th, and 16th, came duly to hand, 
 and the papers which they covered were, according to your per- 
 mission, published in the newspapers, and in a pamphlet, and under 
 your own name.* These papers contain precisely our principles, 
 and I hope they will be generally recognized here. Determined as 
 we are to avoid, if possible, wasting the energies of our people in 
 war and destruction, we shall avoid implicating ourselves with the 
 powers of Europe, even in support of principles which we mean to 
 pursue. They have so many other interests different from ours, 
 that we must avoid being entangled in them. We believe we can 
 enforce those principles as to ourselves by peaceable means, uow 
 
 * The plan, with the papers accompanying it, were published by S. H. 
 (Smith, of the Federal City. 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 1)6 
 
 that we are likely to have our public councils detached from foreign 
 views. The return of our citizens from the phrenzy into which 
 they had been wrought, partly by ill conduct in France, partly by 
 artifices practiced upon them, is almost entire, and will, I believe* 
 become quite so. But these 'details, too minute and long for a 
 letter, will bo better developed by Mr. Dawson, the bearer of this, 
 a member of the late congress, to whom I refer you for them. He 
 goes in the Maryland sloop of war, which will wait a few days at 
 Kavre to receive his letters to be written on his arrival at Paris. 
 You expressed a wish to get a passage to this country in a public 
 vessel. Mr. Dawson is charged with orders to the captain of the 
 Maryland to receive, and • accommodate you back if you can be 
 ready to depart at such a short warning. Rob. R. Livingston is 
 appointed minister plenipotentiary to the republic of France, but 
 will not leave this, till we receive the ratification of the convention 
 by Mr. Dawson. I am in hopes you will find us returned generally 
 to sentiments worthy of former times. In these it will be your 
 glory to have steadily labored, and with as much effect as any man 
 living. That you may long live to Continue your useful labors and 
 to reap the reward in the thankfulness of nations, is my sincere 
 prayer. Accept assurances of my high esteem and affectionate 
 •attachments. 
 
 TH. JEFFERSON. 
 
 This, citizens of the United States, is the letter about which the 
 leaders and tools of the federal faction, without knowing its contents 
 or the occasion of Writing it, have wasted so many malignant false- 
 hoods. It is a letter which, on account of its wise economy and 
 peaceable principles, and its forbearance to reproach, will be read 
 by every good man and every good citizen with pleasure, and tire 
 faction, mortified at its appearance, will have to regret that they 
 forced it into publication. The least atonement they can now offer 
 is to make the letter as public as they have made their own infamy, 
 and learn to lie no more. 
 
 The same injustice they showed to Mr. Jefferson they showed to 
 me. I had employed myself in Europe, and at tny own expense, 
 in forming and promoting a plan that would, in its operation, have 
 benefited the commerce of America; and the federal faction here 
 invented and circulated an account in the papers they emplo}', that 
 I had given a plan to the French for burning all the towns on the 
 
84 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 coast from Savannah to Baltimore. Were I to prosecute them fot 
 this, and I do not promise that I will not, (for the liberty of 
 the press is not the liberty of lying,) fhere is not a federal judge, 
 not even one of midnight appointment, but must, from the na- 
 ture of the case, be obliged to condemn ihem. The faction, 
 however, cannot cdmplain ; they have not been restrained in any 
 thing. They have had their full swing of lying uncontradicted ; 
 they have availed themselves, unopposed, of all the arts hypocrisy 
 could devise ; and the event has been, what, in all such cases ft 
 ever will, and ought to be, the ruin of themselves. 
 
 The characters of the late and present administrations are now 
 sufficiently marked, and the adherents of each keep up the distinc- 
 tion. The former administration rendered itself notorious by out- 
 rage, coxcombical parade, false alarms, a continued increase of 
 taxes, and an unceasing clamor for war ; and as every vice has a 
 virtue opposed to it, the present administration moves on the direct 
 contrary line'. The question, therefore, at elections, is not properly 
 a question upon persons, but upon principles. Those who are for 
 peace, moderate taxes, and mild government, will vote for the 
 administration that conducts itself upon those principles, in what- 
 ever hands that administration may be. 
 
 There are in the United States, and particularly in the middle 
 states; several religious sects, whose leading moral principle is 
 peace. It is, therefore, impossible that such persons, consistently 
 with the dictates of that principle, can vote for an administration 
 that is clamorous for war. When moral principles, rather than 
 persons, are candidates for power, to vote is to perform a moral 
 duty, and not to vote is to neglect a duty. 
 
 That persons who-arehunting after places, offices, and contracts', 
 should be advocates for war, taxes, and extravagance, is not to be 
 wondered at ; but that so large a portion of the people who had 
 nothing to depend upon but their industry, and no other public 
 prospect but that of paying taxes, and bearing the burden, should 
 be advocates for the same measures, is a thoughtlessness not easily 
 accounted for. But reason is recovering her empire,' and the fog 
 of delusion is clearing away. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Bordentown, on the Delaware, 
 ■New Jersey, April 21. 1803. 
 
OP THE UNITED STATES. 85 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Religion and war is the cry of the federalists ; morality and 
 peace the^ voice of republicans. The union of morality and peace 
 is congenial ; but that of religion and war is a paradox, and the 
 solution of it is hypocrisy. 
 
 The leaders of the federalists have no judgment ; their plans 
 no consistency of parts ; and want of consistency is the natural 
 consequence of want of principle. 
 
 They exhibit to the world the curious spectacle of an. opposition 
 withous a cause, and conduct without system. Were they, as doc- 
 tors, to prescribe medicine as they practise politics, they would 
 poison their patients with destructive compounds. 
 
 There are not two things more opposed to each other than war 
 •aid religion ; and yet, in the double game those leaders have to 
 play, the one is necessarily the theme of their politics, and the 
 oilier the text, of their sermons. The week day orator of Mars, 
 and the Sunday preacher of Federal Grace, play, like gamblers, 
 into each other's hands, and this they call religion. 
 
 Though hypocricy can counterfeit every virtue, and become the 
 associate, of every vice, it requires a great dexterity of craft to 
 give it the power of deceiving. A painted sun may glisten but it 
 cannot warm. For hypocrisy to personate virtue successful'y it 
 must know and feel what virtue is, and as it cannot long do this it 
 cannot long deceive. When an orator, foaming fur war, breathes 
 forth in another sentence a plaintive piety of words, he may as 
 well write hypocrisy on his front. 
 
 The late attempt of the federal leaders in congress (for they 
 acted without the knowledge of their constituents) to plunge the 
 ■country into war, merits not only, reproach, but indignation. It 
 was madness, conceived in ignorance and acted in wickedness. 
 The head and the heart went partners in the crime. 
 
 A neglect of punctuality in the performance of a treaty is made 
 a cause of war by the Barbary powers, and of remonstrance and 
 -explanation by civilized powers. The Mahometans of Barbary 
 negociate by the sword — they seize first, and expostulate afterwards ; 
 and the federal leaders have been laboring to barbarize the United 
 States by adopting the practice of the Barbary states, and this they 
 call honor. Let their honor and their hypocrisy go weep together, 
 
86 LETTERS. TO THfi CITIZENS 
 
 for both are defeated. The present administration is too moral 
 for hypocrites, and too economical for public spendthrifts. 
 
 A man, the least acquainted with diplomatic affairs, must know 
 that a neglect in punctuality is not one of the legal causes of war, 
 unless that neglect be confirmed by a refusal to perform ; and even 
 then it depends upon circumstances connected with it. The world 
 would be in continual quarrels and war, and commerce be annihi- 
 lated, if Algerine policy was the law of nations. And were America, 
 instead of becoming an'example to the old world of good and moral 
 government and civil manners, or, if they like it better, of gentle- 
 manly conduct towards other nations, to set up the character of 
 ruffian, that of word and blow, and the blow first, and thereby give 
 the example of pulling donn the little that civilization has gained 
 upon barbarism, her independence, instead of being an honor and 
 a blessing, would become a curse upon the world and upon herself. 
 
 The conduct of the Barbary powers, though unjust in principle, 
 is suited to their prejudices, situation, and circumstances. The 
 crusades of the church to exterminate them, fixed in their minds the 
 unobliterated belief that every Christian power was their mortal 
 enemy. Their religious prejudices, therefore, suggest the policy, 
 which their situation and circumstances protect them in. As a 
 people, they are neither commercial nor agricultural, they neither 
 import nor export; have no property floating on the seas, nor ships 
 and cargoes in the ports of foreign nations: No retaliation, there- 
 fore, can be acted upon them, and they sin secure from punishment; 
 
 But this is not the case with the United States. If she sins as a 
 Barbary power she must answer for it as a civilized one. Her 
 commerce is continually passing on the seas exposed to capture, 
 and her ships and cargoes in foreign ports to detention and reprisal; 
 An act of war committed by her in the Mississippi, would produce 
 a war against the commerce of the Atlantic States, and the latter 
 would have to curse the policy that provoked the former. In every 
 point, therefore, in which the character and interest of the United 
 States be considered, it would ill become her to set an example 
 contrary to the policy and custom of civilized powers, and prac- 
 tised only by the Barhary powers, that of striking before she 
 expostulates. 
 
 But can any man, calling himself a legislator, and supposed by 
 his constituents to know something of his duty, be so ignorant as to 
 imagine that seizing on New Orleans would finish the affair or even 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES, 87 
 
 contribute towards it. On the contrary it would have made it worse. 
 The treaty right of deposite at New Orleans, and the right of the 
 navigation of the Mississippi into the Gulph of Mexico, are distant 
 things. New Orleans is more than an hundred miles in the country 
 from the mouth of the river, and, as a place of deposite, is of no 
 value if the mouth of (he river be shut, which either France or 
 Spain could do, and which our possession of New Orleans could 
 neither prevent or remove. New Orleans in our possession, by an 
 act of hostility, would have become a blockaded port, and conse- 
 quently of no value to the western people as a place of deposite. 
 Since, therefore, an interruption had arisen to the commerce of the 
 western states, and until the matter could be brought to a fair ex- 
 planation, it was of less injury to have the port shut and the river 
 open, than to have the river shut and the port in our possession. 
 
 That New Orleans could be taken, required no stretch of policy 
 to plan, nor spirit of enterprize to affect. It was like marching 
 behind a man to knock him down: and the dastardly slyness of 
 such an attack would have stained the fame of the United States. 
 Where there is no danger, cowards are bold, and captain Bobadils 
 are to be found in the senate as well as on the stage. • Even Gover- 
 netir, on such a march, dare have shown a leg, 
 
 The people of the western country to whom the Mississippi serves 
 as an inland sea to their commerce, must be supposed to understand 
 the circumstances of that commerce better than a man who is a 
 stranger to it ; and as they have shown no approbation of the war- 
 whoop measures of the federal senators, it becomes presumptive 
 evidence they disprove them. This is a new mortification for those 
 war-whoop politicians ; for the case is, that finding themselves 
 losing ground and withering away in the Atlantic states, they laid 
 hold of the affair of New Orleans, in the vain hope of rooting and 
 reinforcing themselves in the western states; and they did this 
 without perceiving that it was one of those ill judged hypocritical 
 expedients in politics, that whether it succeeded or failed the event 
 would be the same. Had their motion succeeded, it would have 
 endangered the commerce of the Atlantic states and ruined their 
 reputation there ; and on the other hand the attempt to make a 
 tool of the western people was so badly concealed as to extinguish 
 all credit with them. 
 
 But hypocrisy is a vice of a sanguine constitution. It flatters 
 and promises itself every thing; and it has yet to learn, with 
 
88 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 respect to moral aud political reputation it is less dangerous to 
 offend than to deceive. 
 
 To the measures of administration, supported by the firmness 
 and integrity of the majority in congress, the United States owe, 
 ■as far as human means are concerned, the preservation of peace, 
 and of national honor. The confidence which the western people 
 reposed in the government and their representatives is rewarded 
 with success. They are reinstated in their rights with the least 
 possible loss of time ; and their harmony with the people of New 
 Orleans, so necessary to the prosperity of the United States, which 
 would have been broken, and the seeds of discord sown in its place, 
 had hostilities been preferred to accommodation, remains unim- 
 paired. Have the federal ministers of the church meditated ou 
 these matters? and laying aside, as they ought to do, their elec- 
 tioneering and vindictive -prayers and sermons, returned thanks that 
 peace is preserved, and commerce without the stain of blood. 
 
 In the pleasing contemplation of this state of things the mind, by- 
 comparison, carries itself back to those days of uproar and extrava- 
 gance that marked the career of the former administration, and 
 decides, by the unstudied impulse of its own feelings, that something 
 must then have been wrong. Why was it, that America, formed 
 for happiness, and remote by situation and circumstances from the 
 troubles a.nd tumults of the European world, became plunged into 
 jts vortex and contaminated with its crimes? The answer is easy. 
 Those who were then at the head of affairs were apostates from 
 the principles of the revolution. Raised to an elevation .they had 
 not a right to expect, nor judgment to conduct, they became like 
 feathers in the air, and blown about by every puff of passion or 
 conceit. 
 
 Candor would find some apology for their conduct if want qf 
 judgment was their only defect. But error and crime, though often 
 alike in their features, are distant in their characters and in their 
 origin, The one has its source in the weakness of the head, the 
 other in the badness of the heart, and the coalition of the two., 
 describes the former administration. 
 
 Had no injurious consequences arisen from the conduct of that 
 administration, it might have passed for error or imbecility, and 
 been permitted to die and be forgotten. The grave is kind tp 
 innocent offence. But even innocence, when it is a cause of injury, 
 ought to undergo an inquiry. 
 
OF THE UNITED STATES. 89 
 
 The country, during the time of the former administration, was 
 kept in continual agitation and alarm ; and that no investigation 
 might be made into its conduct it entrenched itself within a magic 
 circle of terror, and called it a sedition law. Violent and mys- 
 terious in its measures and arrogant in its manners, it affected to 
 disdain information, and insulted the principles that raised it from 
 obscurity. John Adams and Timothy Pickering were men whom 
 nothing but the accidents of the times rendered visible on the politi- 
 cal horizon. Elevation turned their heads, and public indignation 
 hath cast them to the ground. But an inquiry into the conduct 
 and measures of that administration is nevertheless necessary; 
 
 The country was put to great expense. Loans, taxes, and 
 Standing armies became the standing oider of the day. The militia, 
 said Secretary Pickering, are not to be depended upon, and fifty 
 thousand men must be raised. For what? no cause to justify such 
 measures has yet appeared. No discovery of such a cause has yet 
 been made. The pretended sedition law shut up the sources of 
 investigation, and the precipitate flight of John Adams closed the 
 scene. But the matter ought not to sleep here. 
 
 It is not to gratify resentment, or encourage it in others, that I 
 enter upon this subject. It is not in the power of man to accuse 
 jne of a persecuting spirit. But some explanation ought to be had. 
 The motives and objects respecting the extraordinary and expensive 
 measures of the former administration ought to be known. The 
 sedition law, that shield of the moment, prevented it then, and jus- 
 tice demands it now. If the public have been imposed upon, it is 
 proper they should know it, for where judgment is to act, or a 
 choice is to be made, knowledge is first necessary. The concilia- 
 tion of parties, if it does not grow out of explanation, partakes of 
 the character of collusion or indifference. 
 
 There has been guilt somewhere ; and it is better to fix it where 
 it belongs, and separate the deceiver from the deceived, than that 
 suspicion, the bane of society, should range at large, and sour the 
 public mind. The military measures that were proposed and 
 carrying on during the former administration, could not have for 
 their object the defence of the country against invasion. This is a 
 case that decides itself; for it is self evident, that while the war 
 raged in Europe, neither France nor England could spare a man to 
 send to America. The object, therefore, must be something at 
 home, and that something was the overthrow of the representative 
 
90 
 
 LETTERS TO THE CITIZENS 
 
 system of government, for it could be nothing else. But the plot- 
 ters got into confusion and became enemies to each other. Adams 
 hated and was jealous of Hamilton, and Hamilton hated and despised 
 both Adams and Washington. Surly' Timothy stood aloof, as he, 
 did at the affair of Lexington, and the part that fell to the. public 
 was to pay the expense. 
 
 But ought a people who, but a few years ago, were fighting the 
 battles of the world, for liberty had no home but here, ought such 
 a people to stand quietly by and see that liberty undermined by 
 apostacy and overthrown by intrigue ? Let the tombs of the slain 
 recall their recollection, and the forethought of what their children 
 are to be, revive and fix in their hearts tjie love of liberty. 
 
 If the former administration can justify its conduct, give it the 
 opportunity. The manner in which John Adams disappeared from 
 the government renders an inquiry the more necessary. He gave 
 some account of himself, lame and confused as it was, to certain 
 eastern wise men who came to pay homage to him on his birthday. 
 But if he thought it necessary to do this, ought he not to have ren-. 
 dered an account to the public. They had a right. to expect it of 
 him. In that tete a tete account, he says, " Some measures were 
 the effect of imperious necessity, much against my inclination.'^ 
 What measures does Mr. Adams mean, and what is the imperious 
 necessity to which he alludes ? " Others (says he) were measures 
 of the legislature, which, although approved when passed, were 
 never previously proposed or recommended by me." What mea- 
 sures, it may be asked, were those, for the public have a right to, 
 know the conduct of their representatives ? " Some (says he) left 
 to my discretion were never executed, because no necessity for them, 
 in my judgment, ever occurred." 
 
 What does this dark apology, mixed with accusation, amount to, 
 but to increase and confirm the suspicion that something was wrong? 
 Administration only was possessed of foreign official information, 
 and it was only upon that information communicated by him pub- 
 licly or privately, or to congress, that congress could act, and it is 
 not in the power of Mr. Adams to show, from the condition of the 
 belligerent powers, that any imperious necessity called for the war- 
 like and expensive measures of his administration. 
 
 What the correspondence between administration and Rufus 
 King in London, or Quincy Adams in Holland, or Berlin, might be, 
 is but little known. The public papers have told us, that the former 
 
OF THE UNITED STATED 91 
 
 became cup-bear'cr from the London underwriters to captain Trux- 
 ton, for which, as minister from a neutral nation, he ought to have 
 been censured. It is, however a feature that marks the politics of 
 the minister, and hints at the character of the correspondence. 
 
 I know that it is the opinion of several members of both houses 
 of congress, that an inquiry, with rospoct to the conduct of the late 
 administration, ought to be gone into. The convulsed state into 
 which the country has been thrown, will be best settled by a full and 
 fair exposition of the conduct of that administration, and the causes 
 and object of that conduct. To be 'deceiv'ed, or to remain deceived j 
 can be the interest of no man whd seeks the public good ; and it is 
 the deceiver only, or one interested in the deception, that can wish 
 to preclude enquiry. 
 
 The suspicion against the late administration is^ that it was plot- 
 ting to overturn the representative system of government, and that 
 it spread alarms of invasions that had no foundation, as a pretence 
 for raising and establishing a military force as the means of accom- 
 plishing that object. 
 
 The law, called the sedition law, enacted, that " If any person 
 should write or publish, or cause to be written o; published, any 
 HBel (without defining what a libel is) against the government of the 
 United State's, or either houses of congress, or against the president, 
 he should be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, 
 and by imprisonment not exceeding two years." 
 
 But it is a much greater crime for a president to plot against a 
 "constitution and the liberties of the people, than for an individual 
 to plot against a president ; and consequently, John Adams is ac- 1 
 'countable to the public for his conduct, as the individuals under his 
 •administration were to the sedition law. 
 
 The object, however, of an enquiry, in this case, is not to punish, 
 "but to satisfy; and to show, by example, to future administrations, 
 that an abuse of power and trust, however disguised by appear- 
 ances, or rendered plausible by pretence, is one time or other to be 
 iaccounted for. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE; 
 
 Bordentown, on the Delaware, 
 New Jersey, March 12, 1803. 
 
THE WILL OF THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 The People of the State of NeioYorh, by the Grace of God, Free 
 and Independent, to all to whom these presents shall come, or 
 may concern, send greeting : 
 
 Know ye, That the annexed is a true copy of the Will of 
 THOMAS PAINE, deceased, as recorded in the office of the 
 surrogate, in and for the city and county of New York. In testi- 
 mony whereof, we have caused the seal of office of our said surro- 
 gate to be hereunto affixed. Witness, Silvanus Miller, Esq., sur- 
 rogate of said county, at the city of New York, the twelfth day of 
 July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and nine, 
 and of our Independence the thirty-fourth. 
 
 SILUANUS MILLER. 
 
 The last Will and Testament of me, the subscriber, Thomas 
 Paine, reposing confidence in my Creator God, and in no other be- 
 ing, for I know of ifo other, nor believe in any other. I, Thomas 
 Paine, cf the State of New York, author of the work entitled Com- 
 mon Sense, written in Philadelphia, in 1775, and published in that 
 city the beginning of January, 1776, which awaked America to a 
 declaration of Independence on the fourth of July following, which 
 was as fast as the work could spread through such an extensive 
 country ; author also of the several numbers of the American Cri- 
 sis, thirteen in all ; published occasionally during the progress of 
 the revolutionary war — the last is on the peace ; author also of 
 Rights of Man, parts the first and second, written and published in 
 London, in 1791 and 1792 ; author also of a work on religion, Age 
 of Reason, parts the first and second. N. B. I have a third part by 
 me in manuscript, and an answer to the bishop of Llandaff ; author 
 also of a work, lately published, entitled Examination of the Pas'- 
 sages in the New Testament, Quoted from the OM, and called 
 Prophecies concerning Jesus Christ, and showing there are no 
 Prophecies of any such Person; author also of several other 
 works not here enumerated, Dissertations on First Principles of 
 Government, — Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance 
 — Agrarian Justice, &c. &c, make this 'my last Will and Testa- 
 ment, that is to say : I give and bequeath to my executors herein- 
 after appointed, Walter Morton and Thomas Addis Emmet, thirty 
 shares I hold in the New York Phoenix Insurance Company, which 
 
94 WILL OF THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 cost me fdurteen hundred and seventy dollars, they are worth now 
 upwards of fifteen hundred dollars, and all my moveable effects, 
 and also the money that may he in my trunk or elsewhere at the 
 time of my decease, paying thereout the expenses of my funeral, 
 in trust as to the said shares, moveables, and money for Margaret 
 Brazier Bonneville, wife of Nicholas Bonneville, of Paris, for her 
 own sole and separate use, and at her own disposal, notwithstanding 
 her coverture. As to my farm in New Rochelle, I give, devise, and 
 bequeath the same to my said executors, Walter Morton and 
 Thomas Addis Emmet, and to the survivor of them, his heirs 
 and assigns forever, is trust- nevertheless, to sell and dispose 
 of the north side thereof, now in the occupation of Andrew A. 
 Dean, beginning at the west end of the orchard, and running in 
 
 a line with the land sold to Coles, to the end of the farm, and 
 
 to app]y*the money arising from such sale as hereinafter directed. 
 I give to my friends Walter Morton, of the New York Phoenix In- 
 surance Company, and Thomas Addis Emmet, Counsellor at Law, 
 late of Ireland, two hundred dollars each, and one hundred dollars 
 to Mrs. Palmer, widow of Elihu Palmer, late of New York, to be 
 paid out of the money arising from said sale ; and I give the re- 
 mainder of the money arising from that sale, one half thereof to 
 Clio Rickman, of High or Upper Marv-le-Bone Street, London, 
 and the other half to Nicholas Bonneville, of Paris, husband of 
 Margaret B. Bonneville, aforesaid : and as to the south part of the 
 said farm, containing upwards of one hundred acres, in trust to rent 
 out the same, or otherwise put it to profit, as shall be found most 
 adviseable, and to pay the rents and profits thereof to the said Mar- 
 garet B. Bonneville, in trust for her children, Benjamin Bonneville; 
 and Thomas Bonneville, their education and maintenance, until 
 they come to the age of twenty-one years, in order that she may 
 bring them well up, give them good and useful learning', and instruct 
 them in their duty to God, and the practice of morality, the rent of 
 the land, or the interest of the money for which it may be sold, as 
 hereinafter mentioned, to be employed in their education. And 
 after the youngest of the said children shall have arrived at the age 
 of twenty-one years, in further trust to convey the same to the said 
 children, share and share alike, in fee simple. But if it shall be 
 thought advisable by my executors and executrix, or the survivors 
 of them, at any time before the youngest of the said children shall 
 come of age, to sell and dispose of the said south side of the said 
 
WILL OP THOMAS PAINE. 95 
 
 farm, ia that case I hereby authorize and empower my said execu- 
 tors to sell and dispose of the same, and I direct that the money 
 arising from such sale be put into stock, either in the United States 
 Bank stock, or -New York Phoenix Insurance Company stock, the 
 interest or dividends thereof to be applied as is already directed for 
 ~the education and maintenance of the said children, and the princi- 
 pal to be transferred to the said children, or the survivor of them, 
 pn his or their coming of age. I know not if the society of people, 
 called Quakers, admit a person to be buried in their burying ground, 
 who does not belong to their society, but if they do, or will admit 
 me, I would prefer being buried there ; my father belonged to that 
 profession, and I was partly brought up in it. But if it is not con- 
 sistent with their rules to do this, I desire to be buried on my own 
 farm at New Rochelle. The place where I am to be buried, to be a 
 square of twelve feet, to be enclosed with lows of trees, and a stone 
 or post and rail fence, with a headstone with my name and age en- 
 graved upon it, author of Common Sense. I nominate, constitute, 
 and appoint Walter Morton, of the New York Phoenix Insurance 
 Company, and Thomas Addis Emmet, Counsellor at Law, late 
 of Ireland, and Margaret B. Bonneville, executors and executrix 
 to this my last Will and Testament, requesting the said Walter 
 Morton and Thomas Addis Emmet, that they will give what assist- 
 ance they conveniently can to Mrs. Bonneville, and see that the 
 children be well brought up. Thus placing confidence in their 
 friendship, I herewith take my final leave of them and of the world. 
 I have lived an honest and useful life to mankind; my time has 
 been spent in doing good, and I die in perfect composure and re- 
 isignation to the wjll of my Creator, God. Dated the eighteenth 
 day of January, in the year one thousand eight hundred and nine ; 
 and I have also signed my name to the other sheet of this Will, in 
 (testimony of its being a part thereof. 
 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 Signed, sealed, published, and declared by the testator, in our 
 presence, who, at his request, and in the presence of each other, 
 have set our names as witnesses thereto, the words "published and 
 declared?' first interlined. 
 
 Wm. KEESE, 
 JAMES ANGEVINE, 
 CORNELIUS RYDER. 
 
EPITAPH FOR THE TOMB OF 
 THOMAS PAINE. 
 
 WRITTEN BY A FRIEND. 
 
 Here moulders in this dusk abode, 
 
 One who to faith no homage show'd: 
 
 By moral law his life he tried, 
 
 While social duty was his guide, «■ 
 
 And pure philanthropy the end 
 
 Of all he did or could intend. 
 
 Prayer he pronounced impiety, 
 Vain prompter of divine decree : 
 That oft implores, with erring zeal, 
 For boons subversive of its weal ; 
 Yet he retained a grateful sense, 
 Of bountiful Omnipotence ; 
 Nor blushed with reverence to own, 
 That blessings spring from God alone. 
 
 Thus unappall'd, he sunk to rest, 
 To rise or lie as heaven thought best : 
 Yet future hope he did not wave, 
 Nor mercy for transgressions crave, 
 The God who gave him life will save.* 
 
 • 
 
 * Thomas Paine was bom at Thctford, in England, on the 29th day of 
 January, 1737, and died at New York, on the 8th of June, 1809, aged a 
 little over seventy-two years and four months. 
 
THE RADICAL, 
 
 IN CONTINUATION OF THE 
 
 WORKTOP MAflf 9 S AB¥OCATE, 
 
 " There is no, foun- 
 dation in nature or in 
 natural law, why a set 
 of words upon parch, 
 ment should Convey 
 the dominion of land." % 
 — Blackstone. 
 The land shall not be 
 old for ever. — Jfioses. 
 
 " The mass of man. 
 kind has not been, 
 born with saddles on 
 their backs, nor a fa- 
 vored few booted and 
 spurred, ready to ride 
 them legitimately by 
 the grace of God." — 
 Jefferson. 
 
 THE RADICAL, 
 
 (BY GEORGE H. EVANS,) 
 
 Is a monthly publication, of 16 pages 8vo., devoted to such improvements 
 in qur system of government as will render it as little complex and as 
 economical as possible, and secure to every citizen the full enjoyment of 
 civil and mental liberty. The leading measure proposed, as indispen- 
 sable to this desirable result, is the 
 
 Abolition of the Xiand SSonopoly, 
 
 as a first step to which, it is proposed to put end to all sales of the Public 
 Lands of the States and of the United States, and to lay out these lands 
 in townships of six miles square, with 140 Farms of 160 acres each, 
 36 Lots of 5 acres each, and a large Public Square, in each township ; 
 any citizen to be allowed to take free possession of any vacant Farm of 
 Lot af his option, with a right tp use the same for life, or to sell his im- 
 provements at any time to any fine not possessed of other lands ; the object 
 being to secure land, and thereby the rig\t to labor, to every citizen on 
 coming of age, by abolishing the traffic in land, and by limiting the quan- 
 tity to he held by any que individual.^ The advocacy of this measure is 
 basfd on the ground that the use of the earth is the common right of its 
 inhabitants, no one haying a right to mdnopolize it to the exclusion of 
 others, and therefore that it should be used in common, or, if divided, each, 
 should have an equivalent portion. The means proposed to bring this 
 •measure about is to vqte for no man who will not pledge himself to sup'- 
 port it. 
 
 The publication of The Radical has now> (Jan. 1844) reached Nq. 4, 
 Vol. II. Vol. I. (12 Nos.) stitched and covered, with an Index, may be 
 had at the subscription price (50 cents,) and will be subject by mail to the 
 usual newspaper postage. In Vol I. the Equal Right to Land question 
 is discussed at considerable length.' The 1st or 2d vols, may be sub- 
 scribed for separately. The two bound together will make a good sized 
 book. 
 
 Subscriptions (which may be made free of postage by application tq 
 any postmaster) to be addressed, " George II. Evans, Granville, via 
 Keyport, N. J." 
 
 * Associations or Communities, of course, might take in common Farms and Lota in 
 proportion to (heir number o f members, and with reservations for their probable increase. 
 
A SIX MILE SQUARE TOWNSHIP, 
 
 ON THE AGRARIAN PLAN, 
 
 140 Farms of 160 Acres, and 36 Lots of five acres. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Asqua 
 foiTov 
 and L 
 perso 
 engag 
 agrici 
 
 re mile 
 /nHal! 
 
 jts for 
 is not 
 ed in 
 Iture. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 !.,.,_ 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 We, whose names are annexed, with a view of restoring 
 to man his Natural Right to Land, do solemnly agree, that 
 we will not vote for any man, for any legislative office, who 
 will not pledge himself, in writing, to use all the influence 
 of his station, if elected, to prevent all further traffic in the 
 Public Lands of the States and of the United States, and to 
 cause the same to be laid out in Farms and Lots for the 
 free and exclusive use of actual settlers, in limited quantities. 
 
WORKS 
 
 FOR SALE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, BY GEO. H. EVANS, 
 Granville, Middletown, New Jersey. 
 
 (The retail "prices are annexed.) 
 
 PAINE'S AGEofREA- 
 
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 published, (calculated for 
 gratuitous distribution,) $1 
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 Likeness, 38 
 
 PAINE'S CRISIS, inl5 
 Nos. 56 
 
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 8vo. 1.00 
 
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 with his Letters toWashing- 
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 BIBLE of NATURE, (a val- 
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 eral Authors little known 
 in this country,) with plates 
 of Frances Wright, J effer- 
 son, Paine, &c. 1100 p. 
 12mo. 1.25 
 
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 ly out of print,) 2vols.l2mo. 1.50 
 
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 complete in 5 vols., each, 1 .50 
 
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 of Nature, (new pocket ed.) 50 
 
 RURAL CODE of HAITI, 13 
 
 TALLEYRAND'S LETTER 
 to Pope Pius VII. 25 
 
 DOUBTS of INFIDELS, 13 
 
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 SYNTAGMA, 75 
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 MANUAL on HEALTH, 31 
 
 ORACLES OF REASON, 
 
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 LAW of LIBEL, Liberty of 
 
 the Press, &c. by Dr. Cooper, 75 
 EXPOSITION of CALV1N- 
 
 ism, by Dr. Cooper, 9 
 
 THE FABRICATION of 
 
 the Pentateuch Pro,ved, by do. 13 
 TO ANY MEMBERof Con- 
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 ORATION on Paine's Birth- 
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 ORTHODOX BUBBLES, 13 
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 CONSIDERATIONS for 
 
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 THOUGHTS on Religion, 6 
 
 DIALOGUE between Epic- 
 
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 CHRISTIAN Mysteries, • 6 
 
 THE GOD of the Jews and 
 
 Christians, 6 
 
 THE FABLE of the Bees, 3 
 
 THIRD Gen. Epistle of Peter, 3 y 
 THE CHARACTER of the 
 
 Bible, 2 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN'S Creed, 2 
 ST. PETER'S Holiday, 2 
 
 (FREE ENQUIRER'S Prayer, 2 
 IZETETIC SERMON, 1 
 
MESSENGERS ofTRUTH 
 
 or Pills for the Pious, a se- 
 ries of Liberal" Tracts, Vols. 
 Land II., each ' 31 
 
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 taining various Lectures of 
 the Rev. Robt. Taylor, and 
 of the 'Lady of the Rotunda,' 
 in numbers $3 00, bound, 3.50 
 
 75 
 
 APOCRYPHAL New Testa- 
 ment, 
 CHRISTIANITY UNVEIL 
 
 ed, byBoulana;er, 
 
 MAID OF MIDIAN, 
 
 DAVID AND URIAH, 
 
 AN ADDRESS on the influ- 
 ence of the Clerical Profes- 
 sion, by R. D. Owen, 6 
 
 RIGHTS OP CONSCIENCE 
 Defended, by Thos. Herttell, 19 
 
 USEFUL KNOWLEDGE 
 for the Producers of Wealth, 
 by William H. Hale, 
 
 ADDRESS to the Working 
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 Seth Luther, 
 
 SIX E SS AYS on Education, 
 from the New York Daily 
 Sentinel, 
 
 THE SPECULATIVE DIC- 
 
 I tionary, by LB. Smith, 
 
 CARLILE'S ADDRESS to 
 Men of Science, 
 
 THE YAHOO, ♦ ■ 
 
 A REVIEW of the Eviden- 
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 POLISH CHIEFS, 2 vols. 
 
 63 
 
 25 
 75 
 
 DIALOGUE of the GODS, 
 BYRON'S &SOUTHEY'S 
 
 Visions of Judgment, 
 50 KNEELAND'S SPEECH, 
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 44 
 75 
 6. 
 
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 13 
 
 13 'ELEGANT EXTRACTS* ft 
 POLITICAL Catechism, 4 
 
 A LIFE OF PAINE, 65 
 
 HARD TIMES, and a reme- 
 dy Th erefor, 2 
 MOULTON'S REPORT in 
 the New York Legislature 
 against the employment of 
 Chaplains, 6, 
 THE MODE of Protecting 
 
 Domestic Industry, 20 
 
 Likeness of Voltaire, 10, 
 
 Likeness of Palmer, 10 
 
 Likeness of Paine, 10 
 
 Do. do. 38 
 
 TRACTS. 
 
 19 
 
 19, 
 
 LIBERAL 
 
 VOL. I. of the Liberal Tracts, mentioned in the above list, is com- 
 ' posed of twenty distinct publications, on as many different -subjects, by 
 some of the most celebrated authors, among whom are Dr. Cooper, R. D. 
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 VOL. II. contains 16 Tracts. 
 
 The LIBERAL TRACTS are designed as antidotes to the mental poi- 
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 pages for 50 cents, or 100 pages for 12 1-2 cents. 
 JUST PUBLISHED, 
 
 THE REVELATION OF NATURE, 
 
 PREFACED BY A VIEW OF 
 
 THE MORAL STATE OF NATIONS. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 The "Revelation of Nature" was originally published at the epoch pf the 
 great revolution of France. It was intended as a continuation of the "Sys- 
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 U" The above works are sold, also, by Mr. Vale, editor of the Beacon, 
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 the Investigator, Boston. 
 
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