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 . AND 
 
 ORIGINAL REPLY 
 
 —TO- 
 
 I^J^HsTE'S 
 
 AGE t OF t REmif 
 
 With an appended Dissertation on Secularists and 
 
 r Secularism, , 
 
 Dcsign«scl as «n Introduction to a Forthconiiii},' Kcply to 
 
 The :-: Infldel :-: WHtings 
 
 -OF- 
 
 -BY- 
 
 Ei . s T JB I* h: E isr s , 
 
 Author of " Modem Infidelity Disarme'', in a reply to M. lUiinn's Life of 
 Jesus," and otiier works, printcil and published in Loudon, En/j;land, 
 
 and in Canada. 
 
 ij I*RINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 
 
 -^ Through whom the Trade and all Purcliasers will he supplied. AddresB, i^j 
 1 " forest Home," Wolesworth, Ontario, Caiuula. ^i 
 
 :o: 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 A liWeral discount to the Trade and to purchastra of quantitioa. 
 
 Fs>\- 
 
 ^^3P 
 
 / 
 
 /' 
 
y 
 
 NOTICE TO REVIEWERS. 
 
 »1uJJ! o ^7- R^""«'nen and others to whom a copy of our 
 A.!^'^-^*^?'""' >"'' "Seculamm" is mailed, ki.ulJv J^ ^ the 
 Authors addreea their opinion of it, expre8«eU, if app/ovec of in „ 
 
 .nf%l"^ 7.*"'®'^ everywhere for the sale of our "RbdIv to Paine " 
 and the other published woiks advertised in this. Boiksdlers and 
 
 of i^.Auth r *r'';'"i; «" this cheap form to suit the ci;.nmstance8 
 of t a Author and all classes of purchasers, and that the Author or 
 others ^,,0 have the means, and are so disj^se.!. may distntrson^ 
 o them gratis, where they think they would he lik.l/to o Z^ 
 
 ^n^^^ff^r '''''"'^"" ^^" '' sent by ji.r;!:;r^ 
 
PJIVeUHBLB JIOTICE &P TJiE WORK,. 
 
 ■.J I- 
 
 / 
 
 y of our 
 ci to the 
 
 of, in a 
 press will 
 il Hend a 
 
 addieas : 
 
 > Paine," 
 Hera and " 
 
 (nstances 
 itlior, or 
 itti some 
 lo j,'ood. 
 uthur to 
 
 -v 
 
 The advauceil ahei't" of this Work havin<,' been submitted to the 
 Editor of the Hint' Tchsrojii, ]] allrrftm, Ontario, after the whole of it 
 had pas^cil tliroti^L tlie moss, evcopt a few of the concluding pfiges, 
 he kinilh ?ends us die following "notice" of it just in time for inser- 
 tion — 
 
 "Thia "Reply" to thu iiifidul Paine, will be found to be as original 
 as it is new. It is h-gical, searching, pithy, argumentative, and un- 
 \a:nsweral)Ie as a reply to the inlidelity of Paine and his modern dis- 
 ciples and admirers. A. vein of humor interspersed here and there 
 gives embellishment to the soundest and most logical of argument, 
 and helps to render the Work all the n\ore interesting and readable. 
 
 After tlie blow it has received from the trenchant pen of the Author, 
 Mr. Walts' Secularism will, we should say, go crippled and halting 
 the remaimhr of its days, and in Canada at least will probably not 
 long survive tlie cannonading and nunderous tire to which it has been 
 subjected. The intelligent youth of our land who are necessarily 
 broiigtit into more or less daily contact with infidels and infidelity, 
 will find in tiiis Work a most elf'ectivo antidote to what is thus forced 
 upon tli(!in, wiiether willingly or unwillingly, by the infidel worhl. 
 
 It will also prove lo be a most excellent introduction and accompani 
 nient to tiie Work written by the saint; gifted Author in reply to the 
 infid(d lectures of Col. R. Vf. Ingersoll. And judging from the very 
 e.\i'ellt'nt reomnieiidations given Ity learned men who read the Reply 
 to Ingersoll in .\18., and which are printed at the end of the 'Reply 
 to Paine,' the two books conibincid should, we think, sweep every- 
 thing of an Atlieistic, Deistic, and inlidel ciiar .cter all before them — 
 an aciiievement for the World's credit and the World's weal devoutly 
 to be desired. We heartily commend the Work to the leading pub- 
 lic. It contains about 130 pages, hirgt; size, paper covers — price 25 
 cents. 
 
 XoTU.— This W(n'k, the Author may hbre obsei-ve, will probably 
 not be submitted for general review until our "Reply to Ingersoll" is 
 ready for publication, when they will both be sent to the press, and 
 to gentlemen of judgment whose opinions of the Work it may be 
 desirable to ol)tain. Public or private gentlemen, however, whether 
 clerical or lay, who take an interest in the subject treated, and to 
 whom a copy of thi»5 Work is maile<) immediately after being printed, 
 will do the Author a kindness by sending to his address their opinion 
 of it, if favorable, expressed in some such form as the above review. 
 They will thereby, by aihling variety to the sentiments expressed and 
 giving to it the influence of their respective names, contribute largely 
 towards its circulation, and thus have the laudable satisfactioiT of 
 helping forward a good Work. Good recommendations from men of 
 distinction, influence, and judgment, go far towards ensuring the suc- 
 cess of a Work. If approved of, please do all that you conscien- 
 tiously can for us in this respeot. 
 
Ay-") 
 
 «' 
 
ANECDOTAL SKETCH 
 or THE AUTHOR'S LIFE. 
 
 '>.' 
 
 Since committing the tirst pages of thia work fj the preaa, it h<.« 
 been auggested that a brief sketch of the Author's <i'e, written and 
 prefixed that the general reader might kiu)w something of the life, 
 character, and connections of the writer, would bo a desirable addition 
 to the book. And Iiaviii^' written it, I tind that, althougli out of place, 
 it can now only be inserted ut the end of the book, or before the title 
 page. I prefer the latter. 
 
 I was born in Flushing, one of the seaport villages of Old England. 
 My Father, a leading man of the place,was, ut one and the same time, 
 boot and ahoe, oyster, and coal merchaat, having many men, both on 
 tha land and on the sea, at work for him. 1 was the second son of 
 my parenta; but being in my younger years somewhat wild and wilful, 
 inclining to break loose from parental restraint and control, I waa 
 not the favorite son of my father, nor "the best and only beloved of 
 ULj moth«r." To such an extent, indeed, was this disposition of 
 juranila rtbellion indulged in, that my pious father felt himself juati- 
 fied in pronouncing my case, morally and religiously speaking, the 
 moat hopeleaa of all his children ; and, moreover, that had I been 
 drowned at the time I waa taken out of the river in an unconsoioua 
 at«te, when about four or fire yeara of age, it would have been a 
 mercy ! But time bringa changes, and God's thoughts in reference to 
 the matter were not exactly in keeping with my good father'a. Of all 
 hia promiaing boys, not one, in after years, has taken the decided atand 
 againet infidelity, immorality, and irreligion, that this once wilful, 
 diaobedient, and wayward boy has done. 
 
 In taking a paaaing glance, as spruce permits, at a few of the mare 
 proninent incidenta of my life, I may observe firat, that, fond of 
 clirobing traea and other daring exploits in the forest, or '* grove," at 
 th« baak of our village, I once had the satisfaction of sa7ing the neck 
 and life of a b«y two yeara younger than myself. He had fallen over 
 a walled embankment, and was hanging by some twigs which projected 
 from a crevice in the wall a little below the top. Placing myself in 
 the aafeat poaition that I could, 1 reached down, succeeded in seizing 
 him by the hand, and pulled him up before the twigs had given way, 
 or hia strength to hold on had fulled hiiu. The fall upon the large 
 atones, 15 or 20 feet below, would doubtless have killed him. 
 
 But fond as I was of land adventure, 1 was also vory fond of hoatiny 
 exploits, in connection with which, however, through the «ood provi- 
 dence of Qod, no serious accidi'nt ever happened to me. My father 
 alao, being kind and indulgent to his children, occasionally took me, 
 with the other boys who were old enough, oiit.side of the liarbor 
 (Falmouth) lor a pleasure s«kil and cruise in one of his boats, passing 
 
 ■3c^''\^' 
 
 )^ 
 
k 
 
 iipi'ii si'n.wliirn loi 8()inu 
 <'xc»'|.f, iiiilriMl, when a 
 
 ANKt'lHirAI. SKIlTi II 
 
 the "black rock " and tlic li^'litlKmsc intn the 
 hours we would iiave h plfaHiita liuir finliin- 
 
 ■quail blew up, which would rilliMr drive ns ^,,,,,„ ^„ „„„„,, 
 
 rolling of tho iK.at ; and wlufli, .li.h'd l)y a certain soiisation of un^asi- 
 Qesa about the Htoniadi, rciiden-d tjic cxiTpisc hoc so pleasant. Kish, 
 Urge and Hraall of various kind.-s were s.,nu'tinics Umtp in abumhuice! ' 
 Thesb boating exploits of my school-lwpy diiy;^ Jiad the ctfoct of %/' 
 ■piring me with somethin;:,' of a d.'sii(f for a scafaiini.' life. (Tho oniy 
 member of the family roniK^ctcd with a M-afarinc,' life, that I know of, 
 was an uncle who hud I.een a sea captain, ami was for nianv years first- '^ 
 class pilot upon tlie river Thames.) And,.pnte unknown to my father, ': 
 I one day crossed the river ferry from [•'liishinj,' toF.dnioiith.went boldly 
 up to the shipping oHke, ami procured a license to ship as a young tar, 
 with all the privileges and prnsiieelive honors of a seafaring life'"(.pen 
 before me! 1 was then about ten or eleven years of age. This cer- 
 tiGcati 1 succeeded in keeping .nit of sight for a time ; but its hiding 
 place was discovered before 1 had made any use of it,which occasioned 
 my parents another of the surprises with which 1 occasionally treated 
 them. My father, Jiowever, was a considerate man, and he {.romised 
 to procure me, if I wi.she.1, a situation as cabin hoy, or something of 
 the kind, in one of Her Majesty's packets, with some of the otticers 
 of which he had Inisiness lelations. frorideniially, however, 1 did 
 not accede to this proposition, but now that the plot was discovered 
 preferred backing out of it. And after some time, having <'ot tired 
 of going to school, and told my father that 1 would rather work than 
 study, he indulgently put me into the shop with his journeymen and 
 apprentices, and where my grandfather (who had, in years past, almost 
 ruined himself and family by that accursed thing intoxiaating drink ' 
 and was now, as the consequence, a dependent upon my father's 
 bounty,) was, by special drgh. an his part, appointed to an honorable 
 position with the men in the workshop, and which post of honor com 
 prised, among other things, the superintenUency of the u-nx-fub 
 Nothing very special occurred there in connection with my embryo 
 shoemaking life for some time ; but being somewhat found of fun and 
 mischief, mie day as my grandfather stood over the wax-tub of water 
 towing tlie wax that he was making, one of the men gave me some 
 leather soles, and such like components of shoe and hoot, to put into 
 It to get softened ; and instead of giving the old man warning as lie 
 stood in a bemhng i^sition witli his head just al)ove the tub of water 
 i from a distance pitched them bodily into the tub ! causing- „ tumult' 
 
 my poor 
 
 uous and simultaneous rising of the >r,Un' and of the i.rr of 
 old grandfather. He dropped his wa <, and said, '• 1 think 1 am able 
 enough for you yet." And .so he came to wheie 1 stood, can-ht hold 
 of me, and was about to give me what I deserve.] ; but a tussle com 
 mencod, and the ohl man foun.l he had ouite enough to do to hold his 
 own and keep him.sclf straight, without inflicting uprui my unwillincr 
 head and ears the truly well-merited "clouting." An.l, pantin- for 
 breath, he had to give it up at len.-th as a failure, and letire to the 
 wax tub again. Even after that exhilarating episode, however, the old 
 man did not manifest any particular dislike to mu— he, 1 think rather 
 
 
or TIJK AfTllOR'?* I.MK. 
 
 liked my plucky wiiyg. Ami when he liimUy retired from the wax-tub 
 and the world, ho ^'cncvnusly left to nie hin wntoh and clmiii ; which 
 piece of pttsctuil fiiiiiiturc, howi-voi, I must coiif('««, I uftcrwaidH 
 uiij^ratjfully ba 'U'led in (jHuatiii for an ux. 
 
 Ai T luivi! inlinuited, Canada is the land of luy adoption. My 
 father, although comfort ablj and vvidl-to-do in the C)ld Country, for 
 the sake of Ids fauiil;, of pnmdsinj^ boyw, .six in number, (the eldest 
 of whom, formerly a praclisinj,' Harrit<ter, liold, for a good many ycary, 
 tho judicial position of Urffvc in the Court of Chancery, Osgoode 
 Hall, Toronto — recently retired,) and one daughter, (n.arried to Dr. E. 
 llornibrock, well known in Mitchell, and surrounding country, as a 
 prosperous and skilful I )octor,) resolved to emigrate to America, taking 
 passage with a captain /^u7m>W.<i,comnuinder cf an ocean timber-ship, 
 with whom wu were intimately acjuainted, and who was a member of 
 th« church to which my father belonged. Nothing, to my mind, 
 particularly iioteworthy occurred upon tho passage, after our three 
 days of sickness had passed away, until, as the reward of a daring 
 adventure uj) the t^hip's rigging, I got a thrashing from my father, at 
 the instigation of the captain, whom I had offended by whistling in 
 a storm, and by laughing while he was whistling for wind during a 
 calm I He said that J ought to be tied to the rigging, and get the 
 wholesome admonition of a roapseiiding for endangering my life, and 
 for breaking orders. Thi! sailors liked me, however, if the captain 
 did not ; ami tiiey gave me their parting benediction, (whatever that 
 may have been worth,) when, at (^>uebec, wo left the ship. 
 
 Another notowoithy incident of the voyage is this. When nearing 
 the ict'-bound .shores of the land of our future home, we encountered, 
 in tho midst of a hurricane of wind, a field of floating ice. The first 
 mate, vho was somewhat wild and reckless, ran us into it during his 
 night watch. We were in it, driving before the wind with all sails 
 furled, during tli(; whole of the next day and the following 
 night. Our ship was in constant danger of being crushed ; and at 
 about the midnigiit hour of the last night, the tremendous, thunder- 
 ing, crushing blows of tho ice, broke a hole through tho ship's side 
 Passengers (whiuh wiire but few,) were instantly summoned to prepare 
 for the boals, which had all been previously made ready ; and our only 
 hope, tho captain said, lay in our being able to successfully land the 
 boats, with passengers and crew, upon some of the larger pieces of the 
 ice, and then drift with it until lescued. Meantime, the faithful 
 carpenter, and his men, exerted themselves to their utmost to stop the 
 water from rushing in, with canvass and plank, and by throwing a 
 temporary beam across the ship to wedge and keep it in its piece ; 
 and, aided by the prayers of the godly and the good hand of God, 
 they succeeded. 
 
 Tb'j night liad l)een very dark and tempestuous ; but with the 
 morning light en me a lull in the storm and the sight of open sea, which, 
 you may depend, made all hearts rejoice. The next day, my father 
 with the captain and men in a boat went around the ship, and found 
 her sides scrubl)od like a broom, and in several places nearly scrubbed 
 tl'.rough. With the aid of the pumps, however, fine weather, and 
 
I' 
 
 IV. 
 
 ANKUUUTAL 8KK1'Cli 
 
 g«iod luanngrMiK'iit, ^^<' succeeded \u arriving Hafeiy into p^'i, wheie 
 the vesHol h.i'l to be put up for rcpuir'- 
 
 One item in coniiection with this prjvidcntial deliTeranco is perhapt 
 worthy of bpecial note, an illustrating the difTeront pha««i and charac- 
 teristicH of huniim «fttiii« While Home of thi' pasaengers .rere pray- 
 ing during that awful night, as they hail boon wont to do, in timt 
 past, for Divine protection and blesHiug ; and while ( ^nern (proeroiii- 
 natort, or dorimj-uieathir peniteats !) wore crying aloud for mercy ; I 
 obaerved that one ludy in particular, tenacious of worldly good even 
 in that perilous lioin, wa.s extraoidinarily considerate and mindful of 
 her wardreba ! Not by any means a stout woman, the superabundance 
 of clothing donned for the occawon, gave her that appenrance. I 
 could not of course take the liberty of ascertaining the exact number 
 of dreaees, etc., with which the frail body was adorned ; but the bon- 
 nets (old style) piled upon her lu'ad one above another, aome three or 
 four in number, wero of course moie upen to iiHpection, and presented 
 to an cbserTcr the appearance of a church steeple — the only difference 
 being that the straw-bonnet masonry being hasty, instead of being 
 erecteil perpendicularly it had an oblique inclination, waich, bat for 
 props and supports in the shape of ribbons and ties, would have been 
 at a decidedly tuinhle-dowu angle ! The poor old lady thought, I 
 •uppose, she might need them, and so she took them. She furnishea 
 an illustration for a chapter in prudential economics, if not in pruden- 
 tial preparation for the dread roalities of, to all human appearance, an 
 immediately dawning eternity ' 
 
 But we laust drive on, or oar allotted time and space will fail us. 
 Well, ray Father having tirst settled in Newtonville, Township of 
 Clarke, Ontario, and bought a farm a little way out of the village, and 
 built a good frame house, with stone foundation, upon it, some of ut 
 boys worked upon the place for some time ; but growing tired of 
 serving as an underworker, ami desiring t » be my own master, aa 
 before stated, 1 traded my watch fur an ox, and, wif money that I 
 had earned, bought a mate for him, with a view to renting a neighbor 
 ing 60 acre farm ihat belonged to a portly squu-e, an M P., who lived 
 at that tibie in Port Hope, but who afterwards, getting tired of life 
 with its worldly vexations and carei, poor fellow, shot himself, and so 
 passed to his account ! 
 
 Although I was then but a boy of some 16 years, I went to Port 
 Hope, walked boldly up to the sijuire's big house, knocked for ad- 
 mittance, inquired for the squire, was ushered into a room, and waited 
 until, in due time, the portly gentleman appeared and stood before ma 
 as fat, and portly, and pompous, as though ho had been a lord !— 
 " Well, my boy," ho said, "what is your business with me t" I otme 
 to see if you would rent me your farm, sir. " What ! a boy like you 
 undertake the management of a farm ?" Yes, I thought I could. 
 "Which farm do you refar to ?" Your 60 acre farm in thb neighbor- 
 hood of Newtonville. "Where do you live?" Upon my father's 
 farm adjoining it. " AVell, I tell you what I will do ; if -your father 
 will be responsible for the rent, and will endorse the writings, I will 
 Tet the farm to you." Thank you, sir, I will see. And I did see ; but 
 
M 
 
 itV TH« AUTUUll'l .l-lt, 
 
 I did not aftfl that my father would o« r««pon«ibl« for th« r^nt, lor h« 
 woutd not. Th« (net it, L« did not tit «U tpprov* oi those preeocionaly 
 independent agricultural derelopmente in his boT . nd *,hc m%% of 
 the whole was, ttiat I gare hini one of mj oxen, aold (be oths*, irent 
 over to the StatcH, hir^d with a reapeotable farmer for tht Suttuner 
 season, got my wagea, and then endearorcd to aettls *.n accovnl witV 
 a man to whom I had loaned a small aum of monay, but. who, knowing 
 that I was about to return to Canada, tried to Yankee me out of it, 
 hj pretending that he could not pay it. But thit, piece of diahoaest 
 ingratitude, I waa of course not prepared to submit to ; and ao, taking 
 adrantage of his absence from home, I went to hia place and got hia 
 wife persuaded to help roe to one of his pigs. And taking grunter, 
 with some little diffvculty, to a neighboring farm, I sncreeded in 
 selling him at a igure which covered the amouat dua to me, and a 
 Tork shilling to spare for aiy tiouble. 
 
 Meantime, another fellow, whose Tery looks as well as his conTersk- 
 tion betrayed hia vile character, had hia eye upon me and my eonteie- 
 plat» . >8turn to Canada. He knew that I bad money in my poaaeaaioa; 
 and being one of those benighted, unprincipled, unscrupulous Roman 
 Catholics who, prompted by their inherent vileneas, think it t, "rirtua" 
 to rob a Protestant heretic, and, if need be, murder him for hia 
 money, I observed him closely watching my movementa ; an4, like a 
 blood-houad of the South, he followed me when I atarted for the 
 Canadian border. I had taken the precaution, howsTor, to fortify 
 myself against him by purchasing a six barrel shooter, with which [ 
 was prepared to do execution if necessity called for it. Bat,- by a 
 little manoeuvring, 1 succeeded in dodging the fellow, and afterwards 
 saw no more of him. 
 
 I then returned to my father's house, went to the village school, 
 and thence to the Normal School, Toronto, with a view to qualifying 
 for teaching — enc.intered nothing unusual in that Institution, except 
 a collision with the Head Master, Mr. Robertson, the result of a 
 charge brought before him against me, by a raeddleeoma simpleton of 
 a student, for returning at a late hour of the night to my boarding- 
 house, where he also boarded. An investigation showed that my only 
 guilt lay in attending a revival meeting of the celebrated reviiraliatfRaT. 
 J. Caugliey, 'ho waa then preaching in Toronto. To the credit of tK« 
 Head Master, be it said, T w.ts discharged from this legal inTestigatioii 
 with honors. 
 
 Having secured a second class certificate, I afterwards taught for a 
 number of years in different parts of Upp«r Cai^ada ; was brought into 
 the uaual collision of promising young men with the diversified atylea 
 of "cap setting" by the young ladies in the different school aactioai ; 
 and was finally captured by one — an amiable and kindly young Irish 
 girl, the daughter of a clever engineer and foreman of engine building 
 works, who had lived in Toronto and elsewhere ; and nieea of ICr. W. 
 Tilley, well known in the city of Belleville, for many years, si the 
 Head Master of their Grammar School. Two years before I gave my 
 heart to this young lady, however, I gave zny heart to God ; and hj 
 doing whieh, every reasonable and tightminded person will of couim 
 
VI. 
 
 ANFXUOTAI. SKKTCH 
 
 say, I (lid well. I might add, howover, tliat as the rosult nf occa 
 sional strivings of the ."pirit within me, 1 had, from my childhood, 
 always the fear of God before my eyes ; never ridiculed religion nor 
 the professors of it ; and always and invariably made it a point in 
 whatever company I might be found, whether in the hotel, the board- 
 ing-house, on board of passenger shi])a upon the Lakes or on the 
 Ocean — wherever or in whatever company 1 might he, 1 invariably 
 made it a point to bow my knees before (lod, and commit mjaelf. to 
 His fatherly care and protection before retiring to rest. This required 
 a little pluck sometimes, but I never flinched jand although a sinner, 
 I would always, whenever occasion called for it, fight, wr take a bold 
 and decidsd stand for God, His truth, and His people. 
 
 The time came, however, the grandest and most blessed time of my 
 life, when, under the inilueneo of the Holy Spirit, I decided to give 
 my whole, undivided heart to God and His service ; and having 
 humbly and penitently confessed my sins before Him, t,he witness of 
 the Divine Spirit to my forgiveness and adoption came with super- 
 natural power t) my inward conscio'rness with the words, "I am not 
 askamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto 
 salvation to every one that believeth." 1 was then 22, and have been 
 battling for God and religious truth ever since — have written books 
 in defence of Christianity in reply to Kenan and others ; two of which 
 works- were published in London, England, and were favorably 
 reviewed by upwards of thirty London journals, including the various 
 denominational magazines, and such secular journals as "John Bull,' 
 the "South London Press," "The Englishman," the "British Mail," 
 the "Literary World," and "The Court Journal." 
 
 We will here quote two or thiee of those "reviews," that they may 
 afford to the purchasing and reading public an encouraging estimate 
 of the Author's qualification for the work he has undertaken, as given 
 by the British press. The well known Rev. C. H. SpurLceon says of 
 the Author's "Modern Infidelity Disarmed," a cloth-bound volume of 
 ■acme -1-70 pages, : — "To the numerous doubters upon the verity of 
 gospel facts and the validity of gospel truths, we can cordially recom- 
 mend the perusal of this volume. Though written in professed 
 refutation of 'Renau's Life of Jesus,' it i& an able and masterly reply 
 to nearly all the attacks of modern ckeptics upon the credibility of 
 the Scriptures. Nor is it a contention for truth merely, but for the 
 t: uth as it is i:i Jesus, and is evidently the result of great research 
 and a genuine zeal for the defence of the New Testament as alone 
 able, in what is styled its evangelical interpretation, to make men wise 
 unto salvation. The objections 9f skeptics, inoreover, are shown to be 
 so flippant and '"utile, and so refuted both by sound reasoning, and by 
 being traced to their moral causes, that there is no fear, as in the 
 manner in which such discussions are managed by some, of any being 
 contaminated by them. Such ]iowerful, and- judicious, and well-in- 
 tentioned- labors will, we hope, rt'ceivn all the encouiagement they 
 deserve." — Svord an 'f Travel. Thf Wmleyan Mtthoditi Magar.iiw 
 says : ".So friUy uvA niipaitiuuy i.^ ?u. Kenan leprcsimted in this 
 ■reply,, that the reader of the lalt^coan add but little to his knowledge 
 
vu. 
 
 QK THE, AtrniOp'*, 1,1 KK. 
 
 of the principles of the former by the iierusiil of hia book. Ui th« 
 one wo have the poison alone ; in thi; other, the poison with its 
 antidote. Our Jiuthor brink's to the txecution of his work, earnest 
 ness of puri)08e, orthodoxy, force of car^niment, a ready fund of- apt 
 Scriptural proofs, and a fair supply of lielps and illustrations from 
 other sources. But Romo of hi.s most efl'ective weapons are supplied 
 by the self-condemning contradictions in Kenan's own book : Reuan 
 versus Kenan. The style of the book is lively and vigorous, and its 
 arguments convincing. We heartily recommend this volume to young 
 men in particular, not only as a reply to Kenan's 'Life of Jesu?,' and 
 books of like tendency, but as a corrective and preservative against the 
 pestiferous influences with which .so much inlidel literature is imbuing 
 the moral atmosphere of our age. The book is not only medicine but 
 food. It is especially adapted for general readers, and is a book for 
 the times." 
 
 The British Mail says : — "Having put on his armour, Mr. Stephens 
 grasps his sword, and with a cry of Mwjna est Veritas et proivalehit, 
 olqses with his foe, who is not a man like Professor Clifford, absolute- 
 ly denying the existence of God and man'fc' immortality, but M. Kenan, 
 who believes both, yet denies the inspiration of the Scriptures. 
 Hence the character ot 'Modern Tniidelity Disarmed' difl'ers from most 
 books written against Scepticism. ..." Mr. Stephens is a 
 logical and clear writer. He is irresistible in argument, but does not 
 rush to his conclusions before he has his opponents thoroughly in his 
 power. He then comes down upon them in an overwhelming and 
 sweeping style. His book will be of great service to doubting men, 
 wlio have the candor to stretch forth thei" hand to be led rather than 
 to nail up i-"hutters against the light.'' 
 
 The Prcarlicr's Analyst says of the same work : "The author calls 
 it a reply to M. Kenan's 'Life of Christ.' Tt is that, and also a reply 
 to the great mass of present day intidel objections. To those whose 
 minds arc in any w y unsettled by reading Kenan, Mill, Tyndall, or 
 S'lperuatural Keligion, we heartily recommend this book. It is sel- 
 dom that a book by a new author meets with such universal favor as 
 this is doing. Tlu^- author appears to be an earnest, clear tliinker, 
 whose desire is to do all he can for the spread of evangelical truth. 
 If we mistake not, he will make a decided impression by his writings. 
 
 I may say also that 1 have a work just published, entitled, "Modern 
 Supernatural PheiKjmeiia," in three part.«, with a Supplement ; also, 
 " tJhrist and His Apostles on flood Vv^'orks, with Practical Ob- 
 servations by the Way ;" and have now in the press,' and. in 
 manuscript, works written in reply to Tom Paine and to Ingersoll. 
 The oiilcouie an I moral of all rt-hi(;h is, that the life of . th-e 
 once "wayward" boy has certainly not been spared and preserved by 
 an overruling Providence altogether in vain. Do not, then, fathers 
 and mothers, despair of your wayward ''-ys. Pray ioi tU.e.iii, and, 
 hope for t!i>' best. '!'■:'' -\ 
 
 In bunging this bi»gr;ipliical sketcli to is dn.w, ! may further 
 ol)serv(>, tliat my fatJKU', who has wo:i fur himself ;t well-earned rj^pu- 
 tation, if not as a iifrrhanl j[)rincOf of an honest merchant and u 
 
Tiii. 
 or m auvhob's lifb. 
 Ohri$tian of many years residtac* in the village of Mitchell, Ontario — 
 M wiineia the FreMntation framed and presented to him by prominent 
 oitiMns of the little town, on his learing it for a home in hit declin- 
 ing years with one of his sons — is still alive ; and althoagh, with my 
 Bottter, he is far ad ranced in years, they are still in the enjoyment of 
 good general health ; pay me a visit at my rural residence, that they may 
 •niffthe f;esh air upon my little country estate for a month or more 
 •▼try lummer ; and do not now, I presume, wish that their once 
 •rring boy had been mercifully drowned in his years of infant inno- 
 cency, when my uncle Caivosso (grandson of Mr. Wm. Carvosso, of 
 Cornwall, whose Biography is extensively known and read, both 
 in England and America,) caught me by the hair of my head, and 
 drew me out of the water in a state of unconsciousness in which I 
 remained some twenty minutes or more, before animation could be 
 restored ! 
 
 Prescribed liaiits peevent a further expansion of this story of 
 my life ; but had I never again returned to consciousness, this life- 
 sketch had never been written, the world would have had one life the 
 less to enlarge its numerical census, and the writer would never have 
 bad the pleasure of competing for the honors and emoluments of the 
 Dtfsrnders of "the faith once delivered to the saints." 
 
 N«e«.~TlM fqUowlng ptlnMra' "errors." with others, perhapa more annorlatf t« 
 cable to the general reader, will be foabu apon the aubMqueat 
 
 the AuUmi thaaebaarva... ^ w. «««»»• rcor.wiu d« loai 
 'V' ^^J^*, ****.J'i°?.°?. *••«* *• " '*'« " •*»o">d read "He." 
 
 J?Bh^iiw"lMi*ia'^rtth°^2' •**2d*ll^ '*'* " •*»<'M!«* ""S**^ ''^«" ThV flrTt'line7rpa«e 
 2'S/1«'*^?*«-.'' 5" %■• 4 V«»»«cropolOTlt?" 8h^uld*J2aS^«V^i,"oiS^.^*o?£52 
 
 a« tkitrnmnmop. ©a the slKhth Uae of pare aV' iwf" should be "»•«?•"• aad 
 
 th?ia uStol^'S'n™ ^^^ii**.?.^ ^°« hbre eaUreljr ravaraaA by the omlulon ot 
 !ftr^** *S**' ••.. "S *•«•.?•.'*«»« pagee" should be "thete pajres." On nace 90 
 liJ^2S^-ffL*?J*r" .S^"2^V** "^onorlbU members." Ob paje M. "big^kiah 
 AgosMoa^ahoidd be "hljrh cl<Uij, Agnostics." And en pam foST-ti;/' sKaldTa 
 fe^iH^*"'^ """" ''■'' ''"'*^'**^' *■" "*'*® f'fi>*^tian God" sh^uid be "the Vhrif- 
 
-JiL. 3SrE'W^ — 
 
 -AND- 
 
 ORIGINAL REPLY 
 
 -TO- 
 
 AGE ' OF ^ REASON 
 
 Designed as dn Introduction to a Forthcoming Reply to - • 
 
 Tl^e -Infidel :-: Writings 
 
 -OF- 
 
 -HY- 
 
 Author of " Modern Infiilelity Disarmed, in a reply to M. llenan's Life of 
 Jesus," and other works, printed and published in London, England, 
 
 and in Canada. 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 
 
 Through whom the Trade and all I'urcliasers will be supplied. Address, 
 " Forest Homo," Molesworth, Ontario, Canada. 
 
 FR.IGE, T"VC^EISrT3r-n"^B CE1>TTS. 
 
 The usual discount to the Trade and purcha»«rs oJ' quantities. 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 Thk folluwiny, which, we think, in peculiarly iippiopriate to the 
 work we have undertaki'ii, is a quotation from the pen of the learned 
 and excellent Dr. Doddrige : — 
 
 "The cause of ChristiaHity," says the Doctor, "has ^'reatly gained 
 by debate, and the gospel vomas likf jine gold uuf nf thi- furnace, which 
 the more it is tried the more it is approved. I own the defenders of 
 the Gospel have appeared with very different degrees of ability for the 
 work, nor could it bo otherwise amongst such numbers of them ; but 
 on the whole, though the patrons of infidelity have been ma.'^iris of 
 some wit. humor, and address, as well as of a moderate share of Icirn- 
 ing, and generally of a much more than a moderate share of assui.iiice, 
 yet so great is the force of truth, that, (unless we may exc(!i)! those 
 writers, who have unhappily called for the aid of the civil niiigi^'trate 
 in the controveisy), 1 cannot recolh^'t that 1 have seen any defence 
 of the Gospel, which has not on the whole been sutiicicnt to establish 
 it, notwithstanding all the sophistical arguments of jt,^ khj.-^l .^^ulille 
 antagonists. This is an observation which is continually uaiiiniu- new 
 strength, as ntu- assanltif are made upon the Gospel And 1 cannot 
 forbear saying, I hat as if it were }»y a kind of judicial intai nation, 
 some who have distinguished themselves in the wretched ca'u.sc vi in 
 fidelity, have been permitted to fall into such gross raisreprc-entntions. 
 such senseless incon.sistencies, and .>uch palpable falsehoods, nnd in a 
 word, into such various and maligmint mprrfiaity nf naiu/litiio'H.^ that 
 to a wise and pious mind, they must appear like those ri'iimnnuit crm- 
 tures which are said to carry an antidote in theii bowels against their 
 own poison."" 
 
 To the above judicious and jiertinent observations by Do tur Dod- 
 drige, we will add the following explanatory remarks :--A copy of the 
 first and second ])arts of Faine's "Age of Keason" being in the po,-ses 
 •sion of a neighbor, 1 obtained it from him, and have since -iveii it a 
 reading. I had no thought of replying to it at the time : but while 
 waiting (in the autumn of 188r>) for the last of the "reviews'" of my 
 work in reply to Ingersoll from Lhe Kev. gentleman to whom it was 
 submitted in manuscriiit, the thought struck me that a leply to Paine 
 might be a good introduction to my leplv to Ingersoll ; and having 
 instantly set about it, it has resulted in the following little work. Hut 
 as it has grown to nuich larger propoiti(uis than 1 had anticipated. I 
 have finally concluded to publish it .separately, and introduce it to the 
 public befoie pulilishing my reply to Ingersoll. I write this for the 
 information particularly of tho.se gentlemen to whose kindness 1 am 
 indebted for the "reviews " of my reply to Ingersoll. 
 
 To make a book of tins kind, in ivply to such men. permanently 
 readable and instructive, it shoulil. I think, be )U)t only characterized 
 by clearness and perspicuity ; but by logical reasoning un a sound 
 basis and tVom correct jurmises, mingled with chaste humor, and in 
 terspersed with uno'ijectionable wit. But whether (as given by com- 
 petent judges, to m\ nr/j/i^ In Imjcrs"//), such be the venli. t given to 
 this hasty and htrest production of oio pin oi not : such, we may c^.n- 
 lideutly avM, is not the characteristic of Paine's Ag<. of lieuton. 
 
M ORIUIJIJIL REPLY TO T0Jtt ?Ji\m. 
 
 CHAPTER I, 
 
 -0 
 
 INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF PAINE'S LIFE. 
 
 I think it essentiiii to the plan of this work to introduce it to the 
 reader with the t'onowiiig brief but true sketch of Tom Paine's moral 
 character and career. 1 do this in justification of the style of my re- 
 ply to him (which, in writing, I usualh adapt to the 8tyle of my 
 opponent), and because in the body of his work lie repeatedly, and in 
 various ways, makes hij^h pretensions, as a Deist, to morality of char- 
 acter. I shall not here quote tho.se passages, although I may perhaps 
 refer to some of them on a subsequent page; but I shall begin my in- 
 troduction witli remarks addressed to himself, (as though he were still 
 living), as based on his asserted motive for deferring the publication 
 of his "Age of Keu.son" to the time of advanced age. He says : "// 
 has been unj intcniinit I'or sri^cral years past to publish ni,y thought^: 
 ii-pon rdi(/io/i . . . I inleurhd it to he the laxt offering I should 
 make to my felleir-ntizem of all nations, anrt that at a time, when the 
 purity of till mot ire that imitweit me to it eould not ivtmit of a qnet 
 tion, 'Vim try thoxe irlio miyht ilisapprove the iror/r.'' 
 
 Very good, if that be so ; but do I do you a wrong in suspectmg 
 that your "motive" for tlie ilelay was not so "pure" as you would have 
 men believe — that your motive was not unmixed with a selfish ingre- 
 dient '? Am I not correct when 1 say you were waiting for the liiie 
 to arrive when you should lose nothing in particular that you cared 
 about by oilc-nding people 1 — that you wei'e waiting until after you 
 had received the last of the political favors and tionors which you ex- 
 pected to gt!t from the American government ami people ? You say, 
 (pago '\\\) ''/ h(t</ /III (/ispasitiii/t for vhat /'.< railed politi$'<. It prr- 
 senteil to my miwi im nthrr idea than is contained in thr uord Jockey 
 ,<hip :" but you leerr a "political man" nevertheless, although you 
 make this assertion, and a very warm and zealous one, as witness the 
 part you played in connection with the French and American i-evohi- 
 tious. and for which you received political and other honors — honor.s, 
 too, which you doubtless highly appreciated, and et;pecially the more 
 substantial ones! For did you not receive a vote of £600 from the 
 Pennsylvania Legislature, in 1785, as compensation '>r the writing and 
 publication of your political tract on Common Sense, m the time of the 
 American Revolution ? Were you not also put in possesion of a snug 
 office by the T". S. Congress, for the same reason ? .\.nd did not that 
 liberal body r.( statesmen vote y'ou also the nice roun>l sum of S3000 ? 
 and the State of New York make over to you the snug little home- 
 stead of 500 acres of land, with a good stone house upon it — the ecu- 
 
■ill 
 
 fiscated property of a Royalist? Talk about fat parsons, by thA way, 
 and tithing prie^^ts, and raoney-inotivod preachers! it is v^ry evident, at 
 all evbnts,' that yon did not labor for naught, nor spend your strength in 
 yain, pecuniarily, as very many of the parsons and priests, to whom 
 you slanderously refer, have to do. 
 
 No one knew better than yourself, that while you had nothing of 
 public favor to expect from the publication of your theological opinions, 
 from your political principles, writings, and career in those revolution- 
 ary times, with your zeal and talents in that direction, you had much 
 to expect. 
 
 And when, moreover, you at length did publish the work, although 
 late in life, and even vhen "precipitated" by certain circumstances 
 which induced you to publish it, according to your own statement 
 in your preface, earlier than you had intended, did you i.ot lose many 
 friends thereby ? And did no adulterous motives of regret gnaw 
 at the purity of your moral heart strings, when you discovered the 
 immediate effect it had upon very many whom it was your interest 
 and desire to retain as friend? ? 
 
 Infidels who slander Christians, blaspheme God, contemn His holy 
 Word, and impeach the motives of even the best of his servants, must 
 not be surprised if the purity of their own motive s should be impeach- 
 ed, their professions of the best intentions questioned, and their true 
 character in all its hideous aspects be laid bare to the world. 
 
 Dismissed for misconduct from his situation as exciseman in Eng- 
 land when youiii,', he was also dismissed for the same reason from his 
 oflBce as clerk of a committee in the American Congress, whei old. 
 Having separatt.-d from his second wife, he cruelly and lawlessly 
 seduced the wife of a French bookseller, caused pangs of sorrow and 
 suffering to her husband, and came with her as his debauched com- 
 panion to America, where, having in time past made many friends by 
 his political writings, which are said to be distinguished by force and 
 pungency, he now made many enemies by his theological writings, 
 which are shallow, slanderous, and obscene. 
 
 I should add, that he was an habitual drunkard, and, notwithstand- 
 ing the former prosperity and honors with which he was favored, he 
 died in contempt and misery, hi a small house in Columbia street. 
 New York City. "His disgusting vices, his intemperance and profli- 
 gacy," says the American Religious Encyclopedia, made him an out- 
 C88t from all respectable society. He is represented as "irritable, vain, 
 cowardly, filthy, envious, malignant, dislioiiest and drunken." This 
 is his Deitvi practically exemplified ! Mrs. Hedden, a very worthy 
 and reliable woman, who nursed him in his last illness, said, after she 
 had been with him a few days, the language he used was so bad, that 
 she resolved to quit the liouse ; and that whenever Madam Bonne- 
 ville, his French paramour, entered his room, his language became 
 outrageous. Jiut as she wished to do all she could for him, on his 
 promising amendment, she consented to remain. "He would not," she 
 said, "be left alone night nor day; and if, as it would sometimes un- 
 avoid.ablv h.snoen he was left alone., he would sfreani and crv aloud, 
 until some person came to him." He was "a loathsome and pitiable 
 object. His face, and particularly his nose, was greatly swollen and 
 
changed by liquor to a dark color." Mrs. Iledden said also, that "he 
 was a wretckod num. Tliiit lie k('i)l groaniii.,^ .lav aii<l nitrht as if in 
 great distress of mind." She once told him "that Im irroan.s di9turb.Hl 
 her that she could not rest ;" to which he replied, "I 'have no rest m,, 
 shall you have." Such \va3 the sjiirit exhibited by this dying Deif^t 
 Wasn't It malignant? And where, think you, reader, was that spirit 
 of malignity going— into a state „f happiness, as hopefully expressed 
 upon the pages of his Ixiok ? Impossible. 
 
 OHAPTBR II. 
 
 PRELIMIXARY OBSERVATIONS; WITH RE.MARKS TOUCH- 
 IJNG THE POSSIBILITY OF A WRITTEN "WORD 
 
 OF GOD. ■ 
 
 In an inhdel adrertisement published in N>w York, it i.s stated 
 that, as an intidel writer, Tliomas I'aine has no peer. And a person 
 with whom I was cunversjn- some time ago said, he thought he had 
 "no equal" as a skeptical i.;,-.oiier and writer. To this testimony in 
 his favor, I may add that u Imc young man who appeared to be skep- 
 tically inclined, and who had Micceeded in getting up a debate of 
 which I was elected pre.si(lenl, when a young man attending the Xor- 
 raal Inscitution, Toronto, .siid in the course of his remarks on Paine's 
 "Age of Rea.son"— "Cogent i(ja.soning, there is some nogent reasoning 
 in that book." The rogfinrii, however, is only in the outward letter, 
 the outside superficial show uf what might be substantial and good if 
 it had a sound basis; but cut a little below the surface, and you will 
 find it is wanting in soundness. It i,= like the outward appearance of 
 a fine looking apple, which when cut a little way below the surface and 
 laid open, discovers a putrid unsoundness at the core. 
 
 I observed al.s(^ . some little time ago, a rel'eronce to biui iii.l hi- 
 writings in a periodical, wherein it was stated that his "Age of Rea- 
 son" has been tran.slated, through intidel agency, even into the lan- 
 guages of India, and is doing a great deal of 'harm there and else- 
 where in the way of impeding Christian xMissiou work and the con- 
 version of intelligent heathendom. And is this really the case in our 
 day, thought T to myself ? Is it possible that thii injidel production 
 has survived a hundred years, and is stdl exerting ns banofnl an influ- 
 ence as ever, and even in foreign lands, no le.ss than in the land that 
 gave it birth ? Is it possible that no one during all this time has sue 
 ceeded in putting an eflfectual quietus upon the evil principle of vital- 
 ity by which this production of degenerate human nature and unsanc- 
 tified human reason lives? If the answer to this be in the affirm 
 ative, the reason must be that the reasoning serpent, ever since he 
 .succeeded in reasoning the first pair out of the "garden," has never 
 been wanting in more than willing auditors, as well as acute and wilv 
 
 agents. 
 
 It may be a presumpluuu.s undertaking in us, truly, ])uc may not 
 this "gentleman" who, it appears, has not a "peer" in the realrc of in- 
 fidel literature— may not this "reasoner"of ih.eAge, wemightaak, even 
 
8 
 
 after a century's survival, have the quietus put upoo him ? We are 
 rertainiy not of mucli account in our own estimation ; but ae soaw- 
 tliiuii unJcr tlie circumstances certainly ought to be done, we will, 
 'vith l?isho|i Watson's ansistancM, to whom we shall be indebted for 
 .some iiclp, sc. whnt wo can do in the way of a critical examination 
 of some (if thi- insults of Tom's dilij,'ent and very learned researches. 
 
 I would corlaiul), howovta', be one of the last to seeli to disinter a 
 defunct enemy of the Cross, who hag been dead lon<,'ei than he lived, 
 with a view to an attempt to expose his deformity and ugliness, but 
 for the fact that instead of being rrnnntrd (as he ought to have been), 
 his friends have, morally speaking, carefully emijalmed him, and, in 
 their' descendants, ate still making every effort to preserve his mem- 
 ory, extol and make known his deeds, and hand down the stinkii.g 
 savor of his name to the latest generation 1 
 
 I may here fiirthei jjremise, that in writing this little work, time 
 and circninstances will neie.ssitate my being brief ; and therefore I 
 iii.iy not iitli'inpt an cxliuustive reply to all the scurrilous details and 
 lilasi)liemous insinuations uf the production I have under review; but 
 1, nevertheless, do not mean tn intentionally omit noticing and reply- 
 ing to even- a sini,'le point that is ol vital importance' to a sufficiently 
 comprehensive and .satisfactory dispijsul of the subject in hand. 
 
 Tlio liook from which we quolc was published in Uoaton, and con- 
 t.iins Fame's complete work in two parts, together with a sketch of 
 liis life prefixed, and "a letter in answer to a friend" printed at the 
 end of the book. 
 
 Paine, in common, 1 believe v,-ith moet infidels, seems to have a 
 peculiar penchant for literary stone throwing at '-parsons and priests," 
 impeaching their motives, etc. T will therefore Just say here, that I 
 am iieithei parson nor priest, have never yet received a sixpence aa 
 priest's pay, and never shall, although 1 have given many a one to- 
 wards it; liir have 1 up to the nresent, ever realized a single dollar by 
 li • A\ '.vii!ii:4. altiioii;j:li I have sacrilii!ed many a on jii this wav. Su 
 that fnond i'liomas will be kind enough to quite e.xempt us from this 
 very lowest level of, and, as we may hope, very (exceptional priestly 
 motive, and put ns in this rcsjiect at least on a par with himself. I 
 may add, that whether we realize anything from its sale or not, if our 
 "Reply" to this man's intidel pruduction should prove but another 
 illustration of that overruling I'mvI lenee which "from .seeming evil is 
 !•' I'l II Mv educing ^ndd." tjif wi.rh! will lie beiieiitted, and in this, if 
 ;i no c liiii' respect, we shall have nur reward. 
 
 Paine says; "This is an a;^p of reason." My reply to him is ; 
 Kvery age is "an ag(.' of reason" ; and although he is himself undoubi- 
 P(ll_, a good reasonei, "after his kind," every age has produced its re- 
 presentatives of the art certainly not inferior to this modern unbeliev- 
 ing "I'honias." 
 
 As we propose, to us(> a military term, doing a little picket work, 
 .skirmishiwg, examination of outworks, etc., before coming into very 
 close ciuaitei's with the enemy, at points wiiieh will soon turn the tide 
 of battle for victoiy oy defeat, jierhaps we cannot do better at the 
 outset of this literary contest, than allow Tom to introduce hiuiseif to 
 the reader through the following quotations, as found upon pages 53 
 
and 62 of his wdik. Tlioy may be regarded as a apecimeu, or an in" 
 troductory expoiu'iit dl ulmi lie calls the A(/c of Rmson in which he 
 lived. They may In- re^nnli'il also as a key noto U, all that has eman- 
 ated from the phiinsophic iiiiud of this rcniaikahly philosophic genius, 
 us embodied in his yreat work uf works —the ">lyr of li>moii .'" Thej 
 are these : "it i.-^ iic\t to iinpnssihlo to afcoinit for the continued 
 persecution carried u\\ l.y the church, t"r scvond hundred years.against 
 th sciences, and a','niiist the jiinfessors of HcicHccs, //' I Ik- church had 
 not mvie ri'i'nni nr hailHinn, lliai it ims ori(f/)Kd/i/ im other than a 
 pious fraud, or 'lid nut forrscr that it ton.u not uk maintained 
 
 AOAINST THK EVIDKM K lllAT THE .STfa'CTlllK dl' THE LNIVKKSE AKFORl»- 
 
 kdT Quotation No. •_' is this: "To believe that (lod created a plural- 
 ity of worlds, at least as nunicioiis as what, \vc call stars, renders the 
 christian system <>t (aitii al (incc little and ridiculous, and scatters it 
 in the mind like fcatiicrs in 1 lie air. Th'- ty;n h'liff.-^ niunDt l)p held 
 loiftli'-r in ti" .<((u"' iiiiinl : kikI !"■ irlui lhiu/,y Ihid !"■ hiUfvc.i l)oth, 
 has thdii'fht hut litft'' 11/ lilhrr." Turn claims t.o hav(; been th" Author 
 nf the A'/f i)f rcasim, jinl.nv yc tln-ii I'mni the forci^.'iii.u what the a;fe 
 nuist have liocn '. A lindk is iruly a i^rrand tiiin- in which to prcscrvi! 
 lh(' ;.;reat thoughts and unconiinim npinious of gci-al men 1 avf-, and 
 .sn also the whimsical notions of wliiinsical nu'u ! 
 
 Hut besides thus kimlly Idoaking to the (,'luirch llic inttdligcncc 
 that it uuist (dl ainu'i l(tii-<- Iffu (urari' lliat its system of faitii was nu 
 other than a "[)i()iis t'ranu" ; and knowingly and ]>inpliiticall\ ajipris 
 ing it of the fact thai the ("liiistian system of taith and ihc discover- 
 ies of soicnce cf)uld not possibly subsist togcliicr— besides this uncom 
 mon display of shrewdness, comiKuinded cd' cliaiily, disicrinnriit, and 
 piesciencc in the mind ol' scii'Utilic Tom, this gentlenuin lells us alsip 
 that rrri'lati'iu and tiic Witxl nj (UhI'xw wiiting oi' in prinl is an im 
 possibility; and, moreover, that the Church (hies not l<iiu\v wliat n 
 revelation is ! His words are: "Revelation, when applirJ to religion, 
 means something eoiiinuinicated iminiMJiately fioin (lod to man - cacrh 
 of the churches show certain books, whicli they i-all revelation, or the 
 Word of God — I5ut it is a contrailiction in terms and idi'as, to call 
 anything a revelation that comes to us at second-hand, iMlhei verl)al- 
 ly or in writing." An error, I'om, an error ; for when lecorded, it 
 becomes a revelation irrittin, and does not thei'el.y cease to lie a reve- 
 lation. One \v(juld have thought, moreover, that the t.'eiieral drift 
 of your own lucubrations, as e.\presse(l uiion j)age l;^4, would have 
 l"d you to precisely this conclusion in reference to a u-ritt'-u ^^'ord id' 
 (!od : "Who can say," you ask, "by what excec(jiii:.! line action of line 
 matter it is that a thnught is lu'oduced in what we c;,ll the mind V 
 and yet that thought, when produced, as I now pro'tuce the thought 
 1 am writing, is cap dile of becouiing immortal, ami is the (Uily [undue 
 t ion of man that has that capacity. I'rinl .and ivpiin; -x ihoe^hta 
 thousand times over, and that with materials of any kiiul . ir\c u in 
 wood, or engiave it on stone, the tlioiight is eternally ami ei.'iiiirady 
 the same thouglil in every case." Tom's inconsistency 111 il.n- ex- 
 
 'Utimenl e\pl'e,-sei! al o'.c, is 
 u as oxpresseii in wot : ; m.v 1 c 
 
 pressing liiinsidl', as comparrd with llu 
 v«l'y uppaieJil. T 
 rsadered immortal 
 
 by being eugruved and pioisoiv upon paptr, 
 
s 
 
 parchment, wood or stone : br.t a thought as communicatpil by God 
 and expressed in words, rinnut bo tliiis (Migraved and preservtd, and 
 be thereby rendered "ininDrtal" us tin- Wdrd and revelation of Ciod ! 
 Intidtd consistency I I5iil Tom j,'0(s f)n : — 
 
 "The cDntinually pniuiessivc cIiuiil'c lf> wh'ch tliu nioaninj,' of words 
 is subject, the want uf a univcr.^id laii;,'iiaKP which rendcir.-' translations 
 neccessury, the errors to which translations are a^ain subject, the 
 mistakes of copyists and printrrs tu-ftlict with tlie possibility of 
 wilful altciution, are of thciiiM'iv.s cvidi-nces tliat human language, 
 whether in speech oi in print, .mnoi lir tiic vehicle of the word 
 of God. And the idea or Ijeli.t .if a woid of God ex'sting in 
 piint, or in writin;^, is, for thc-e r.Msous, inconsistent in itself." "We 
 again refer the reader to the utier inconsistency of this with Tonvs 
 own words as aliove quoted. With tlic suiie show of reason precisely, 
 we mi^dit .-ay, "written lan>^uaf,'e cannot lie tiie- vehicle of th'- word of 
 iium!" for identically the sanie'reasons may be urj^ed a;,'ainst the con- 
 sistency nf ''the belief that any word of uian exists in writing or in 
 print. About a hundred years liMve elapsed since these specious ideas 
 were first conceived : but in view of the "mutability of language," etc., 
 the idea of believing, of rons/'si'^nth/ believing, that these words of 
 Tom Paine have existed, and do still exist, in writing or in print ! 
 Isn't the "idea" of it quite niiirvellous, inconceivable, fabulous ! No 
 wonder that the amazing calibre of this man's unerring nuke up is so 
 highly extolled and admired by very many, if not the whole infidel 
 fraternity in the line of skeptical phenomena ' .No wonder, indeed ! 
 
 But let us hear him again ; "Kevelatioil cannot be applied to any- 
 thing done upon earth, of which man is himself the actor orthe wit- 
 ness ; and consequently all the hi.-toiical and anecdotal part of the 
 Bible is not within the meaning and compass of the word reyolation, 
 and therefore is not fhr Wonf of and:' This ignores ins^nration, 
 Tom ; but our God is an Inspirer as well as a Creator, and if things 
 heard and witnessed have escaped tlir memory, whether of prophet, 
 apostle, evangelist, or Divinely appointed -scribe, Thomas, and the 
 Divine lieing, according to tlie promise of Christ, brings them afresh 
 to his remembrance, it is, of course, at the time it is thus re- 
 vealerl— to him a reiyJation, and a revelation directly from God, 
 although previously witnessed by himself. But "it is ignorance," he 
 contiiiucs, "or imposition to apply the term revelation, in such cases." 
 It IS "Ignorance" not to so apply it, Tom. And promised guidance in- 
 to a right apprehension of truth, and preservation, by Divine inspira- 
 tion, fr(jm error, whether in tUc iirudamatioii or tlw rncording of it, 
 involves also much about the same, Thomas. "AH scripture," we are 
 told, "is given by inspiration of God," and this constitutes it "the 
 Word of God.' Perhaps it would be something like hair-splitting lo 
 make a distinction becween Divine communcation by direct revdation, 
 and through the influence of ^■ns//^Va^^07^ ,■ but .split a hair, and the 
 two parts arc hair still ; and so, make the distinction l)i-lween "the 
 A^oid of God" by Revelation and by Inspiration, and ic will remain 
 "the Word of God" still. 
 
 Tom proceeds: "If anythincr ever was revealed, it is ..^velation to 
 the person only te whom the revelation is made." It is revelation, 
 
 ! I 
 
9 
 
 we reply, to sU who beliove in the truth of thp sacrpd, historical tt- 
 
 (ioid aiiJ tt'otiiuony. Tli.it is tu s ly, it, is to their tninds nnd nppre- 
 hpriftions ir. certiiiiily a rt-vi'latioii finrn God, as thouyh it were audibly 
 or othcrw .se directly comniunicnti d to theniselvos. AVhy, according 
 to Tom's '.heory of levelalinn, if tlipre are ten hundred millio;* indi- 
 vidiuda in tluj world, ihrrt-. must ho ten hundred million revelations, 
 or there can ho none to the human family as a whole, and none that 
 can he received hy them as such ! Such twaddle an this may suit 
 Tom Paine, and his infidel iidniin rs, hut Christian men of common 
 sense, reanon, and judgmenl. will repudiate it as the ignorant effusion 
 of a sinfully depraved, polluled intiilel henrt, that is at enmity vt^'.th 
 God, and unwilling; to be subject \(> His holy Law. 
 
 On page 194, Tom gives us nuother liit of his mind ou the same 
 geneial subject. Ho says : "If we (consider the nature of our condi- 
 tion here, we must see that there is no occasion for such a thing as 
 revealed religion. What is it we want to know ? Docs not the crea- 
 tion, the universe we behold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty 
 power thai governs ntid regulates the whole? And is not the evidence 
 that this creation holds out to ou: senses infinitely stronger than any- 
 thing we can read in a book, that any imposter might make and call 
 the vTordofGod?" Very superticiai, Tom, very superficial, indeed ! 
 Notwithstanding the existence of the universe, and the open face of 
 the sky presenting to the beholder its '•revelation," and inviting the 
 scientific stiidont a? well as the intelligently devour, to read it, the 
 world would never have known anything about your distinguished 
 self, if you had not "revealed" it to "ihem 1 It you had wisely left it to 
 be discovered through the starry heavens, the works of creation, and 
 the principles of science, it is at least probalile that the world, even 
 the scientific world, had not known it to this day. And as "creation," 
 you say, "reveals to man all that it is necessary for him to know" ; 
 the knowledge of yourself t.nd your wisdom, being uiuliscoverabla 
 through these "works," its special rhvelation to the intelligent world 
 hy any other means, should of course be relegated to the realm of the 
 imnecdSHaries. But bein<^' tlius undiscoverable through the principles 
 of astrouoinioal or other kindred science, your vanity would not allow 
 such desirable and very im])ortaut revelation of yourself to remain 
 among the unknown ami the unknowable, but a revelation of such 
 I rifliiiir matters as the existence, cliaracter and requirements of God 
 the Creator, the origin, duties, ami destiny of a whole world of moral 
 and spiritual intedigeiici^s, tog(!ther with the primary causae, creative, 
 providential, or otherwise, of the present moral condition in which 
 man is foiiiul, should of (lairse be relegated to the domain and left to 
 the discoveiies of science ! A "revelation"' in reference to these trifles 
 l)i'iiig "unnecessary," it is altogethm' inadmissable — absurd, indeed, to 
 think of such a thing I Such are cIk; sage conclusions of intelligent, 
 scientific, infidi-1 Tom Paine ! We nui:<t have been an adept in the 
 science of ^jciolism. 
 
 
OHAPTEE HI. 
 
 I 
 
 l^ALNE'S THEOLOGY: OK. THE "WORD OF GOD" IN CRE- 
 ATION. 
 
 Tom'a Deism 80 t'aifruui Aawyh)^ & future staU. distincth recog- 
 uizeB it ; but oltserve, icmler, his -lylc of iva.soniiig iiljout it, ami then 
 judge for voi.isell as to tin; juslia'.s.s ul lii,» claim to special cli.stiiiction 
 M protessedly cuiiiiectt.'d with dn a-e of "reason." "VVo uui*t know," 
 he says, ({>. 194,) that the power thai called us into being, can, if he 
 please, und when he pleii^es, call us lo accouiit for the nianner in 
 which we have lived here; und ihen'foic, vvitliout scekin;.,' any other 
 motivo for the belief, it i^ rational to believe that he will, for we know 
 bejore-hand that ho can.' This, you will observe, is another dash of 
 hit very specious und "jogcnt" leasoning. It just amounts, however, 
 tothii: "Wo must know that the power that culled us into boing, 
 e»D, if he please," annihilate up, with nil the animal creation, at death 
 —or. to vary the Bentimdni, but keep to the cogency of tho reasoning : 
 We must knotv that the power that culled us and' our earth into be- 
 ing, can, if he please, cut the scieiitiKc string which holds us in posi- 
 tion, and send us apinniug into the heart of the sun, "and without 
 seeking any other motive (or basi.^) for the belief, it is rational to be- 
 lieva that he will, for wf hioi: beforn-hand that he can"/ Isn't thit 
 reasoning excellent, remarkable, for so early an "age " ' — wonder did 
 he ever contemplate taking out a University diploma as a professor of 
 logic ? But this, it sluuld bo rcmembeied by all thosi.' who have hiin 
 in memorium, is but one instance among many, of the discriminating 
 judgment and very clever reasoning of this very acute Deistic theolo- 
 gian, Thomas Paine ' 
 
 But after this emanation, so characteristic ' the source wheni^e it 
 emanated, the man of sense will not be surprised to hear Tom sry, as 
 expre.ssed upon another page, "The universe is my Bible, and my own 
 mind IS my church' -nor will hf. lie .^^urprised to learn that Satan 
 having set up ids Kin-dom there, ia tlii::< "church" lie wa.s worshipped 
 by faithful Tiioma«? all I hrou'^h life, ii,? "the God of this world" who 
 prorai3e.s its ample store.-, to all tlio.^e who will fall down and wor.<?hip 
 him, iiKstead of "tin' only living and true God^'— the God of Creation 
 and of Provide! ce, the God of ReveLuion and of Redemption; and 
 who is therefore, aUo, the God of tlie Cliristinn. 
 
 But, by way of exhii.'itmg the striking contrast between scientific 
 Deism ami Chiistianity, Toi>. s: <- • "Tla" age of iguoraii.e commenced 
 with the Christian systc .;■' "Ltf' and v/unortnliti/," we r-ply 
 "were brought to lijit l.v H,,, ,:.;i,,,.'' Are these an indication, or 
 necessarily a forerunner of v.^- 'J'unce ? "We speak," savs an apostle 
 of Christ, "the loiedom that is from above." I^ that an 'ingredient of 
 ignorance, or the material of which it is composed ? ''Grow in grace 
 ftBd in the further knowledge uud love of God " Is that an «xhorta- 
 
 1| 
 
11 
 
 tion nec«rtftril.T tending to iguoiance ? "Tho p»th of thf jui^," or of 
 the ChriBtiaii, "shiuctli more and morp into the perfeQt cl»y." It it 
 of the nature of iKuornncc to than luminously, and over inoMMiogly 
 •hin*) 1 "PiovM all tluiiga-^joon unto icriVction— Bearch t»-.e Scripture^ 
 -yive thy attpntion to reading', that thy protiting may appear unto 
 all— Xeglect not the gift that iu in thee" - Are th'^^o the authoritative 
 precepts by which "the ignorance, which commen-jfd with the Chrii- 
 tiun system," wn3 engendered and have over since been sustained? 
 "The invisibU-' things of Him fium th" oreaMon ot the world, are 
 clearly seen, being understood by the things that aie made, even Hit 
 eternal power iind Godhead ' "The h('ave"ns declare the glory of God 
 and the fiDnament showoth His luimly work." Do these declarations 
 discover a disposition of miJid to close the eyes to the woiks and 
 knowledge of God n Creation, and plainly disclose the tendency of 
 the Christian system to grovelling, unob.ieiving ignorance 1 Could 
 prec.sptive, nnd exhortative, and contemplative Deism do more to in- 
 cite ile disc' !>«, to the uttairiMUMit of knowledge, which is the oppo- 
 site of Ignorance, tlnin — not Romish intoltsrance and persecution, but 
 than preceptive Scriptural Ciiristiaiiity has done, think you ? Facts 
 are stubborn things ; niul tho facta of Scripture teaching and tendency 
 are against you, Tom. To disciple arul Christianize all nations, is to 
 remove the ignorance of all nations, and ignorance not of one thing 
 and of one kind merely, but of many things and of various kinds. 
 We might particularize as to the application of Christian principles 
 and teaching in the removal of ignorance, as connected with social, in- 
 dustrial, political, and even scientific l;fe, but wo must forbear. We 
 may say, however, that as soon as there was a return to the teaching, 
 profession, and practice of true Christianity, as at the Reformation un- 
 der Luther and otliers, as Paine himself admits, despotic, irreligious 
 ignorance was crushed, and there was an immediate revival of the sci- 
 ences, of literature, of liberty, and of every other good thing. 
 
 On paue 31, Tom says: "It ip oidy in the Crkation that all our 
 idea.'* and concept i()n> of a iro?'£? of God can unite. The Cieation 
 spcaketh a univura.,1 lanj^uago. It preaches to all nations and to oil 
 worlils: and this Word of God revenU to man all that is necessary 
 for man to know of God. Thi.-» has been replied to, in part, in the 
 last paragraph of the chapter preceding ; to which v e will add : It it 
 well that ho says, "All our ideas." (meaning his own,) because v>» and 
 others have conceptions of a "Word of God," quite separate from and 
 .ndependent of the Creation. So that we have the manifest advan- 
 tage of him m having two Words of God instead of one. And as to 
 the assertion, that the former "reveals to man all that is necessary for 
 him to know of God ;" why, then, did God give us a tio.iond revela- 
 tion, which He certainly did, and which we certainly ha,e, notwith- 
 standing your frantic, toilsome efforts in the manufacture of a book to 
 prove that God did not give us om . You say : "Do we want to 
 know what Goil is? Search thu Scripture called the Creation." But 
 says "tlie Scripture of truth," tho veritable and written Word of God, 
 "The World by its wisdom know.<5 not God ;" that is, knows Him not 
 as He is revealed to us through the written Word — not only as being all 
 wise and almighty, but a« "being also r ju$t God nnd ?! Saviour" 
 Many things ixideed, both "necessary'" and all-important, are revealed 
 
12 
 to us through the writton Word, which never were and never could 
 be kiiown tluout^'h Ih^ "Word of Creation." Bo^v your knoe io the 
 one, and traiiiph; the otht-r undi'V y<tur feet, if you will; but in so do- 
 in*,', poor infatuated man, you l.ut cut nfl'ymir ri;^'Iit aim, so to speak, 
 leaviii>^ to yourself oidy the. use of yo\ir left I and wiiat cnuld Vdu do 
 with that i"ii a lime of critical ('iiicr,ii(Mic\ -' Ah, my friend, your God 
 of Creation simply, ^»iU fail you — has failed )ou. Your oidy appro- 
 priate und acceptable |>rayer to Him uill he: "Suil'er the rucks and 
 mountains to fall on me. that they may hide me from thy sin aveng- 
 ing presence !" 
 
 Speaking of Astronomy and the other sciences, Tom says : "The 
 stuily of the Works of God, and of the jiower and wisdom of God in 
 Hi? Works, is the true theology." That is natural thooiOgy, and 
 which theChristian studies quite asdevoully and intelligently, certainly, 
 a.s the Deist. Xor has ha ever "abandoned it" or studied any other 
 theology "in its place," as Tom, in his nearsightedness, or stupidity, 
 or something worse, say. "R'di.,'iou," he continues, "considered a.s a 
 duty, is incumbent upon every living soul ahke, and therefore, must 
 be on a level to tlie understanding and co.npveliension of all." So it 
 is; and herein it is that 30111 Deism fails; for you cannot imsihhj 
 know from Crnation that veli-i'.us duty is "incumbent'' ujion man. 
 But 'ihti knoidedgp. of moraliti/," Tom adds, "exists in every man's 
 conscience" — that is, aho "exists in every man's conscience" ; for he 
 has before told us ttiat tliis "knowledge" is discoverable in "the works 
 of creation." Weil, consistent or inconsistent, this is an important 
 transfer certainly — from the simry heavens and the world witliout, to 
 the world within ! But suppose it lie adautted tliat the "knowledge 
 of morality" exists to souje cxt(!nt in the natural mind and onscience 
 like the knowleilge or possession of goodness in a horse or an ass, un- 
 til something disturbs it, and makes it kick up its heels ; such know- 
 ledge is practically inoiicrativc, in itself, (of wdiich Tom is an illustra- 
 tion,) because it is wanting in bindin'j;, Divin.ely aufhontatine obbuM.- 
 tion to practice and perform. And this could not bu obtained, or in 
 any way made detiuitely and distinctly known to up, but by a revela 
 Hon direct from the great Creator aiid Lawgiver Himself, 
 
 Christianity, or "tlio Cliristian system of faith," which distinctly 
 and definitely recognizes the Hod, both of Revelation and Creation, 
 "appears to me," Tom says, "u species of atheism — a soit of religious 
 denial of God." And this, forsooth, been-ise Christians believe in 
 God the Son, as well as in God the Fatlier, and recognise Christ as 
 not only man but God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, as 
 Christ Himself taught, claiming that men should "honor the Son 
 oven as they honor tlic Father," and commanding that all believers be 
 baptized "in the name of the Father afid nf flw Son, and of the Holy 
 Ghost" — thus jjlacing himself in the \ciy centre of t.lie Godhead, 
 And by many other similar ilechirations ami utterances did Christ sot 
 forth His Divinity and claim absolute equality with the Fathor, But 
 the position Tom here assumes looks veiylik> Dt-ism, or Deism in 
 one of its most noteil represfjntatives, going mad! All that the Deist 
 recognises as an evidence ot njauifestition 01 the Deity in creation, 
 the Christian recognizes ; but tiecause he also recognize.'^ a great deal 
 more in evidence of the Divine existence, by believing in a supernat- 
 
 
>nv God 
 a jip ro- 
 cks and 
 
 
 18 
 
 ural revplation, and the Divine manifestation and revelation of Him- 
 self m a Triiinf Deity, ns leveded or madu known to him through the 
 inspired Word, liis lieliof is "ii siiecios of Atheism !"— Infidel ducern- 
 mtni ! Just a word or two heie, by the ^vay, in reference to this 
 Scripturally as!*erted triune personality of the Deity. (Jne God in 
 three persons i-^ a T.y.stery wiiich some men tliiid< they cuinot fathom, 
 and hence th^'y ivjecl the doctrine of the Trinity. Well, now, that 
 they cannot fathom tiiis mysterious doctrine, is, we thiidi, by no 
 means stianjre. To us, at least, it is not at all "'mysterious'' that, they 
 should discover, or think they discover, in it somethini,' incomprehen- 
 eible ; it would rnth^n- be a mystery if they did not. It is, however, 
 a doctrine of the iiible clearly taught. But to those who believe iri 
 the existence of God at all— ami those who do not, we have simply to 
 refer to elause Xo. 1, of Psalm l4— but tn those who believe in the 
 Divine t-xistence, and at the same time reject the doctrine of the 
 Trinity on the ground of its mysteriousness, T would say, let the fol- 
 lowing ).lain and easily understood que.-rtion for ever convince you, 
 that your position is inconsistent, irrational, and wholly untenable? ! 
 which, allow me to ask. is the gre;,tesi mystery, the fact of the Deity's 
 ffernal. rmorigiyiated exisience, or the n)ere niotle, form or personal 
 ehoraeter such existence assumes, or is (h-clared to i)ossess? There is a 
 magnitude connected with the mysteriousness of the bare fact of the 
 Divine existence, which exceeds the mysteriousness of the mere mode 
 l>y an immeasurable degree. Admitting the former, then, bo rational, 
 be consistent, and do not stumble at the latter. 
 
 Well hath the |)rop]iet, in speaking of these men, said, "Seoine 
 they shall see and shall not perceive." They see something, but it is 
 unreal ; it is by a light Ihat is lurid, and is all a hazy, misty, delu,3ive, 
 imajriiiativeness— they do not perceive ihe truth. 
 
 They call evil, good, and good, evil '. They "stumble in the day 
 time, lis tiiouf^h there were no light !" Like 'drunken engine drivers, 
 thej li.M ;,l,.;ig 111 their Doisiio ..-jirs I'urior.sly ; but in their confused 
 fuddle and muddle, they have started their engine the wrong way, 
 ar.d instead of going to the "laud of the blessed," they are "madly 
 rushing on to perdition 1 
 
 Speakiug, however, a little nioie like .i Christian than he is wont 
 to do, and therein- w..- might say, w. ■ icw of his well-known character, 
 taking the name of God in vain, — Turn siys : "Were man impressed 
 ■-* i'' .^ 1'' ' ■■!^ >lr.'i.-lv as I..' ou:4b! t.. in , Aith th.' belief of a God. 
 his 1. on! .lie would lie regulated by the force of that belief ; he 
 'vnaM stand in awe of God, and iii' himself, and would not do the 
 things that could not be concealed from either. To give this belief 
 th'i full opportunity of force, it is necessary that it acts alone. Thi$ 
 >e .Deism." Goml movalily, Tom, :4ood morality ; and good teaching, 
 too, the last clause or two excepted. I see you are well able to piare 
 morality, as W(dl as piaclice the opposite. 
 
 Upon another page he tiius moi dizes : "To be happy m old age, it 
 iH necessary that we accustom ourselves to objects thu can accompany 
 the mind all the way ihiuugh life." Did Paine thus "aecnstom" him- 
 self i Hat! he a ha|)py old age ? Did the objects of his contemplation 
 accompany him "ad the way throu-h life," and comfort him in the 
 hour of death ? Very far from it. His old age was miserable ; the 
 
I 
 
 u 
 
 iait of his days were wretched, and his death hopeless : That is what 
 hia Deism diil for him. And that is how liis Deistic God rewatdad 
 him for his life loiis^ devotion to him 1 Whether in lifo or iu death, 
 then, Christian, how would you like to exchange your Ood for hia ? 
 
 But "it is nocHssiuy," Tom says, for Deistic belief anci morality to 
 "act alone.'" Tliat is, I .suppose he means, unmixed with the inferior 
 morality of the Iluly Bible, and untrammelled by the distasteful and 
 troublesome, spiritual requisidons of the Chnslian system. This, he 
 gives us to iinder.sluud, is "necessary" in order to its working out, to 
 the very be.^t .advantage, its legitimate i.ssue.<!. Well, it has acted thus 
 "alone" in Tom's case , aud what did his pure, unmixed, and unadul- 
 terated Deism do for hinil Why it made him — lac'"iug the grace of 
 Christian regeneration, which is the result of true and saving faith in 
 the God both of Creation and of Roilemption — it made him notoriously 
 both a drunkard and a libertine ; aud now ho is, as the final conse- 
 quence, in the drunkard and the libertine's hell, reaping the reward of 
 bis folly! "This is Deism! Deism tli'.'ologically stated ; Deism 
 i€alously defended ; Deism practically exempUtied ; and Deism finally 
 rewarded ! Who wuul In't be a Deist? Well, for my own part, like 
 the man with the halter round his neck, I. for one, would beg to be 
 excused. 
 
 Speaking of "this ihint; called Christianity," Tom says again. 
 "Too absurd /or belief, too impossible to conoince, and too inconsistent 
 for practice, it render^: the heart torpid, or produces only atheists and 
 fanatics." Well, now, if these Djistic. " whoppers" are not cool and 
 barefaced, us uttered aud published iu the very face of a believing, 
 sensible, calmly reflective, sober-minded, intelligently worshipping, 
 Christian world, what, either on earth or under it, iniglit be so cou 
 .lidered? They can be equalled, I shouM say, only by what I find on 
 page 179, and perhaps iu some other parts of this aud kindred pro- 
 ductions. Here is what h'i ?ays on the page indicated: "The sum 
 total of a parson's learning, with very few excefitions, is a b ab, and 
 Ate, hec, hoc ■ and their knowledge of science is three times one is 
 three ; and this is more than sufficient to have enabled thorn, h.id thoy 
 lived at the time, to liave written ail the books of the New Testa- 
 ment." Are men who cju talk like that to he depended upon for 
 veracity of statement in reference to any cause they may* espouse? 
 In reading the " hic hoc" part of the specious sentiment, I may 
 ob8«ive, It biougltt^ instantly and forcibly to my mind tiie hic, hoc 
 hiccups of the drunkard, with the thought that he had probably been 
 long used to the pronunciation. 
 
 But with regard to the assertions made m reference to Christianity, 
 are they borne out, we might ask, by the history and statistics of 
 Christian belief, practice aud exteu.siou 1 The answer, convicting 
 Tom of flalsehood, is patent to an observing, intelligent world. Is it 
 nothing, we might ask the dispassionate, unprejudiced], and i;igonuous 
 skeptic, (or those who may think themselves such.) in proof of the 
 Divine origin of our holy (Jhristianity, and consequent peifect adai)ta- 
 tion to tlie nature and circumstances nf ninn in his present state, as 
 well as to qualify him for a higher and a holier, tnat wherever cordiallv 
 embraced in its primitive and uncorruptod purity, it is found to be 
 productive of euch glorious moral results, as coutradiatinguished from 
 
15 
 the results invariably produced in pagan lands by the inculcation of 
 the reliijious dogmas- of Pagnnism ? Proclaimed where and among 
 whivtevor neoplp, nation, or tribe of mankind it may, it is found to be 
 productive of like blfssed results. It transforms, spiritualizes, and 
 elevates alike the pnlisliod civilian and the untutored barVwrian, the 
 accomplishi'il Rcholar and the unlettered lustic. It brinj^s peace, love, 
 hope, and celestial joy, alike to the palace of the rich, and the cottage 
 of the poor. It is found to renew the nature and purify the htart 
 alike of sovert^ij^'ii aud sulijpct, master and servant, rich and poor, bond 
 and free, implanting in each the grace.s of humility, mutual depend- 
 ence and obligation, as well as of that faith, hope, charity, and filial 
 ol)edience, wliich are the induliitalile characteristics of th^ moral 
 chanjfe which fioin its radically ti'ansforming character clearly evinces 
 the Omnipotence and Divinity of its orijiin. That the religioi. of the 
 Gospel has done and is 6.till doing all this for our fallen humanity, is 
 undeniable ; it is patent to tiie living world. Who then will deny 
 that thio r'jligicm is Divine? Alas' but too many; and hence the 
 necessity for works written with a view to combat the miscliievous 
 assaults of its misguided assailants — the false re3S(.ning, plausible 
 prefentalions, chimerical fancies, ai.d gross misrepresentations of one 
 of wliom it is the purpose of the writer of these pages to candidly 
 consider and duly expose. 
 
 OHAPTEB IV 
 
 SOME OF TOM'S PROVERBS, TRUISMS, A^D 
 WISE SAYINGS— WITH REPLIES. 
 
 OTHER 
 
 or in dis- 
 does not 
 
 " Infidelity," Paine says, "does not consist in belii'ving 
 believing ; il consists in professing to believe what he 
 believe," That is hypocrisy, Tom, not infidelity. 
 
 Tom says: ' It ha^^ 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 it is of the government to hold man in ignorance of hie 
 rights. ' (Page 10.) So far from its being the province or the aim ol 
 the Christian religion to keep man in ignorance either ©f the Creator 
 or of his rigiils, nothing more lucidly and explicitly reveals them to 
 him. And as to Tom's next truism, a,'^ expressed upon the same page, 
 "Tile study ot ilifoloyy as it stand,* in Christian churches, is the 
 study of nothing ; it i.i founded on nothing ; it rests on no princi- 
 ples " — my reply is : This is in keeping with the rest of your baseless, 
 I nn'ght say, lying assertions. It is "the study"' of God's moial laws 
 and government. It is " founded" on Jesus Christ, who was, and is, 
 and is to come, the Creator and only R^djemer of the world. And it 
 "rests -on liie priucipics -of \ov^ to Gi);l and ruan, li-uding to lioliuosis 
 and righteousness of life in the faithful observance of Divinely 
 enjoined <liities re><pecting each. 
 
 Rsfernng to the doctrine of loving our enemies, Tom says ■ " To 
 
16 
 
 say that we can love voluiitarily, and without a motive, is morally and 
 physically iir.possihle. For my own p^rt I <lisiO\vii the d'lctritie, and 
 consider it as u fuiyiinl ..r t:iiiulons morality : vet," he adds, "the man 
 does not exist tluit c;iii s.iy i have persecuted liim, or any man, or any 
 set of men — lyr that I /uive, in any r<i-ir, returned evil for einl." Listen 
 to that a:j;aiii fioui tins jjeihielive ailuitercr ! Wai he not in that case 
 guilty of the gifatest "evil " even towards une from whom he had 
 received no |.rovocatinn ? Mow morally blind the infidel is to the 
 inv.'ard and outward haMMiest; of his own true character ! 
 
 And as to tlie expression "without a motive" to \ovit ~"to ohsy Ood" 
 is a "motive" to this duty and to the keeping of this commamhnent, 
 Tom ; and tlie thin^ -'impossible" to man naturally, becomes possible 
 to him throu^^h " -^raee,"' which is notiiing short of the commuiuoated 
 power of Omnipote'no'. Doing to enemy as we would have him do 
 tons, is practicai Christian love to liim. (lod practically loved and 
 still loves liis enemies liy imparting to them '^(hhI for evil ; and man, 
 through the hel|> of his Maker, is required tu do the same. 
 
 I wdl here insert the testimony and tribute of Paine and others to 
 the sublime character and tearhing of Christ. Thi.= discri'inating 
 gentleman entertains, ho tells us, (p. 10;. "no disrespect h> the real 
 character of Jesus Christ. He .vas a virtuous and an amiable man. 
 The morality that he preached and practised u-a.s of the most benevo- 
 lent kind ; and though similar systems of morality had been preached 
 by Confucius, and by some of the Greek philosophers, many ages be- 
 fore ; by the Quakei.< >ince ; and by many good men in all ages, it 
 ha.^ not been e.s-c-eded by any."' And" yet Tom seeks with might 
 and main to exphKi.j tlie system of doctrine and morality which is 
 founde-1 on Christ s teaching : Consistent creature '. 
 
 "The four evangelists," says Dr. Scott, "of whom such contemptu- 
 ous th:ngs have been s[)ok'Mi by .Mr. Paine and others, have done, 
 without appearing to have intended it, what was never perform<^d by 
 any authors uefoiv oi .-ince. They have drawn a perfecthuman character 
 without a single Haw : They have given the history ,it .>ne. whose 
 spirit, words, <n<\ actions, were in every pailicular what thev ought to 
 have been ; w]i,< always did the very thing which was proper, and in 
 the best manner imaginable ; who never once deviat.jd from the most 
 consummate wisdom, purity, benevolence, compassion, meekness, 
 humility, fortitud,'. pntience. piety, zeal aufl eveiv .-ther excellency ; 
 and who in no in^^tanre let one virtue or holy disp.,_ition entrench 
 on another, bu; ^'xeivised them' all in entire harmony and exact pro 
 portion : The m ,re I he histories of the Evangelists aie examined, the 
 dealer will this appc;,, ; and the more evidently will it be perceived 
 that they all comcido m the view they give of 'their birds character. 
 This subject challenges investigation, and sets inhdelitv at d( fiance. 
 bither these fuMi men exceeded in genius and capacity 'all the writers 
 that i v(.'r lived, or tii-y wrote under tlie r,pecial -uniane,. of Divine 
 inspiration; for without labor or atfectalion thev have etlectcd, what 
 has baffled all others, who have .set themselves purposely to accom- 
 plish It. 
 
 To thi8 just description of the delineac-d chaiacter of oui Lord, 
 with the cmclusion arrived at by the writer in reference t,o the truth- 
 fulness of the record, the eloquent Roussean adds the following tribute 
 
ir 
 
 His character, His teachirp, and the Scriptnrp« : -*I will con foM 
 to y»)ii," t<n,>8 1m', "tliiit the iiirj' sty of tlie S«iipUHOR stiikcs me with 
 ni1ii!irnti(iii, ns tlio imiity of tlic Gusiiei intli its iiiflueiiceou my In-art.^ 
 Pi-ruse the wuiks of oiiv )ihil<iM'plu'is with all tlieii iMiinp of diction : 
 how mc'uii, how coiU«'niptil)le lire lln-y c.onipmed with tlu' Scrij)tures! 
 Is it possil)l(! tiiat ii hook, at oi:ce so siiiii)le and suhlinie, should bo 
 nieivlv tlie work of iiiai' 1 Is it possiMe that the eacicd personnj-c, 
 whosfi history it coiitaiiis, sliould he liiiusclf a nicio man? Uo we 
 ftnd that he assumed the tone of an enthusii.-t or aiuhiiious Rectary ? 
 What swei'tiH'US, what jiurity in his manner '. What an affecting 
 graceful "eis«» in Lis delivery ' What suliiimity in his maxims : What 
 profound wisdom in his discoxirses '. What pieseiice of mind, what 
 eul.telty, wlial truth in his replies : How <,'reat the command over his 
 passions: Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could so 
 live, and so die, without weaknes?, and without ostentation? When 
 Plato descrihed his imaginary good man, loaded with all the shame of 
 guilt, yet meritiui,' the hi;,'liest rewards of virtue, he descrihes exactly 
 the character of Jesus Chiist." 
 
 And yet these intidels, in their mad inconsistency, will deny His 
 Divinity; practically despise all His suhlime moral teaching; ignore 
 or scoii at His doctrinal d'scoursps ; trample upon His riglitful 
 authority ; and utterly reject the salvation that He came to proclaim 
 and ]tro'jure for ilioni '. 
 
 Similar testimony to the 'Bxaltod charactor nnd teaching of Cliri?t. 
 is giveti hy one of England';- most taleiited, though strangely e(;cHntric 
 and ninially deluded skeptics of the present century— the late J. 
 Stuart Mill' AlthoTigM the religion of the future, he n)aintuins, mu.st 
 •indet'go a radical change. i\v: religion of the pisc, he says, "cannot l)e 
 sail' to luve m.vle ii h.'A clioice i-; pitching on llsis •mw is the ideal 
 roiireseiitniiv'-; and gi-.ide 'A Immunity. "" Deny-ng Cl.)ri«i's Divinity, 
 savs, nevertheless, '' H.-.- was n .norally perfect Being Wh;.lever el.se 
 inav he til<<!n away from u-t hy lational criticism, Ciuist is still left a 
 uiii(pie tiyure, not more uidike all His nrecirsers tlnui all Hi.'* f(»llower.«, 
 even thoje wlio had the, direct hem-tit of His jtersotial leaching. It is 
 of no use to say that Christ ris exhil»ite<l in the Gospels is n«)t histoii- 
 cal, and that we, know not now much ot wli.-.t is admirahle has heea 
 jiiiperultled by the tradition of His followers. . Who among Hi« 
 
 disciole.s, or among the. pr.,selytes was capilile of inventing the savings 
 ascrilied to Jesus, or of imagining tiie life and chiracter revealed in 
 tlni Go^pids 1 Certainly not the ti^herinen of Gililee ; as certainly 
 Dot Paul ; still less thn early Christian writers, in wh')in notl. ing is 
 more evident than that the good which .vas in them was all derived 
 from a higher source. . . Ahout the lifn and sayings of Jesiis 
 there is o stamp of per.snnal nriv,'inality com'iined with profundity of 
 insiglit, which mu-^t place the Pn>p!iet of Xazireth, even in the esli- 
 matiim of tho^ie who have no belief in His inspintion, in the very 
 first rank of the men of sublime genius." — Mill's " Uj^ays on 
 Relp/ion. 
 
 H !-v truly is the Scripture verified -and attested in such men's 
 moral and spiritual (?xperience,s, that the natural man receiveth no' tl.e 
 things (the doctrinal trntli^) of the .Spirit of Go 1, for they arc foolish- 
 nc8s unto him ; neither cuu he (uueuiighlened by the Divine Syiiii) 
 
1ft 
 
 know them, beoanse they are ipiritually dipoenied." And the ^lnde^ 
 lyiiiK root of the whol«* is, that "the cnriial mind is enmity apninit 
 OoU '; neither will it vohuitHfily, nor con it of itw'lf and liy itn own 
 Uimided powern, become tPily "rtiihjoct to tlir law of God." PiHyer 
 mingled wiih faith is the only engine that wi'l put out those internal 
 tirt-B of hlinding lust, and piide, and sin, which are daily and hourly 
 consumiiig and huirying them to everlastinjr destinction ! And we 
 truwt that i.y the lilesning oi God upon thin woik, it will prove, in the 
 life experience of very many, a help to the posM'ssion (.f such faith, 
 and a Htimultis to the fpiritual, deli^^ditful, inKnitily, momentous, and 
 eternally prolitaltle exercise of believinjj player ! 
 
 The f.>]lowin>i is a part of a comparison instituted betxreen Sncratet 
 and Christ . '• Tlie death of Socrates, peacaMy philosophizinj,' with hit 
 friends, appears the most agreeable that could be wished for ; that of 
 Jesus, expiring in the midst of agonizing pam, abused, insulted, and 
 accused by a whole nation, is the most horrible that couKi be feared. 
 Socrates, in receiving the cuj) cf poison, blessed indeed the weeping 
 executioner who administered it ; but Jesus, in the midst of excru- 
 tiating tortures, prayed for his merciless tormentois. Yes, if the life 
 and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death of 
 Jesus are those of a God. Shall we t-uppose the evangelic history a 
 mere fiction? Indeed, my friend, it bears not the maiks of fiction; 
 on the contrary, tiie history of Socrates, which nobodv presumes to 
 doubt, is not 80 well attested as that of Jesus Christ. Such a aupi)0. 
 ■ilion, in fact, only shifts the difficulty without obviating it ; it it 
 more inconceivable that a number of peisons should agree to write 
 •iich a history, than that one only should funiish the subject of it 
 The Jewish authors were ii.capalle of the d.ction, and Mniii;:ers to 
 th»< raondity .contained in the Gcspel, the marks of whose tjutirare so 
 striking and inimitai.le, that the inventor would be a more astunishins 
 character than the hero." — JmiNus. 
 
 Siich is the conji.ined lestimony to the moral cbnnicter and teaching 
 of Clm.t, as coniaii.ed in the fo- G. spels, and as afiunled by the 
 united contnbutK.ns of fr-end-s and joes, Cliristiiina at d I-.fi<|eN 
 Pame hpn>elf indu.led ; an.l yet, having annihih.ted the Old Te^ti- 
 ment, as he tliinUs, by his ?dnlistic }),dder<lash, the New Testament 
 which endHMlu-s and is founded on the hist.irv and the moral and 
 d..ctmial teaching of Christ, '« must folio v," he say.., "the fate of the 
 Old. And so it will ; an.l that is, that it shall be IieM in everlastintf 
 ve.aeration and remembrance by all God's virtuously iutelliLrent 
 creatures. '' o - " 
 
 Ton, say.s moreover, in rofening to the doctrinal teaching of the 
 ^ew le..tament, that '' the Church Mythologists, after being at the 
 tumble ot making the devil, bribed him to stay-the s.-ciet of which 
 nj, that they coiiM not do without him." Well, „o, not very well 
 Tom ; you are certainly not very far astray in this. An.l the reason 
 IS. l»at 11. the a.Iministratiou of the Divine (iovernn.ent. there is 
 son.e necessary work to be ,h.ne, about which the holy angel« are not 
 the hltesi an.l most proper agents to be en.pl..yed ; .u..I the .levil is 
 always on han.i ns a willing and useful auxiliary in th. accomplish- 
 ment ot the Divme purpi.ses relative to such work. Even the office of 
 tempter is a useful department of Sutaaic agency, God's owu p«cple 
 
If 
 
 an all the better for being tried ; and even when the detil, thMtigh 
 hit inspired eraiMBricB, "oa»ta thera into priion" or otherwiie molenti 
 and ,,i'wecuto8 tliem, he due«' them pood ecrvico, although be nieaua 
 them only evil. Tlie wicked aldo niUKt be tempted, tri • 1, and proved 
 through hi« n«ency, in connection with wliich and the influence of the 
 Divine Spirit, will be deteimined the voluntary choice they shall make 
 for eternity. No, we cannot do well without him, Tom ; and you, I 
 presuf c, by this time, cnnno'. do well with han ! 
 
 Tom InuKhs at tlie idea of a devil, but he exists, nevertheless ; and 
 of tliis "God of tin's world," as one of his most Vidient emissariee, he 
 must have been litUo if anything short of a living emkMlifnt. But 
 the dttvil being to hiiu invisilde iiiid unsuspected in his spiritual agency, 
 ho of C(.ur8« had great advantage over him in his secret wiles and 
 malignant influence when instigating him to apulonian service and 
 duty. 
 
 Hut although, we may add, man was not the creator of tlie devil, 
 as Tom iiitimates, he wan, neverthulcss, while under his influence, the 
 creator of his own evil doom and doptiny. It will thus be percuived 
 that wo regard the Satan of Scripture as a i)er8onal, living intflligenco, 
 ana not a uiero abstract, lifeless iiersonitiuation of the principle of 
 evil— cii idea, liy the way, whidi, in \iew of what is said of him in 
 the inspiretl volume, is simply absurd. Originally there was of course 
 no "evil' (which is the consequent of sin.) in heaven ; for the devil 
 and his angels having sinned, we are told, were cast out of it. It is 
 impossible, moreover, for a mere principle of evil to have sinned. 
 Indeed, it is self evident that there can be no such thing as a principle 
 of Uiorul evil, except us associated with personal intelligences. 
 
 And here it . ny not be out of place for us to otter a few general 
 remarks in refe ■ noe to the origin of evil, and its introduction into 
 our worhl thr. i .,i the fall of our first parents. Goil, then, we may 
 promise, being Ao///—-' righteous in all his ways, ami holy in all his 
 works" — He (jannot logically ami reasonaldy be charged with being the 
 Aiitiiorof 8in. "Gotl loveth righteousness ami liateth iniquity," wo 
 are told, and "tempts no umii to evil," and therefore his never decreed 
 that he shall be necessarily guilty of it. In man's original state, 
 therefore, it must have been wholly a contingent on the voluntary 
 exercise of his free will. It was foreseen by the Creator, however, 
 and therefore, in one sense, comprehended in his cieative plan, which 
 appears to have been to create a worhl of voluntary intelligences as 
 being the wisest an I best creation of intelligi'ut creature existence 
 that could bft made, and from which creation therefore the greatest 
 possible gncd colli. I be educed ; but the evil, although foreseen, il 
 merely incidental, arising from the free agency «if this voluntary in- 
 telligence, and not a necessity. Were it an alJaoluto necessity ari.dng 
 from the original inechauis'in of the creature, God wouM have been 
 the Aut.hor of m m s sin, (if "sin" the vi.dation of a {^iven law could 
 then be ertlleJ,)a:]d :>f all tlie evil vvlpuh has arisen from it ; and maa 
 voull not ill that case have been created a free ami voluntary agent. 
 But sueli an ayent. lit* fa in STi^'t'iK. v.-nra^ut'^"'! ti •>" -••!•' iio"— ii-"a 
 moral accountability, and God's freedom from the charge of being tha 
 Author of sin and of the misery which when ouce committed noeei- 
 ■arily atises from it. 
 
20 
 
 A crentcfl free ngcnt, 0.ien, vras the author oi sin so fnr fts its con- 
 nocliuii Willi oiiv racu is coiia'iiu-il ; ami lliis umlm- tho iiistij,'.itic)n of 
 aiK.tlifi- free a-uut wl.o Had ineviuiisly bcou iU autli<.r m tlie \v.,il.l in 
 wliich it ai-poars hu had hiuusuif l-euii a i^iuhationci, aii.l who lunv 
 from an inherent Ji.aliuioua n.Maie sought lu u.iroiucc it im-. our 
 \vorl.l;anU was>.ulfu.v>i tu ..lu s-; by man's iilmi-iity Cnnitor l.ec.use He 
 ha. i created him with, a perfi'Ct iR-edorr, of choice, and witli hatuial 
 iuheieiit powers whicli were capable of resistiii„' and of actuin contrary 
 to the persuasions of the adversaiy. it was tlie ri-httiOU». and neces- 
 •ury test tu which as a constituted free moral a^^ent he nnist be 8\il)- 
 jected, or it would not have l)efcn peniutted. But n-hteous as was 
 the le-*t, and siuii-le the prohibition, it rcpdred an absojute anrren.ler 
 of the will on the part of our tiist parents tu tlio wdl of their ?Taker. 
 They must render implicit obedience to the couimand, whether they 
 could see a reason for the comniand or not. And here is where they 
 leomed to fail. The prohibition excited their curiosity. The tree 
 ■was yood boch for food and to make them yet wiser than they wore. 
 SonnT mysterious key to knowledge must be concealed within tho fruit; 
 for had not Go.l Himself named it "the tree of knowledge of good 
 and evil'? Tlie artful reasoning of "the father of lies" here :aiiie to 
 their aid, and acting upon lids attribute of their nature, in itself holy 
 and good, thev were led to harbor the wicked thought that the tempter 
 had put into* their min.ls, instead of instantly repelling it, as Clirist 
 did, and the temptation overcame them. Having abundance, thoy 
 then desired moie. Being man, and knowing only good, they would 
 be as God by an extension of their knowledge to the comprehen.'»ion 
 of evil. Curious to know with certainty to themselves what efiects 
 would follow the eating of the forbidden fruit, they li.-^tened to the 
 voice of tho tempter, entertained his persuasions, and tell. 
 
 But, mysterious as it may seem, our first parents might have stood 
 or th^y had not been free and accoiuilable beings. Being placed 
 under kw, they were made capable of observing tlmt law, and of pie- 
 serving their primeval innocenc' and integrity. God's command and 
 Satan's persuasion in reference to them, so far as any constraining 
 power is concenied, w-re on an exact equality. Tiiey wtre f>'f:e to 
 resist God's expressed will, and they were free to resist thodev.I's; 
 and as the.y did resist the Almighty's, so the might have resisted 
 Satan's. And liaving power to listen to ami obey God, which thi-y did 
 for a time, so they had power to listen to and obey His a^iversary, 
 which they also aflerwanis did. So long as they obeyed God, they 
 reaped the" rewanl of obediciuce ; but us soon as they yielded to the 
 suggestions of the wicked one, they meriteil the puiu.-thment conse- 
 quent on a want of allegiance to their Creator. TUe punishment 
 threatened was ir exact proiiortion t:; tlieir guilt and liemerit, the 
 anorniity of which, infinite Holiness arid Wi^djsr alone could fully 
 comprehend. 
 
 The only intunr.tior. we hav^^ ir. Hoiv .Scripture of the existence 
 of moral evil, prior to the; fai. of .uun, i-- in ciMiection wltli the dis 
 obedience and rebellion of Satar. .-nu :ho iH.l-h a!ig.ds, who were 
 .therefore, so far as it i.« rcveuUul tc us, th^i probationary intelligences 
 with whoiu it iirsT originate. I. Ar.tl 3ni;ccl;it'ou«. 'heyorid v^hat le 
 revealed, as to the occasion of his fall, with his au^jels, ara vuio. The 
 
IS its con- 
 ipition of 
 I uiuld in 
 wild lunv 
 
 iiu<> dur 
 c.iuso He 
 li hittiual 
 ; contrary 
 
 11(1 IlL'Ut'S- 
 
 3t be 8ul)- 
 tis as was 
 siureinler 
 ir .^Taker. 
 tliLT tiiey 
 litM'w tlu-y 
 
 Tlic! tree 
 hey wore. 
 
 till." fiuit; 
 J of ^'ood 
 e :miiio to 
 itsiilf holy 
 e tcmptur 
 
 iis Chi'isit 
 11CP, thoy 
 loy would 
 •I'lilieiisiun 
 hat t'fieuts 
 led to the 
 
 lave stood 
 u'^ [ilaced 
 lid of [iie- 
 inaiid and 
 iislraininLj 
 cro fi'f;e to 
 lu dov.I's ; 
 e resisted 
 i thi-y did 
 aiivei'sary, 
 God, tliey 
 Jed to the 
 iut conae- 
 Lini$hn)eMt 
 Miierit, the 
 ould fully 
 
 existence 
 t!i the dis 
 wlio were 
 te] licences 
 u what is 
 vuxQ. Tke 
 
 21 
 
 bnro fnct thnt, ne in the cnoe of man, it was connected with n desire 
 to nv('rstii|i thn |irepcril)ed limits which were Pet to his knowU-dj^'e and 
 liowiT. is all that \\(' can witainly know aliont it. We jiid-^n tlicui to 
 luivo lioeii on jiroliation in the region ast^iuiicd them called heaven, 
 beaiUfic of tlu'ir full, and liccause tliose who did not fall are called "the 
 ehd an^el?." That the intinilcly ri;,dito(ni8 ami holy God is not its 
 Author is ceitain. II-^ Hinisilf disclaims it, and has char;^ed Satan 
 with it. God distiiiclly iiamos both the ori;,'inator and the thing 
 orij^'i noted ; and for nicn to attemiit to (U.^card such distinction, as do 
 Inationalists, is simnly to exlnbit the hei^'ht of folly. 
 
 Tliis much, then, is ccrtaiidy known, that ^vil is, an(i that it must 
 tiUTt'fnre have iind an oiinin; that tiie I^ilde, which is proved by 
 ninny iircfra;.'abK'. aiyiiments lo !"; the Word of (mkI, tells us that it 
 orij^inated with Satan ;(1) that so far ils its connection with our world is 
 concerned, i-. ori,:;inafe(l with this boin;,' jis an enemy — "an enemy hath 
 done tliis";(2) an<l that tins enemy, tin; devii, is a fidh'ii any;i'i who 
 was once an inhabitant of iienven, but who having, with his associate 
 anj.;(!ls. Iieen convicted of pride and rebellion, was cast out of it, and 
 lias .since e-\istjd as the temi»ter of mankind. (3) 
 
 But, wliieli is supreme — },'i'iiii or evil, God uv ihe devil 1 Tom replies, 
 as upon pajfes 14 and l!i, JCvil an'I the ih'vil; imt, repudiating' the 
 staiements lie tht'ie makis and connects with wint he is pleased to call 
 Ch irch MytliidoL:ists,we unhesitatingly teply. Good and(iod; "Greater 
 is He that is in you, than he that is in the world," an inspired servant of 
 God, .-'ays. Hatlillieenotluu\vise,sofarasour\vorl lis concerned since the 
 fall of Adam, evil has been so niucliin the ascendency that it would long 
 sinco have swallow eil up all tlio j,'ood that is in it. And had Satan 
 been supieme, such is his nature, that lon^ ere this ho would, if it 
 were possibh;, have invaded the realm of the Holy One and the Just, 
 (if such were in cotemporaneous (existence with hiui,) and dethroned 
 and aninhil.ited the God of .uoodness and every good and L;odlike 
 principle in the uinverse. Tom says, however, we have made, and not 
 only made, but "th.'ihed " him j l)Ut a dieadl'ui Deity truly he wotdd 
 niiike, and were he such, a ccuidition of thin.i,'s would exist that would 
 not only be impossihlo to desciil)e, but beyonil the povvei of inau, 
 under existing circumstances, even to conceive I 
 
 But in one n.irt of cr(!ation such a •'reign of horr'^r" is nctiially ex- 
 omplitieil. Satan, by permi.-'sion, has acliieved a victory, not over 
 God, but over his willing captive, man. In hell the power of evil is 
 not oidy in the. ascendency, but reigns supreme, withont a single re- 
 deeming spark of Divine love or piinciple of moral good. But in 
 .anothei placi-: — heaven- — tlie reverse of this is cxcnipliHed. The entire 
 absj'uce of all moral an<I physical evil, and tlie presence of everything 
 thiit is good, grand, and salilime, will mike it a paradise respltindent 
 with beauty and li'.cssedne.-js. And fioai thj mouth of Ond we have 
 it, tliat the t^vw ])if;ces and states will stand forth as a living contrast 
 of the conditi.iii of things produced by ' he o|)po.sit'^ ])rinciides of lovi 
 lino hue, go, id •ind evil, so long as the mteiminabie ages of a cominy 
 ^.'lerni;y shall cmtiuDe to roll on. Tiiat llie ;)ne r^o less than the otiier 
 is to )u.' eternal in duration must, I thiiik, be obvious io every rea-'oi;- 
 ible believer in tlie Scripture.*, from the con?idert<,ioj: th.it the Scrip- 
 
 (j) Jn. 8 : 44> (9) Mat:, ij ; sS. (j) Jade 6. (0 Tim. j : 5. 
 
n 
 
 tnre tbTTUi employa<l to expreu th« duration of the two ttatM of r«- 
 
 yrnnl nnd piuiUlitni'iit nre one and the wnie. In tlin uae of ih§ only 
 Urmt fouml it\ the BibU expr^miw of endless duration, tho two utalHa 
 an* inviiriiibly nutio to run parallel. If, tiiorefdru, heaven is to wm- 
 tinue forevrr, so nl.xo is hell ; and as tho latter in invarinhly doacribcd 
 as a place jf punighment,80 is it made to connist in ceascleaa torment, 
 giving ris'j lo a state of foeliny expressed by the pnssui^p, "woepinjl 
 and wailing, dny and night, for ever and evei"— in other worda, death- 
 loss misery, in the place "where their worm dieth not and thuir fire is 
 not qiu'iiuhed." And to which, we may add, all mere Pharisaic mural- 
 '.Bts, Dtiifitfl, and infidels of every description, however oiif irdly 
 correct in thcii <Iep(irtment, most aHsnredly go. 
 
 Wo further observe that Turn, with his usu^l degree of correctness 
 and unscrupidosity of expression, very sonsileiately infurms* \\x that, 
 having given to Satan a "triumph ovur the whole creation, ho becomes 
 also, by their own account, omnipresent. Ho exists everywhoro, and 
 at the same time. He occupies the whole immensity of spac*." Not 
 exactly "the whol^," Tom— as usual, you either misundt-rstand or 
 faUely represent the teaching of t]w. Church on this subj.-ct. The 
 power and influmce of Satan, altlioigli represented to be very great 
 and pxte.iiuve, are nevertheless restiaiiied within certain limits and 
 controlle.l by tho power and will of Go.l. And as to his "omni- 
 pro^en.ie," it w b.it a small portion of illimitable s^pace that is occu- 
 pied by our eanii and its siuToundings. If, therefore, it C(Uild bo 
 made to app?ar that his powen of vision aud influence exl.Mid to 
 every part of the earth at one and the same tima, this w.mld come 
 very far short of proving him to be endowed with the attriimtu of 
 omiiiprosenco. which he is certainly not endowed with, sinne he is a 
 created, and therefore a finite I)e:ng. His sphere of operati.ms, at 
 present circumscnl)ed, is, acconling to Scriplurn, .lestined to be still 
 more so. But what ihe powers and attributes aro which Satan pos- 
 sesses—whether in relation to liim,«elf as a fallen angel, or which he 
 posse.*8es in common with all other spiritual beings— we can have no 
 conception of, except, indeed, as it is revealed to us in Go.l's A^ord 
 He may be able to pass through the regions of spice allotte.l him with 
 lightning speed. Hi« angels also, having the same power as active 
 emisPanes and coadjutors, are, <loubtlesa, suffioiently numerr us to give 
 him, so far as our earth is coneeruHii, all the omiiipre«.ence required 
 for the e.xecution of all liis plots and pirpoM's as tho chosen god of 
 the greater pait of this fallen woiM. His powers of loconioti..n and 
 ot vision in commrui with all spirits, are also, without doubt, unob- 
 structed by malt-rial substances; so that he mav be able to scan tho 
 earth at a glance, and see in a mr.nient wiiat is going on in any part of 
 It. \\ e are not to suppose that these are attriliutes peculiar to D.'itv 
 for tliH'e is good rea.son to b.-li^ve, both fr.m S-Mipture a.i.l fn.m 
 human (•.xperience, tiiat they are common to all .spirits. Exp.Minients 
 made r.d.tiyo to the int..rn.I or .m.iritual vision of the clairvoyant, 
 show that the human 8|)irit, even while encased in its "clay t.-neuient " 
 can, un.ler certain conditions, thh.ugh the power of animal magnetism 
 acting, as It appear^ on the nervous connection between the soul and 
 .^. r,i o^jewtn, atiu take cognizance oi wliat is goinff on in 
 
 distant parts of tht earth-as the experiments of Dr. Haddock and 
 
;S3 
 
 othe» Mti^fnctorily prnre. But whatever view nmy be taken of thie, 
 the "oinniprMPnce" of the "atU-pwary of our soulu," aa baaed ou the 
 extent and character of hit worka, ia eertaitily unfuuuded and im« 
 aKiDaiy. 
 
 But Ipt ua paaa on to another aubjpct. Tom dopan't like Paul the 
 Apoptle, nor in he in U>ve with hia tcachinj?. Referring to the renur- 
 ri'ciion of thf body, a^ taught by St. Paul, he snya : "Why must I 
 believe that thp resurrection of the aamn body ia necessary to con- 
 tinue to n^e the coMscioiianesa of existence hereafter?" Touj ia evi- 
 dently not much in love with hi« aknholic and much abueed aoul — 
 encasement ! After prospectively jiartinj,' company with it, it is very 
 noticeable fiom the tone of his remarks, that he had no particular vle- 
 aiie for a renewed acquaintance. >'or had he much reanon to, I pre- 
 •ume. But as to the dictrine of no ronscioun existence exce]it aa aa- 
 aociated with the body, I need sairoejy say that Paul did not teach 
 that doctrine. He teaches, that to be, *'abMent from fha body," in the 
 caae of the rit,'hteoua, ia to be ''pretsnt with the Lord" ; and that the 
 resurrected body will be "chan«ed"— «pmr»«i/jw<f, or «th»reali»ed, if 
 yoj prefer tlie expression, and made to become thencofoith, what 
 he calla a '''dorifie;! body." Not content with that mild way of ex- 
 prespjnvt him.^elf, however, upon the next pa^e, Tom calli Paul » 
 "fool" for .ayinj? that the grain after dying or passing through the 
 dissolvinj.' process in tlin partli, is raised again in another form, syra- 
 bolizinsr thereby the resurrection of the body in a new form. Scien- 
 tific Tom Would like to be conaiilered hy his readers aomething of a 
 naturalint, no doubt; l)ut a n(mi)rrfe8sionHl nn'glit tell him what he 
 did not appear to know, that the "body" of the grain rots nnd becnnies 
 cormiitcd like a dead liuninn body, and that from this body, before it 
 becdinefi thus wholly corrupted, the ufrm <>f ihe succeeding jilant 
 betrins to crow, ahsorhing a portion of the grain iiito its own '.(impo- 
 sition, and leaving the renininch'r to lie further disintegrated and dis- 
 solved in the earth. In reference to the necessity of the "deatli" of 
 the liody— but not the soul, so to speak — of the grain, after being 
 coirniitted to the ground, in ortler in its afterwards "bringing forth 
 fruit," Christ, Himself, no los-? than Paul is an authority. But Jioithor 
 of these tioing naf.inilists, they must of course defer to Thomas. 
 I would submit, however, that Thoni is was not aware, I suppose, 
 that the very expressive word and complimentary epithet winch he 
 applied to Paul, hut echoed his own moral and mental in denying 
 what Paul affirmed. 
 
 Speaking of the morality of the Divino Law of the ten 
 con\irandments, uliich, he says, "contains some good moral 
 precepts," Tom adds : "It is, however, necessary to except the 
 deelaration which says, thai God vi^ti thfi nins of th^ fathers upon 
 thfi childrtiU ; it is contrary t) every principle of moral justice." Then 
 it is e/intrary to tiie pr;nci| lo of Deism, we affirm, for the I)eist'9 
 God of Creation is the Author of it. Not to be too jiersonal, I wouM 
 here observe that the "sins" of drunken fathers may be taken in 
 illustration You would make but a poor commentator or expositor 
 of Scripture, Tom. Have you any children ? If yon have, your 
 "giiia" are "visiteu" upon them" in tiieir naturally begotten predisposi- 
 tiou and tendeucy to drunkenuoas, liceutiouancss, dishoueaty, etc. 
 
m 
 
 u 
 
 This ii the ^-ay in which the pn»«n^e ghouM ho. interpret^*! ; for that 
 it cluul»:li;8>* wimt lit lucaiif, iiicliulin^ ii!k(», im; tloiiltt, u ncmriil Ifij. 
 (Kiicy iu ntl'.-piiiiy tu iiifli^Mon, .li.HubnIic'iicc, iiiti<lfiily, nhd sins uf 
 evi-ry ^k•^^;^llltlun, liosmlfH, |it'riiiiii^, »*l'i't-'iai jiiiiyiiifiils iiiHuiciJ ii|.<iu 
 imlividunl!', aiid ivi-ii uutiuiis, uh tlit- diK'i;t cuii>c-4iu'iicc uf lliu Ifii- 
 duiicy ill llifui to dit«ol»cdiciici', criiiic, nnd »iii, iidn-iiled fioin tlu-ir 
 furtdiilluiiJ. Tiie Mjii mIimII wvl "liuar llie iiii(iiiilie>'," i-c l»«j piiniMiiiMl 
 for tlic t>»'/u't'/»a/ sins uf ilie f.iUiei', as we aus clscw hciv tuld ; but 
 ill this licmliiaiy way llicy urn duiihik-ss visitetl upon liiiii. 
 
 Hfic IS Toiiit* clue to the orij^iii of AliiL'imii, and the uianufactiire 
 of Ath..'i.''t» : "A lumi, !)y hunnii;; nli this (Cliri.stiaii or iSciipluial) 
 ijousci.se luini.ed muI pivached tdj^'fthi'r, coiifuuinis the God of crea- 
 tion wit'i tin; iina-iiicd God of (Jlivistiaiis, and livi's as if th.-re w.-ro 
 noiiL'.'' And \mv is nis antidote' •The c'catjon is the Bdde of the 
 Dewt. He there mnls in the haiuI-.vritiiiK oi the Ciealur hinisidf, 
 :lie cortamty of his cxistoneo, Jiu' tlic inunulaliility of his power, anil 
 all other Bioli's and Testaments ar.; to bin. fo'^t-neV" It su liajipens, 
 then, in this case, that what is forgery tc oii« is not to all. It passe.« 
 current anions the Kin>,''s own. The foiluwinu is a K<.od word' from 
 liiui to his Atheistic cousins in tiie line of inHdel faith -In^'ersoll, 
 liradlaii^di, uiid others : "As tins is the stnto we are in," he says', 
 and whicii it is y. oor wo should be in, as fret; a-ont^, it is the fool 
 only, and not th.- • iiilosophor, or oven t!ie jnndent uian, that wf)nlu 
 livu as if there uc-e no G<hI.' V.-ry ^'ood, so far a,* i; i^oes Tom, 
 nnd if called upon to einlorse your note of haii'! with notliiiii< ])\\t this 
 \ipon it, wewjuM venture to endorse it — wiih t.lit.' .suldoined intiinatinr 
 ])er!iaps, that while we would not lun Mie '-'isk of cni'trsinu a promis- 
 sory cash note for i ninn of your repute, we are ino.^t liapi.v to em- 
 
 :)h;:size and fmther your 1 iable .djoits to thus characicrize' 'u di in), 
 
 and place upon ■; hi;.rher platfo'in of et-.;in,d niiu the poor beiii-litet 
 Athei.st : Keferriny a-ain to the studv of "the slnictuiv and m.rchin- 
 ery ot the universe," Tom snys : "Such an oldect and such a siil.ject 
 would, whilst It iti;proved nim in knowled-e useful to hin;self as a 
 man and u uieinber of society, as well a.s euteitainin-, atJoid far better 
 n:atter tor impre.ssin- him with a knowledge of, anil a l.elief in the 
 Creator, and of the reverence ami L^ratitude that man owrs to hini 
 thm the stupid texts of the Jiibie and the Te.stament." To speak of 
 the lioly, ever blessed Word of God iu this manner, is certainly had 
 em,r.,j:b -wicke,! euou-li — bct the reader should know,Miat i studi- 
 ously avoid the woi'St of this n;an's vile words and sentences, us beiu" 
 alto-ether too obscene and !)lasp!iemous f.»r quotation. Oui reply to 
 the above qiu.tatioii, howevei, is this: "The stupid text^ of the 
 Bible and the Testament"-the italicised conjuuciion between the 
 two woids Bihk and 'JV^amtnt, is desiyned to emohasize Tom's i^iuor- 
 ance m this partieular. He m^-ht with (is much s.mse, an I with 
 more jud-ment have wriit-Mi, "The stupid effusions of Tom Paine 
 and Insbrandy nose ! as thouj-h the Bible did not inchuh the T,ta- 
 ment : just as Tom Paivc includes the gentleman him.self with his 
 nose ; and as the whole of anythinjr includes it.^ componeni rts- 
 biit 'Cl.e stupid texts of the Bible and the Test.iment," I. was ^ouv< to 
 say, lorn, whether you in yom i-norance are aware of it" or 
 Dot, comprise and set before us the ccnteuiplutioa of Qud through lu« 
 
 .J 
 
I 
 
 it 
 
 Worki, «•' vftW M tho mnnifestfttion of Himstlf ind His glortoul 
 Work of redemption and providence through tho rtvalation of Hii 
 written Wurd. B'lt this you nre pleased, all th* way through, to 
 mnut #/i/^t'i/// nvfriook, or studiously ifjnore. It eucoiinigci",' enjoins, 
 and repeatedly cnlln men's dttcntinii to the evidnnceB of God's bflingf 
 and the contemplation of His nttiibutc^ in and tnrou'.'h Hia creative 
 Work no Ufi than Hi^* ri-domptive. But the Btudy of "the afupid 
 BiMe of the Church," Tom repeats, "toiiclios man notliiuj,'." This 
 romim's one again very forcilily of "the fnthfr of lie?," niid of his 
 communi atpd lik«'nt'S8 to his li'^^'itiinuto offspring. Also that Tom 
 WQB a poorpitialily deluded, hs well as an impifuialy conceited man I 
 
 A reasoiier, no douht, hut under the inppiration of the reasoner th it 
 invaded the jjaidon I A vea<»oiior ; hut his lessons of logic were 
 learned in the wrong school, under tlje wrong master; and hence were 
 directed to wrong pvirsuit*. led him into wrong courses, to sadly wrong 
 issues, and, finally, to a fntidly wrong end ! 
 
 The "Bihle,"oi' the ^' hook" of nature, to which Tom very fre- 
 quently alludes, we may here further observe, is of couree very good 
 in itsidf, and in the place assigned it by t!;e Creator in its relation to 
 His intelligent of^^p^in,:;. Properly interpreted, it may be consulted 
 coiicerning all matters coming withiug its legitimate province ; but to 
 us it is a perfectly blank book respecting everything that it is of the 
 highest iniportaiice for us to know. It levf^als al)solu'.oly nothing 
 rpHpecting futurity, our origin, destiny, or tho will u'ld inuposeB of 
 God concerning us. The works of Creation arc the works of God, 
 showing Hi'i power, majosty, wif-don), and soniething of His goodness; 
 but they aru not the Word of Gud, as is tho Bil)le ; nor are the^y. to 
 be regiirdfiil ma Word of God to mnh as an immortal and nccountablii 
 being, nor as to any matter^* periiiiniug <>xchisivelv '> the spirit wo'rld,, 
 am) with which we, as caiididdtea f.ir eternity, are connected I 
 
 We will conclude thi^^ clmpter with an instance of the frequently 
 irreverent and blisphemons style in whiili this representative of Deism 
 most dariuKly and wickedly indulges. Referring to the appearance of 
 the Angel of the Lord, the. Divine "Angel of the Covenant," to. 
 Joshua, telling him to put off hia slioes from off liis feet (the custom- 
 ary token of ndigious rverenco among different nations of the Ka?t,) 
 because the place whereon he stood was renduii'd holy by reason of 
 the Divin.' presence, this moeking, impious sinner savs : " He might 
 as well have told him to pull \\p his. breeches !" When, however, 
 death and desolation ere long came upon him "as a whirlwind,'' God 
 had the mocking side of him 1 as He also has still, and will to all 
 eternity. Ho was then in a condition sufficiently humbling and 
 necessitous to frequently extort from him the cry, "God help me ! 
 Jesus Christ help me 1 God, help t. e '" — " Pull up his breeches," 
 indeed ! this sentence was no doubt penned feelingly, as well as 
 blasphemously, with the unoccupied hand dropped involuntarily upon 
 his own " breeches," by dint of long and veil-known slovenly habit /. 
 and tho sound of those icm'ds was probably familiar to him, as he 
 dovtbtless knew from sad experience tfiat drunkards have often especial 
 occasion to be reniined of that sort of thing ! Suffering and deaths 
 took him dovvri, hcnvevcr, and v.'licii left alone in his chamber, his 
 •creams, we are told, weie really alarming. And these, we may judge, 
 
if 
 
 «M»Jbi|,t tb* MbQ of th«L Jutt NtribatloB whieb •vto tb«a WM,mKtiq| 
 tiS&i, or ium, and which he duahtlusi lult coniiciouswuii'ik waiting" l)hb 
 i)^ mar* drMiIlul ftud inaonceivabli) formal in the worldOf wo«I BiU 
 wlM,t«T«r.he may hav« Wen u to thBoIr)i{itiHl Ueliv^i at thii tryitij^f and 
 6j^ testing time, in life be was a j>iM/, by which lie mnaun, he 
 iftji, "the belief of one Ooil, and an imitation of hit moral ckaraetfr^ 
 or the prACtioe of what ate called mond virtues— and on this only (ifo 
 f^ «8 religion is concerned,") he adda, *' I rest all my hnpes of happi. 
 lifiis , heraafter." An imitation of JS[iB moral charaelm; iiuiaed I % 
 ■trimge moral character, then, the Deist's God must have if T(»ni 
 was one of its hopeful and exemplary representatives, a» , he would 
 fain give us to understand ! But, in holy indignation at this charac- 
 teristic expression of self-deceived and world-deceiving presaniptioQ, 
 we would exclaim, "From drunkenness, adultery, profaneness, dis- 
 honesty, and all other Deiscic defilement, good Lord deliver us I" 
 We could here give humiliating particulais as to each oi thtu mortl 
 e|;Ujalities, but refrain. 
 
 CHAPTBB V. 
 
 Xp; CHAJiGE OF INHUMANITY AGAINST MOSES AND 
 QIHKH DISTINamSHED SERVANTS OF ODD.' 
 
 ^^•r dftcribing tha book of Joshua as being moat "horrid v ohur* 
 acti^a military history of rapine and murder, as savage and brut4 
 ai t&'dle racorded of his predecessor in villainy and hypocriay, Mosta" 
 — »bf tWTcfa with the utmost self-complacency to the miuisters of 
 C|[ri8t, and says : "And now, ye priests of every description.who have 
 ptaa^fhed and written against the former part of the Age of Bioton, 
 lirlUl'have p to say V And then, upon the following page, (109,) he 
 iiya: "It is because ye are sunk in the cruelty of superstition, or feal 
 jf ?^>*'**^ »" ^^'^ honor of your Creator, that je listen to the horrid 
 ti^r'.fe of the Bible, or hear them with cnllous indifference !" Well, wa 
 ttp not •^ priest, but we have something to say to this, neverjheless. 
 *'p^nk in the cruelty of superstition, and feel no interest in tha 
 htmor of our Creator," eh! Think me not unduly severe, reader, 
 wite I say— since Tom's severity of expression, and coarse, and 
 ▼ttlgar, and ungentlemauly, as well as wholly unmerited insulti, 
 offtfred both to God and man, cannot well be exceeded— think me not 
 unduly severe when I say in reply, The poor old adulterous sot/ (for 
 ha Was all three, I am sorry to say. when he penned these lines,) is it 
 fit for the iron kettle to say to the copper one, "Thou art black"?— and 
 this, too, after it has been washed and polished and purified by the most 
 skilful of punfiors, Who thenceforth says to it, " Thou art all fair • 
 thon art without spot ;" while this defiled and sootv old kettla con' 
 tinned to gatker soot and blackness to itself to tha vary last moment 
 OS i55 mitttiiij esistence ! 
 
 ■ ' Bfttivaa tha teputad and acknowlcdgad Pttrifiar Hittaalf eoafi ia 
 
waiting l)itt 
 wimI Bill 
 I trying and 
 ! mnaim, hn 
 u! ekarndtrf 
 hia oiiiy,(«o 
 i» of h«ppi« 
 , indeed ! a 
 ive if T(*ni 
 » , he wuulJ 
 this charae- 
 resumptioQ, 
 neneaa, dii* 
 eliver us I" 
 tliM* imxtX 
 
 S£S AND 
 OGD.' 
 
 •rid V ohe* 
 ) and bruul 
 lay, MQ3»y' 
 liuiKtera bf 
 n,who hare 
 of Btcuon, 
 e, (109,; Ke 
 tion, 6v fed 
 ) the horrid 
 Well.wa 
 ever:belei«. 
 est in tht 
 er9, reader, 
 course, and 
 ed insults, 
 ink me not 
 U4 sot/ (for 
 lines,) is it 
 lack"?— and 
 by the most 
 irt all fair; 
 kettia con* 
 St moment 
 
 if CQBj^ m 
 
 04i^§fmimhkMih the most nhrigMfons and ittwmfttibii •^twlt^f 
 Ctutlty, indeed ! la It beioaust^e ordeti His enemftt to laf 'd<y#* 
 Ihf weiponi of their rebellfhn against Him and His righteotts gbv«^: 
 »>nt,'on p*nalty-6! death for disobedience, and then becinse thty 
 will not do it, orden its righteous iriftiction 1 Grudty, indeed ! It it 
 because nations of lascivious idolaters thus shamelessly worshipping 
 •• under every green tree," are destined, one and all, to bo swept in 
 the midst of their rebellion and filthinoss from the face of the aarth? 
 Cruelty, itidepd 1 Is it because cruel, heartless, unfeeling; lawl<»is 
 adulten^rs, who seduce, inveigle, and run away with other men's 
 wives, lejving their poor, unoffending husbands, for aught such calloat, 
 pollut8<l, unprincipled wretches care, to pine, and fret, and suflTer, aad 
 madden, it may be, with the fires of burning jealousy thus begotten-— 
 are. themselves destined in just and righteous retribution, to burn, «iid 
 oeasalessly bum, with -fires equally distressing? Tom Paine ttXk bt 
 "cruelty," indeed ! The drunkard might as well talk of cruelty when 
 liie wife, blackened and bruised pprhaps for the fiftirth time,;ii«i 
 reoouiseto the arm of justice and binds him over to keep the peace » 
 Tom Paine talk of ''cruelty," indeed ! The base and heartlersly craal 
 murderer might as well talk of cruelty, when the avenging halter of 
 Tighteous justice is being put around his ne'!k ! or when the murtl«r«d 
 victim cIiitch<!R his murd-rer with a rteath grip by the throat, until life 
 accompanies life into the eternal world, and at the bar of a just and 
 righteous God ! 
 
 Another Charge of Inhumanity.— Tom pronounces that "an inhnmin 
 and brutallaw, which authorises parents, the father and the mother, 
 to bring their own children to have them stoned to death for whi^ it 
 is pleased to call »tubbomne$8." No wonder that Tom revolts here, 
 gets a little excited under this personal pressure, and would raises 
 rebellion against this portion of the King's statutory law ; for this 
 •'stubbornness" was, I understand, a very marked characteristic of the 
 little wayward gentleman, and traceable, 1 believe, all the way back to 
 the time when "the child was the father of the man." Ah well, 
 Tommy, you couldn't help that, of course ; but one thing you could 
 have helped— you might have been honest enough to quote the paswgt 
 correctly. And had you done so, you would have added to it a few 
 other very significant words, and givtn it to the public in this form— • 
 "Stubborn and iebellious, a glutton and a drunkard/" But you 
 doubtless had some rather peculiar reasons for not shocking the 6«t, 
 or the eyes of the public with some of these very unbecoming words! 
 But be this as it may, it may have the elfeot of toning down and 
 moderating excitem.Mit of feeling upon this subject, if we take into 
 consideration, first, the fact that power vested in the parent to tiike 
 •way the life of the child under certain circumstances, was oommoa 
 among many nations at Ijst time; as, e. g., the Romans, the Perweaej 
 the Gauls, and othert. Consider also, that this Mosaic statute tnrae. 
 ferred this power from the parent to the elders of the city. Th«i 
 tfimsferred, and viewed in this restricted point of view, as pUeed Into 
 the hands of disintfreited iudse& the law rsifht bs msai^s^. .^^t^-A- 
 u it then was, a necessary, but a hnmane institution. " ' "**' 
 
 W* will nest notice eeme of Tom's brutal ehargee egaiait tiiti Mf 
 
Mfri^ of ^od, Moaes, whom soroo copyist, or inspired r6*writ«r of 
 hit liuoks, styles, "the meekest man in all the earth." ,1 lay, •• bnUcU 
 c^argos," because it is the characteristic of the undiscerning brute to 
 iiQap at and deyour the holy and the vile alike. Now,. "the man 
 Moses," allow me to promise, with the other executors of the righteous 
 wrath of the Divine Lawgiver, simply did their duty as commanded 
 by their Sovereign, aud therefore cruelty on their part in any indi- 
 vidual instance cited, is out of the quesiion. 
 
 But why should God, it may be interjected, have been so apparently 
 partial, as to thus choose, single out from among men, and become the 
 God and Governor of one particular nation as disiinguished from all 
 others 1 To this. Bishop Watson furnishes a reply, and which, in the 
 inscrutable purposes and counsels of the Most High, it is judged 
 sufficient for us to know : " The Supreme Being selected one family 
 from an idolatrous world ; nursed it up, by various acts of His provi- 
 dence, into a great nation ; communicated to that nation a knowledge 
 of His holiness, justice, mercy, power, and wisdom ; disseminated 
 them, at various times, through every part of the earth, that they 
 might be a " leaven to leaven the tohole lump. . . I cannot but 
 admire the goodness of the Supreme Being, in having let Himself 
 down to our apprehensions ; in having given to mankind, in the earliest 
 ages, sensible and extraordinarv proofs of His existence and attri- 
 ■butes J in having made the Jewish and Christian dispensations 
 mediums to convey to all men, tlirough all ages, that knowledge 
 concerning Himself, which he had vouchsafed to give immediately to 
 the. first." 
 
 ■ This premised, let us further consider the charges preferred, not 
 only against the God of the Bible, but against His subordinate Law- 
 giver, Moses. " The character of Moses, as stated in the Bible," Tom 
 says, " is the most horrid that can be imagined 1 If those accounts 
 be true, he was the wretch that fir.'5t 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." Again : "The Jews," whom he 
 calls "a nation of rnfftans and cut-throats, were." he says, "corrupted 
 by copying after such monsters and impostors as Moses and Aaron. 
 Joshua, Samuel, and David": W;is ever foul-mouthed calumny, we 
 would ask, more misplaced than when made to rest upon the heads of 
 these holy, faithf.il, devoted servant.* of God ? Christ excepted, 
 surely not. Had you, Tom, a lithe .1 the goodness, or did you bear 
 the most distant approach to the nioial a'.id religious character of 
 either of the leading men of this group, you would cyrtainly be a very 
 much bettor man than you ore, or were, and inateaci uf being now in 
 hell, you n.ight, through tlie mercy and Iielp of God, hc.ve been a 
 candidate for heaven '. I thus write, of course, for the edification of 
 his friends of the same belief, who are still living. Not one of the 
 infidel characters who tlms speak of those holy men, is worihv to 
 Stoop down and unloose tiieir shoe-latchet. 
 
 Here is faiother of Tom's rhofte and beautiful statements / or of his 
 
 pious and patriotic efusionn.' as thi,' taste of ihe leader may doter- 
 
 mine— "It is better, far bet:er, that we admitted, if it wrre possible, 
 
 ,a UieofiRsd dev;l« to r^aui at large, ana to pruach ijuhlidy tiie dgetfifio 
 
••wrlttr of 
 y, •• bnUal 
 
 )g brute to 
 "the man 
 
 8 righteous 
 ommanded 
 I any indi- 
 
 apparently 
 }ecome the 
 I from all 
 lich, in the 
 
 is judged 
 ane family 
 
 His provi- 
 knowltfdge 
 saeminatod 
 , that they 
 cannot but 
 it Himself 
 the earliest 
 
 and attri- 
 ipensations 
 knowleilge 
 ediat&ly to 
 
 iferred, not 
 iiiato Law- 
 lible," Tom 
 38 accounts 
 vars on the 
 sk, or that 
 it are to be 
 " whom he 
 "cornipted 
 ind Aarou, 
 iliimiiy, we 
 le heads of 
 
 excepted, 
 ^ 1 you bear 
 jnracter of 
 y be a very 
 i)« now in 
 ve been a 
 ificalion of 
 one of the 
 
 woriiiv to 
 
 ! or of his 
 may doter- 
 e poHsiljle, 
 iA dQetrifis 
 
 of dtvila, if tbor* wero any itiob, thw that we permittod om noh 
 impostor and inonster as Moses, .rosbua, Samuel, and the Biblo 
 prophets, to come with the pretended 'word of God ' in his mouth, 
 and have credit among up. "—Modestly and moderately expressed ! 
 But upon the eame page, (190,) he says also, that "no sooner were 
 the professors of Christianity sufficiently powerful to employ the 
 sword, than they did so, and the stake and' the faggot too "! When, 
 however, you thus charge primitive and true Christianity with the use 
 of the sword and the faggot, Tom, you must be moderately and 
 modestly told, not perhaps bluntly that you lie, but that you do not 
 speak the truth. Christianity had multitudes of adherents, and 
 existed for centuries before recourse was had to the " sword and the 
 faggot." And even when the sword was employed, it was really not 
 by true Christians and Christianity, but by that which was such only 
 in name. It was not by the Waldensians, the Albigenses, and others 
 of the earlier ages, who, when they were driven from the Church, 
 took its life-blood with them, and entirely drained the religion of the 
 Church of its pith and marrow — doctrinal and experimental. No, it 
 was not these. Christianity, where and whenever existing in its 
 purity, never had recourse to the sword for proselyting purposes. Let 
 a professing Christian but deliberately touch the "hilt" for petsecuting 
 or proselyting purposes, and he no sooner does it than, whatever he 
 may have been before, lie now end hereby shows himself to be under 
 the influence of, and led by, the spirit of the devil, and not by that 
 of God. But, "As many as are Itid by the Spirit of God," we are toM, 
 " thfy are the sons of God ;" and the Spirit never yet led any Chris- 
 tian to hate, or oppress, persecute, and kill his fellowmsn, because he 
 could not, or would not, see eye to eye with him in matters of religion. 
 No ; the weapons of our warfare, under the present dispensation, are 
 not carnal. It is not permitted us, nor do we wish it to be ; but you 
 must not think, on this account, ye cliildren of the devil, that we are 
 going to allow you to abuse, vilify, and malign the servants of God, 
 and blaspheme His own righteous and holy name, with impunity. 
 No, if you smite us on the one cheek, it may be our duty to turn to 
 you the other also ; but, bcijig lawful, it shall bo under a vij^'orous pen 
 and ink protest, nevertheless. Christ Himself tliiis protests] against 
 being smitten on the ci^a«>k ; atid if you smite us with your lying pen- 
 arid-ink sketches of Divine and Divinely regenerated character, we 
 will endeavor to he honestly even wiili you, and send to your address 
 pen and ink sketches of your own and your niasterV rea/Zy vile chamcter. 
 Tom proceeds : " Tlicro are maiters in that hook, !=uid to be none 
 by the ea;^>re,« command of God, that are as s-hocking to hunumity, 
 and to every idea \%e liave of moral justice, a» anything done hy 
 Robespierre" — and other?, who are named. "Are we awve" he con- 
 tinues, "that tlit'se things an; facts ? Are wc sure that the Creator of 
 man commissioned those things to be done? Are we sure that the 
 books that tell us so were written by His authority?' Yes, we are, we 
 reply. The Almighty has rights and prerogative?, Tom, that Robes- 
 pierre never had. And those sovereign, rights are not trannferable. 
 »N hat is right and .iiiRt and urooer for the Cieator to do qt cont'-ss'-d 
 ; is not always right for the creature to do, or command to be done. 
 :.l^v«u among man it is right, and just, and proper tot ouo to do wba( 
 
life''&hild, for initanei. Now it it right for that ni6 to either kill th« 
 dpg^M ordtr hit Mrvant td do ii for hftn. But it wottM hot b«rii{{it 
 for tb«rnrvant to take it upon himK^lf to ki]l the (log,eVflD utidvr the 
 •em* oiroametanosa, unlow lie were cdrnmaiKlud to do it. (}(kl ia this 
 Matter ; those human doga of both «e3t«8, maddened by ain, have all 
 bitten^ so to apeak, both Him and one anotlior, and this in opiiotitiou 
 to and in despite of His express command lo them. And Ho ther«- 
 fore haa^a juat right to put them out of tl a way, either by killing 
 them Himaelf, with plague, pestilence, or anything else ; or to order 
 amy of Hia aorvants to go and do it for Him, and in any way that He 
 preacaribes. And as to the " crying or smiling infanta" that' you refer 
 to, the transfer and change to th«m by their removal with the i)arenS«, 
 ift, in every senae of the word, merciful— especially in its relation to 
 the eternal state. 
 
 But, aaya Tom, " It is because ye are sunk in the cruelty of anpcr- 
 atiiioQ, or feel no interest in the honor of your Creator, that ye lixten 
 to the horrid talcs of the Bible, or hear them with callous indiSur* 
 •ijc#." la it 80, indeed ? Or is it no* rather boctusa j//)u are "sunk " 
 BO deeply into the mire of conscious sin, that you can take no interest 
 in the jitt^icto/ character of your Creator and Judge? — also that your 
 moral and mental perceptions in reference to this matter are so totally 
 b*?clouded and depraved that you can listen to and pass by unheeded, 
 and "with callous indifference," thosi judiciaty warnings which are 
 d..8igned to be expressed by those retributive visitations to which you 
 unbelievingly ami sluiideioualy refer. 
 
 Tom, as "a true Deist," however, pertists in pronouncing it contrary 
 to the moral justice of God to consign to destruction whole tribes or 
 nations of what he is pleased to regard as innocent, unoffending men, 
 women, and cliihlren. In refcronce to the urw^wding cliaracter of 
 this doomed peo^de, however. Bishop Watson thus speaks : "As to the 
 CanaanitPfl, it is needless to enter into any proof of their depraved 
 morals; tliey were a wicked people in the time of Abraham, and 
 they, even then, were ilevotcd to destruction by Got! ; but their 
 ini(iuit.y was not then fidl. In the time of Moses, they were idolaters, 
 sacrih'jers of their own crying or smiling infatits; dcvourers of human 
 flesh; addicted to unnatural lust; inimt-rsed in the filthinosji of all 
 manner of vice. Now, I think, it will bo imponsible to prove, that 
 it was a procpoding contrary to God's moral justice to exterminate so 
 wicked a people. Ho inmle the Israel ilea the executors of His ven- 
 geance ; and, in doing this, He gavo such an evid.'nt and terrible 
 proof of His abomination of vice, as could not fail to strike the sur- 
 rounding nations with astonishment and terror, and to im])re88 on the 
 minds of the Israelites what thi'v were to expect, if Uu-y followed the 
 example of the nations whom He commanded them to cut off." We 
 may ad<l, that Moses speaks of this people, and refers to just such a 
 man as Tom Paine, in the following words : " For ye know how we 
 have dwelt in the land of Egypt ; and how we came through the 
 natioDB which ye passed by ; and ye have seen their aborainationi;" 
 «c And then cornea the peroratitm, applicable ioTem in a Ch»i«t<aW 
 aountry, and among a Christian people: 'Meat tliere ahouid b«am(mg 
 Xoo » toot (bat hectrtitk gail and vormwod ; aad it ahall oomr to piw 
 
•rkUlth* 
 >tb« right 
 ithdvr tht 
 
 I, have all 
 Jpltofitiou 
 Ho therft- 
 by killing 
 • to order 
 r that He 
 you refer 
 a pareiitc, 
 jlalion to 
 
 of gnpcf- 
 
 ye lixteD 
 
 8 indiffor- 
 
 J "siuik" 
 
 interosi 
 that your 
 80 totally 
 inhee'led, 
 rhioli are 
 irhicU you 
 
 ; contrary 
 tribes or 
 ling men, 
 iracter of 
 As to the 
 df'P raved 
 ham, and 
 i\it their 
 idolaters, 
 :)f human 
 iM of all 
 •ove, that 
 iiiinate so 
 Hia ven- 
 
 1 teirille 
 L' the sur- 
 'BS on the 
 owed the 
 iff." We 
 It such a 
 r how wf 
 ou^h the 
 inations;" 
 Oh'istisW 
 beamo&i^ 
 urtopiM 
 
 m 
 
 ^ci,;i<yiiw, I tbaU hdte vam thov^h^ Jratk in ,.th« imgioatifiB^ 
 Siine h«»rt to tinct 4fwfikmivm to thirst. The tord will not tparti Hm, 
 but.Ihe anfznr of the Lord and |Ii« jealounsjr ahaU.smok«>«(ttii)tl th«l 
 inan^ai^;a2; i^ cur»f$ lA^I atayfriHim' vt.iM$ Inok ithaU 'fo-i<fi|pii 
 V'M,"I)6n. 39: 14^20. As to the «ffe.et which tht Mitai]}atkin nf 
 tl^fsf jQ»n«anit«B \ifas - <iMif;ned to .produce upon tba Jem 'And tilt 
 ■nnounding nations, (is well as upon all the nations of the «arth,iil 
 |Bay be Klthersd from the passagf^s which follow. After enunerating 
 a, number of abominations^ the Word of inspiration says: "l^orall 
 that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord ; and b^oaiMt 
 of these abominations tlie- Lord thyOod doth driv« them out. from 
 bilore thee." And again : '* The land is defiled ; therefore do;I visit 
 the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itsdf vomiteth out hsff 
 inhHbitAnti. Y« shall therefore keep my statutes and my jndgntenti^ 
 and ahall not commit any of these abominations — That the Jand sp«w 
 nflt you out, when ye defil« it, as it spewed out the UAtiOns thaiiwaaa 
 Ibtfprt .you." -i-nm- 
 
 Biit " it is a duty incumbent on every True Deist," Tom repeats, 
 ** t^at he vindicate the moral justice of Qod against the calumiiiea of 
 the Bible.!' That is to sny, th« Bible being true, and Ood having inlh* 
 judicial and providential administration of His government, acGoncUng 
 to th« de<;laration therein contained, executed deserved judgment upas 
 the wicked, and caused an account thereof to ba written in a book as 
 a warning to succeeding generations— from such "caZMmn^^" whioh 
 they were appointed and directed to thus write in a book, itnd plaos 
 for safe and sacred keeping in the "ark of the covenant," it is the 
 s^lf'imposed business of every " true Deist " to vindicate the Divine 
 character I It is thus the duty of the Doist to vindicate the mond 
 justice of Qod from the exncntive acts of ^.\» judiciary justice I And 
 being thus at war with Himst-lf — HIr attributes being in disngreemf'nt, 
 and nnharmoniously and loprehensilily colliding, we are to uiidpRtund 
 that h« n«eilM the slirowrl and kimlly assiatnnce of the far-seeing Deist 
 to set Him lijfht ! But how can darkness ilhiininaVe light! or iniquity 
 help rehteouanpSR t or the finite sit in judgment upon lh(» Inft:iite i 
 ~nnythiiig on earth equal to it '?— quite competent to fill this seat of 
 jmlgmMit? The reply i», Yes ; the dnriiig and damning preaumption 
 of purblind, conceit«d, wicked Tom Pai-iw ! So, at least, it would 
 appear from his infidel work, which ht; hap left, ho gives tho world to 
 understand, as a memorial legacy for the enlightenment and iuntruc^ 
 tion of "his followcitirens of all nations." — p. 5. 
 
 Another of Tom's charges, which he thinks effectually invalidatos 
 the truth of tho Bible, is basfld on a piienge as found iu Numbers 
 31: 13-18, and on which the Bishop of Landaff makes the following 
 v^ry just remarks: "There are many men who look ujwn all war 
 (would to Ood all men saw it iti the sime light ') witla extreme ah. 
 horrence, as aCBioting mankind with calamities not necessary, shookijig 
 to humanity, and rfpngnant to reap<m. But is it repugnant to reason 
 that God should by an express act of His providence, dsfstroy a wicked 
 nation 1 I am fond of consideting the goodfeeiaof Oii4 a| the leading 
 principle of His conduct towards mankind, il ijonBid^^ii^ Hi* jiialUai 
 •ipi^liaei^viflat tQ ^ m«ray, Bu piuiislwi iadividuiui ^«u«L atliMi 
 
4% 
 
 wftk th» rod of His wrath : but I am persuaded that gUHia'ptiniiH- 
 aanti originate in Hit abhorrence of ein ; are calculated to leuou {t< 
 influence ; and are proofs of His goodniite ; inasmuch at it i» not 
 poaaibk for Omni note nee itself trt cotumimicate supreme happinesa to 
 th« human race, whilst they continue 3ervant8 of ain. The destruction 
 of the Canaanitea iixhibits to all nations, in all ages, a signal proof of 
 God's diepkasure against sin ; it has been to others, and it is to our- 
 •elves a benevolent warning. But yon mny as reasonalily attrihuta 
 cruelty and murder to the judge of the land in condemning criminals 
 to death, as butchery and uiaesacro to Moses in executing the oom- 
 Biund of God. 
 
 The Midiauites, through the counsel of Bulaam, and b 1 • I'.oui 
 inttrumentulity of their women, had seduced a purt of tl ; \ .Ijtas 
 to idolatry ; to the impure worship of their infamous god I^atilpeor : 
 for this ofience, lwenr,y-four thousand Israelites had perished in a 
 plague from heaven, and Moses received a command from God, « to 
 •mite the Midianites who had beguiled the people.' An army was 
 equipped, and sent against Midian. When the army returhed 
 victorious, Moaes and the princes of the congregation went to meet it; 
 aitd Moses vm wroth with the officers. Ho observed the women cap- 
 tives, and he as^ted with astonishment, ' Have you saved all the 
 women alive? Behold, these caufod the children of larael, through 
 the counsel of Baalam, to commit tre8pas3 against the Lord in the 
 matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation.' He 
 then gave an order, that the boys and .women should be put to 
 death, but that the young maidens sliould be kept alive for themselves. 
 1 see nothing in this procpeding, but good policy, combined with 
 mercy. The y<nuig men might have been dangerous avengers of, 
 what they would esteem, thoir country's wrongs ; the mothers mi-,'ht 
 have agiia allurodtlie Israelites to the lovo of licfMitious pleasures a^nd 
 tlie practice of idohitry, and brought another plui^nc dpoii the con- 
 gnvi^auon ; but the maidens, not boing polhiied '.-v tne flagiciom 
 hiibitu of tlieir moth«^r3, nor likely to create disturbance by nibdlion, 
 WiM'tt kept alive. You give a diff.tront turn to the matter': You say,' 
 'that thirty two thousand women-children were cons^'^ned to de'- 
 bauchory by the order of .Mose«.'— Prove this and I will allow that 
 Moses was the monster you make hiiu— provo this, an<l I will allow 
 that tlio Bit>le is what you ciU it— 'a book of wickedness and bias- 
 phpmy.'--Prove tliis, or txcuse my warmth if I say to you, as Paul 
 said to EiyuiH thesorc-rer, who sou^^ht to turn away Sergius Paulus 
 fror:. the taith, '0 full of all subtlety, and all mischief, tliou child of 
 the devd, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to 
 pervert the right ways of the Lord ?' " 
 
 _ To this by the Bishop, we will add that it is an abominable porver- 
 Bion of this portion of the Sacred Record to say that these girls were 
 reserved for "debauchery." They were reserved for servants, under 
 the 30mparatively mild and equitable Jewish law of captive slavery 
 and servitude. The very ground and original cause of these i>irls' 
 captivity at this time, is ascribed to the judgment of the Almi</htv 
 thus brought upon their nation for the sin of dehnnrhpvv a,„! 
 therefore, for Moses, the servant of God, to give Israel a licensc'to 
 wmmit thii em » wmply impossible ; and the supposition, Or accusa- 
 
-litws 
 
 S3 
 lion,it not only outrngdously al>aur<1, but, in Tum'e case, it ia to b« fanredi 
 wilfully ^^icked. Tom'a repetitioos and exprceeioua of the tame senti- 
 meut fieMnB altcust iuteiminablc. Another of the passages to whieb 
 this inti<lel thtoloKian takes umbvnge, ia the following, prefaced by, 
 "Tbe Bible repree«nU God setting one nation to cut the throats of au- 
 other, and stopping the coiuve of the sun till the butchery should be 
 Jone" — "It in from the Bible that men have learned cruelty, rapine, 
 and murder ; for the belief of a cruel God makes a cruel niau. That 
 blood thirsty man^ called the Prophet Saniuol, iiiakca God to say 'Now 
 go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare 
 thera not, but elay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and 
 •heep, camel and ass." Tom wonders also " why the moon should be 
 called ufion to stand still," as though sunshine wasn't enough to sue by 
 without the asiistancc of the moon ! Well, I suppose all the world 
 knows that the rays from the moon arc usually eclipsed by those of the 
 «un; but all the world, I suppose (except Tom Paiue,) knows al^io that if 
 the moon went on while the sun, or rather, in conformity with mod- 
 em and more scientific phrnseolony, the earth stood still, the rarou 
 would be somewhere el«e, before louir, than where it ought to be ; and 
 it would then either have to be recalled to its original position, or 
 Tom's astronomy would have to undergo a revision. But as to the 
 sun's being made to " stand still " for a while, which is but an accom- 
 modating phrase — meaning that the earth wan to so stand — adapted to 
 the scientitic knowledge, or the want of it, of some of its inhabitants, 
 —if Tom thinks the mandate of his Deiatical God unequal to the 
 phenomenon, he must be apprised of the fact, on the very beat of 
 authority, that the Christaiu's God is not. Tom's Deistic God must 
 be very much limited in power, like the God spoken of in chLipter 20 
 of latKings— God of the "hills" but uot of the "vulley.s"! 
 
 But as to your reiterated charges of " cruelty " Tom, while we deny 
 the validity and justness of the charge, wc admit tliat there werenouie 
 apparently very severe thiags done under the Old Testnment dispen- 
 sation. But this admission, liowever, does not invalidate the fact 
 that they were done ; nor does the fact that sucli a record of, to us 
 strange deeds is historically recordi-il in the ]'''\\>h, tend in tlie least 
 to invalidate the truthfuhifss and integrity of the writers of tlie historic 
 record ; hut the contrary. And if, thtM-efoie, they cai: be thus honest 
 iy, faithful and true in the record ^vhicll, ni Meoveiv exposus, in so 
 many instance^ in other resj)ect.'<, their own or tlieii- nation's vileness, 
 faithlessness, disobedience, and sin,) they can be true, and we have all 
 the more reason on this account to believe them to be true, relative to 
 every other record that they make, whether it relate to the perform- 
 ance of miracle, the appearance of angids, or to the direct commands 
 and sacred institutions for the regulation of human conduct, by the 
 Almighty himself. 
 
 And, in indication of the holy cliaiacter of God in his judiciary and 
 retributive purposes, as well of his chosen servants wlio were commis- 
 sioneil by him to diSiCidge and utterly exteriiiiiiato thousands if the 
 same class of people that ho had beffue swf])! from the face uf the 
 oortli b" tb.e waters of a flood, I wonld fnrther observe, that the Al: 
 mighty Ci-eator and Governor of men had a sovereign right, and not 
 only a sovei'eijju, but a /tut right to do it. The nations referred to wei« 
 
34 
 
 vdolatroua ai.d iiitoriigibie rebels in arms not only against his sovereignty, 
 but hia ^oliness and goodneas. They had deliberately t'oraakeii the 
 religion and warship of the God of iheir jatrinrchal fathers; and h« 
 certainly hud more than the right of an earthly sovereign to '• hang," 
 nr, in Bome other way, iml them all to dciith. He liad also a JuBt as 
 well ai* a sovereign right, as cxprnKged l\v liimself in the 42nd verse of 
 the chapter to which we have jii«t refciu'tl, to say to King Aiiab, 
 " Bf'caiise thou liawt let out of thy hand a >iian whom I appointed to 
 uttei destruction, ihy life snail yo fur his lifn " instead of its being 
 " cruel " on the part of Moses, Joeliua, etc., to exrcuto their cominisniou 
 upon the wiukcti, tliercfon", it would have been n uriuiinality on their 
 jvirt, cdling for Divine juiigmoMt upon them, not to havo dono it. 
 Cruelty in tht; »'atter, wheiiicr on iho part of God or of His servants, 
 is tliert'fore, fui the foiegi>in,ij reasons, out of the quewtiou. On tlie 
 part of the Creaioi, ir is oiiviounly untliing moio than a "overeign 
 act of siinpl' ju^•tice, jndic.iidlv inflicted, not only as a imnishment of 
 the guilty, but aW> for the t-iil)ScipiiMii ii;oral and religious good of tht 
 World 
 
 Tho.-«e poor simi<Ii' f Hows of the Toin Paiue school, however, him- 
 •elf (bt'Mig leader,) the Kiiiiplefii of tl.i-ni all, imagine that the God of 
 Cri'atioii is an entiiely different l)eing from tlie God of tl.e Hible ! 
 and, as though Chrictians had neither failh nor interes.t in Him, mori' 
 opolizing to thenifelves this God of nature and cxtnlling Him to the 
 heavens and above it, they set Him in point of justice, and mercy, and 
 goodness, in mornl contrast with the Goil of Heaven, of Christians, and 
 the Bible I But how inconsiitent and uniliscernii';^ they are in all 
 this ; and how vague, ami shadowy, and unreal *' yir perception and 
 notions of the Divine attributes as exhibited in the constitution and 
 government of the Universe ; as well as how illogical and untenable 
 the position they have assumed in relation to hi.s contrasted moral 
 character, — we need but refer tho reader to the providential 
 hand of God as displayed in the terrible (;iuptions and other develop- 
 ments of nature as connected with the liistcry, psist and present, of 
 our world. Men, wonipn and children — not excepting "smiling in- 
 fants "—have been carried away, hurried suddenly into eternity, pre- 
 paicd or unprepared, by the elements and convulsions of nature from 
 the earliest ages to the jireseut lime By ^ea or by land, by water or 
 by fire, by lightening, plague, pestilence, ov eaithquake, they have 
 been suddenly seizud with tcnoi' mid di^niiiy, aiid niidtitudos upon 
 multitudes, iiyonized, hurrur-strickeii, f nd suddenly doomed, have thus 
 shrieke.il themselves into eternity ! And who, may we a.-k t!ie Deist, 
 is the Author of this h;y,-teiu of nature which tlnm engulfs one, darts 
 fire at another, vomits its litiuid lava ui)on a third, swallows in the 
 bowtds of the earth a fourth, prostrates with teirible plague or pesti- 
 lencp, etc., a lifth ? Whu was it tiiat, ihruugh his prnvideiitialiy com- 
 missioned agent, sai k Xa;>K-s, the jiaradise of art, disappearing, as 
 Talmage savs. " into the trough of the sea " ? And who, a few month* 
 after cau'^'d to !e swallowed up in th- fertile ishmd of Java, mountain 
 after mountain, and city after city, with its 120,000 human sacrifices 
 of oil aaes. sexes, and conditions, Pai»iini' it t" lii-.'->mo ♦b« cn..«a «* 
 the greatest disasters of the present century 't Who, moreover, caused 
 the fttuudation of Lisbon to give away, letting down into the fiery 
 
 I 
 
jvereignty, 
 saken the 
 ) ; Riid h« 
 I ••hanK," 
 I n ,ju8t as 
 1(1 verse of 
 in^ AiihI), 
 i!>iiitt(l to 
 its lieing 
 ommis«iou 
 y on their 
 
 (loiio it. 
 5 aervantB, 
 
 On tite 
 
 •nvereijjn 
 
 dliinont of 
 
 uud uf th« 
 
 ivor, him- 
 lie Cmii of 
 ie Bible ! 
 [{itn, mon> 
 
 111 to the 
 m<'rcy, and 
 i'tians, and 
 ire in all 
 'lition and 
 iilion and 
 
 untenable 
 5ted moral 
 rovidential 
 develop- 
 resent, of 
 uiliii^ in- 
 nity, pre- 
 tuio from 
 ,' water or 
 -hey have 
 ides upon 
 
 liavo tluia 
 t!ie Deist, 
 one, durta 
 s in the 
 
 or pesti- 
 tially com- 
 parin>^, as 
 ew months 
 , nioiuitain 
 sacriticcs 
 
 1 cnftMA r\^ 
 
 vcr, caused 
 the fiory 
 
 nbysR below 60,000 of its inh«bitant«, never to eeo tho light of tha 
 eun or of day again ? And v '>o the 21. '^,000, at tha mouth of the 
 OanjiCB, by earthquake and c; clone ? Who, moreover, sent (alniofit at 
 onr own doors) the ngont of dontruction, '' ainikin^ terribly tiie earth," 
 demolishinf/; tlie city of Charleston, ti'irifyin^' luultitiuice, and mhoring 
 many of thera into tb(i presence of tlieGod of nature and tho jutlyc of 
 men ? and this go recently, that the sounds and rumor tliereof have 
 scarcely died away from our ears 1 — Wlio, Deist, who ? Tiio God of 
 nature ? — Tlic same. Was tiierc no nieicy ) None. Hoary hniis, 
 blooming youth, and smiling,' infants included ? Yes j all, by tho God of 
 nature, thus appointed to uttei destruction. Any batter than the God 
 of the iJible, Tom '? — Guess that from the caverns of the lost, you will 
 now be prepared to respond an honest " no !" 
 
 These, then, are trie works of the God of creation and of providence, 
 whom the Deist professes to worship ; so that in hie moral character 
 as associated with unlimited power, te can hence be no belter than the 
 God of the Bible. But as tlio general charactbt of the evil is the 
 same, however, and l)y whatsoever instrument administered, whether 
 intelli{,'ent or unintelligent, and the subjects of the suffering are the 
 same ; so the primary Author in each case, to;,'etlier with the character 
 of His attribute of ;WiV.;'', which is di.scuvered and dis[)layed by natur- 
 al and revealed rel gioii alike, is also the same. And the God of the 
 Deist, (which will be to him as a God of consuming judgment,) and 
 the God of the Christian must therefore stand orfidl together. 
 
 But breathes tbore a man in this 19t!i century who thinks that the 
 Godof nature rtllov.a these intern d tires to liurnaml lireakout here a'Kl 
 there, and from time to time, at random ,'— convul'^ing mUuro and 
 engulfing men, women and children, without havingaml exercising any 
 upecial interest, oversiglit, and providence, in relation to them ? Then 
 I have to tell him, as ho must of course ho ignorant of the fact, that 
 tho idea of such a thing is really puerile, alisuid — ;nonstin;isly alisurd ! 
 Shall it be that man can never cease to take an interest in the woik of 
 his hands in general, and his otlspring in particular, while lie retains 
 the principles of manhood within him ; and yet tlie t>reat Supreme, 
 who gave to man this nature, lie indilh-rent to the ciicuinsLanci-H, 
 whether in relation to this world or the next, of His nn'>prii;g — His 
 creatures that He was not too indilft-rent to make and piovide a suit- 
 able home for upon this earth which He created and hlted up for our 
 habitation ? Would it be natural eitliei in God or man to thus give 
 being to offspring, and then depart from them to 8ome distant, unap- 
 pi'oaehable region, and think and cure no more about them .' The man 
 that thinks so, if he doesn't sustain the character of the genllt-mau 
 described in the (irsl clau.-e of Ps.iltn 14, lit; is certainly a gentleman 
 who in character bears no distant relation to him. But I go a Utile 
 further than this, aiul say, that the " no prnvidonco " and " no God " 
 theories have thfi same prima)'!/ oriffia, and are insnparahlc. And 
 hence he who takes tiie one, takes al.so tho other ; and in either case, 
 therefore, caps himself with David's claueo, 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ARE OUR BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE GENUINE 1 ARE 
 THEY AUTHENTIC t 
 
 ■ 
 
 As this subject has been treated at length in oar "R«ply to 
 IngersoU," it will not be necessary to repeat here what may be found 
 there. And to that book, when publiahed, I beg to refer the reader, 
 where he will find the subject pretty thorou>;hly coneidcrod, and (the 
 Rev. Reviewers boin^ judi^ts,) treated in a popular etyle. And I eup- 
 pope a " iiopuhir" ctylo, to an intelligent coniujunity, means a readable 
 style and a convincinji style. 
 
 As a preliminary to what may follow in this chapter, allow me to 
 say, that thf (rMimony of " prophets and apostles" to the truth of our 
 holy reliuitui irf ^iveu in attestation of ■waU'>r« nf fact, of which they 
 had been ejo ami ear witnesse.^ ; and not in attestation of more mat- 
 ters of npinwn io which all men, whether ootcmporary with them or 
 not, might lawfully take exception. And matters of fad, patent to 
 all, or to multitudes of intelligent men and women, it must be allow- 
 ed, cannot Im; reasonably denied or called into question. Such cott- 
 stituted the ba.si,H of the history and recorded testimony as found iu 
 the diflercnt boi.-ks of which tliu lUble a.s a whole is compos d. To 
 illustrate our meaning, it wa.'« published by certain Jews WuO had 
 found our I.nrd's 8e[iulf.lux' ompty after IUa rosunnetion, as uieir 
 npinion that lie was stolen away hy some of His disciples who had 
 repaired to the sepulchre fm that purpo&e at ni-iht ; but the evangelists 
 and others bore testimony, not to a mere opinionWi&i Christ had "risen 
 from the dead," but to their certain knowledge of the fad that He 
 had actually risen ; for they had seen and conversed with Him at 
 sevPial diiferent times afier His resurrection, and therefore could not 
 1)0 decf'ived in the matter. And in attestation of this asperted fact, 
 to which tht-y one and all lioro tcHlimony, they sacriticed tlieir lives, 
 and thus sealed thi.s truth— this matter, not of opinion, but of clearly 
 asceitaiiicd fact — with their blood. 
 
 Again : A number of individuals, coming, c. g., from the Unit->d 
 StateF, unite in assorting that the President of the Republic was 
 assaseinated— that bodied and was Inuied ; but they differ in the 
 statements they ii:iake in referenco to sumo particulars of the murder, 
 or in relation to the funeral or other attending circumatancea of minor 
 importance — i-^ their nnikd and agreeing testimony iu reference to the 
 death rendered nugatory by their varying statements in reference to 
 the minor particulars ? Clearly not. What they all agree iu, and 
 aljont which tiiey couid not be deceived, and give aa their unqualified 
 t&sfeimopy to.n well known .'ri*-^ — known to themselves ancl to mult4- 
 
ARE 
 
 R«ply to 
 be found 
 A reader, 
 and (the 
 nd I eup* 
 1 readable 
 
 on me to 
 th of our 
 tiich they 
 Tiore mat- 
 them or 
 patent to 
 
 be allow- 
 Such con- 
 
 found iu 
 38 d. To 
 
 WiiO had 
 , as buoir 
 
 who had 
 vangelists 
 liud "risen 
 t that He 
 U Him at 
 could not 
 rted fact, 
 iteii' lives, 
 of clearly 
 
 he Unit-^d 
 3ubiic was 
 ■er in the 
 le murder, 
 I of minor 
 lice to tho 
 fereiice to 
 ie iu, and 
 luqualifiad 
 \ to mult4- 
 
 ST 
 
 tn4«i tf otbare wbo were ootcToporanaoaily ooirniMnt of the •am»«- 
 aanuot be rationally repudiated, or rejeoted aj falte. Tho murder wai 
 •ommif^td, and the f&ct wae thus establiahed by eom])eteiit witoeMea. 
 
 Suab 4.:inor discrepancies there are said to bo in tho bistoiies of tba 
 fonr Gospels ; but whether these apparently dioagtecing ftalcmentt 
 can all be reconciled, as it is boliuvad tht'y can be, when properly 
 understood by having all the vuryini; oiroumstaiico^, standpoints, and 
 objects of the different writers taken into the account ; as, for example, 
 the different standpoints from which the varying '* genealogies," as 
 given by Matthew and Luke, are evidently viewed —Matthew tracing 
 the genealogy through the line of kings through S(»l(>mon,<*which was 
 the son of David," &c., to show to the Jews \o whom he wrote, that 
 Christ was legally ihe heit of the throne of Davirl, through th« 
 monarehi of Judah and their legal descendants ; while Luke, on tha 
 other hand, writing to the Gentiles, exhibits the paternal etem of Him 
 who was thufl the heir, by tracing His private. His natural. His direct 
 family genealogy back through "Nathan,which was the son of David," 
 Ae. — whether, I say, these minor differences can all be reconciled and 
 explained to the satisfaction of all or not, they do not invalidate the 
 agreeing testimony given by all the evangelists in support of the great 
 facts and doctrines of our hoIyChriMtianity, 
 
 This much premised, let us now take a hasty glance at some of 
 Tom's characteristic asservations touching the j^eneral subject of this 
 chapter. On page 207, he eay« : " You believe in the ' Bible' from 
 the accident of birth, and the Turks believe in the Koran fmni the 
 same accident." And what abotit your own "accident of birth," Tom ? 
 Being Iwrn a Quaker " by accident," your accidental birth, it seems, 
 has made a Dfui of you. It is the first timt> that I over f^aw oi hoard 
 it intimated that Quakerism was a mother of Deism. Btit ns to us, 
 who profess to be rational beings, aa well aa intelligent Christians, 
 Tom, »w "believe in llie Bible" because it was first attested by well 
 authenticated miincle, and has ever since been accompanied by Divine 
 influence and power in the conviction and conversion of sinners ; and, 
 in innumerable instancfcs, in a moral sense, miraculously changing the 
 '• leopard's spots," and making " the Ethiop white." On the other 
 hand, the reception of the Koran as tho " Woid of God " is moat 
 unreasonnble, being wholly deatituto of all such confirmatory evidence 
 as the Bible carries with it ; such ae, miracle ; prophecy ; rational and 
 exalted ideas of God ; tha most perfect pybtem of morality ; the most 
 virtuously intelligent and, upon tho very face of the writings them- 
 selves, artless and manifestly honest recorders of tho events ; as well 
 as an ever accompanying attestatiyc Divine influence and regenerating 
 power, wherever its teachings are proclaimed and its truths cordially 
 received. By its internal and external accompaniments, the Bib'e has 
 ever carried with it an evidence of its own auth^mticity — marks the 
 most indubitable that it embodies the triith of God, and that its origin 
 ii Divine. But the Koran, as a "revelation," hasn't a sound leg to 
 stand upon, being :; medley mixture compounded of stolen actaps of 
 Judaism, Christianity, jind idolatry, tacked on to heathenish Keentioua- 
 nesa and fatalism 1 Received and believed in only by nations wbo are 
 nniformly diatinguished by nothing so much at by thtir arosa lAnoranea 
 and birutal habits, it bae ebeelnt«ly notalng to net apon, eitbar tnfttnul 
 
©» exUinnl, oxcojit the bais wtird of a wenlthy, ihMWd, »rtful, ambi- 
 tioui", amoroun. cnninl-pleusure lovinj, nwortl-proiwlyting, lying fanatic ! 
 Atiil tinue without w»'ll iittented uotifiriiiutory miraclo, nut to #p«nk ot 
 the eMciitiiilly ilomon^trative mor.il iiinueno«, etc.. attfladitif^ jta 
 proclamatidn, no "rovflation" can ho rationally locoived ami bt'lioVi»«l 
 in as from God, iho coniparieon Tom hug made botwoen the ohviotigly 
 spiiriuaa "rovuhUion" or ruli^jiou of tlin Koran and that of the Biblo, 
 is ilio>;iuAl and absurd. 
 
 Tlie Rhv. U. Simp-ion, M. A., says ; " Tiioro arc four ;,'rand nrgu* 
 ments for tho truth of the Bihlo. The first in the iniracloa it records. 
 2. The prophucies. 3. Tiio jjoodnM.s of tho doctrine. 4. Tho mcjral 
 character ot' tiic penmen. Tlic miraclcij flow from Divine power; the 
 propht^cieH, from Divine understanding ; the oxccllence of the doctrine, 
 from Divine goodness ; and the moral character of tho penmen, frfJtn 
 Divine purity. Thu>» Christianity is built upon those four immovable 
 pillars, the power, the underslatulin^, the goodness and the puvity of 
 God." He might iiave added a .^Z"//', a>? based on the whole of tliosc 
 Divine attributes conjoined, uamoly, llio (Ihri^iianiziiig, civiliiint;, and 
 radically transforming Divine influence in the i;ouversion, regeneration, 
 and sanctitiuation of all true believers. 
 
 Tom bays : " Thoso who arc not much acquainted with eocUaiastical 
 history, may suppose tli;it the book called the New Testament has 
 existed ever since tiic lime ol .Jusus Christ, as they suppose that tho 
 books ascribed to Moses liavo existed ever since tho time of Moses" — 
 And so they have (!xislod, allow me to tell you, erudite Tom, over 
 since within a very short period of the death of Christ ; and tho fact 
 that you deny it prove;? nothing but the tact of your own ignorance of 
 ecclesiastical histoiy. Dr. fSimpHon says : "jS'evcr wore writings con- 
 veyed down with so good evidence of their being genuine as these. 
 Upon their hrst publication, the books of the New Testament, in par 
 ticular, weio yul into all hands, s^'attcrud into uU nution.x, Iranslatoil 
 into \aiiou5. iaiigiiageo. They liuve Ix'uu (juoted by innumerable 
 authors, appealed to by all parties of Christians, and made the standard 
 of truth iu every question of moment. We can trace them hack 
 through every ago to the period in which they were written. And 
 extremely remarkable and consolatory is the consideration, that, not- 
 withstanding the innumerable times they have been copied, and tho 
 various errors, sects, ajid parties which havo arisen, the corruptions 
 which linvo prevailed iu LIh- clunvh, and the rovolutionf* nnd convul- 
 sions which havo taken plaeu among tho nations, the liible has con 
 tinued fundamentally the dame ; insomuch that, from the very worst 
 copy or translation in the world, we may easil^y learn the genuine 
 doctrines ol Christianity." It will thus be seen that, as predicted, th" 
 gates of hell have not prevail -d against H. Nor can they. 
 
 May we venture to pluce also tlio occlesiasticu! historian and Univer- 
 sity Chancellor Moihuim in competition with learned Tom 1 If so, 
 liear him. He says : " It is however suflicient for us to know, that, 
 before tho middh; of the second century, tho greatest part of the 
 books of the New Testament were read in every Christian society 
 
 tbrOUCrhoUt the \vr)lld. n\\i\ r/<ooiVP(i aa a Ttirinir. m<i1<> ^t t^itU _^!j 
 
 manners.. Hence it appears, that these sacred writings were carefully 
 separated from several human compositions Ujfoii thfe wme eubj^et 
 
•3'» 
 •lth«r by •(.mt of U.« Hpottl« tJ.emwlvet, who live.l <o long, or by 
 thtir disciplei ai)d •uc<:f.is..r3, who vcre iprea.l Rbroa.l through al 
 n«tioni. W« nm well nssurc.l, Ihat the four <Mi>^K' were roll, tted 
 .luriTif? the lifecf St. John, ami tbattho thr.;e liist R'ccued the appro- 
 bation of thii Divine apoatlu." . , , , • i v.. 
 " But how do von accomit for the wtinff of the l)OokB crtnonicji by 
 the Council of Nice or of Laodicea?" Well, if to voto.l, won bucU 
 votinK di.l not involve doubt ni. to the four -onpels nor an to tlie nu»it 
 of the otliHt booka of the N(W TcHtanieut cunon. t'vcn on the pat t of 
 the few xvho are said to have entertained doubts in lefcronco to tha 
 book of Revelation, and some of tho KpiatloK. And 1 suppose the 
 only le«al way to aetilo a .li«pute ba»ed on a ditfi-ier.:^ ot r.p.nion or 
 juaKnient relative to any matter coming before audi ,'. Counn , was ^y 
 the vote of the majority. And aince wo real that ^vblle *• il' ' ot J 
 caat into the lap, the wholo »lisi>0Hinf? thereof u of ihe L-rd, M th.ir 
 v,.tinK wua prefau .1 by ptayor, and they were mon who hr.d i»rt.H.nM 
 with God, aa had the Apomlea when praying for Uiv.nij nilcrlonnc. 
 relative to the choosing by lot, u twelfth Apoatle to take the piaco of 
 tho fallen betrayer of our Lord, there in reason to behove thnt in a 
 matter of »o much importance to all after generatioua of tho t^hnstian 
 Church, prayer would bo heard, Divine interference, «o far ai necej- 
 sary. woiild be' vouchsafed, minds would be Divinely mluenced, anu 
 the Council, aa the conaequcncs bjou^ht to ft ri«ht decision in refer- 
 
 enco to the matter. , 
 
 Why even the Deist.V God, we \my judge, would be quite cqua to 
 thia ; for their ureat represonti.tiv*, reusoner says, as before quoted, Jt 
 Urational to heliecu that lie ailLjor ur knoxo be/on hand that he can/ 
 (p 194.) While, however, ouv stylo of logic is not exactly after wliia 
 fashion, we do b.dieve that infoljihumt </ a promue given by the 
 Divine Being to ilibown pei,.le, to hear and answer their prayer lor 
 all things ueceasarv, that He not only can, but that He also v.Ul ; and 
 this because He is not only a V.n.\ of power, but of truth. 
 
 As to the canouicity or Divine authority of the book ot the ^ew 
 Testament, however, wo may r.dd, that it never depended on the sanc- 
 tion of anv ecclesiastical council. Kvery one ot the books was of 
 Divine authoritv, and was held to b. so by tho Church from tlie t me 
 of its first publication ; and the sacred canon, moreover wa. complete 
 as soon as Ihe last sacved lx.ok was written and published. 1 aus 
 Epistles ware written and published beb-re the death of Peter, as thi.. 
 Apostle, in one of his Epistles, clas.se. ihem with "the other Scrip^ 
 turos ('> Pet 3 • 14, 15.) And the true canonicity and authority ol 
 these and' all other sacred writings, arise from their having been writ- 
 ten by Divine inspiration. Hut a.^ to none of the.se books having o-^en 
 verified by the signatures of theii professed authors, as Tom declares ; 
 that is, as usual, false. The original, of all the sacted writ-ings, were 
 for ought any living man know.s to the contrary, so verified when first 
 published ; but whether or not, some of them certainly were ; for it is 
 expressly so asserted by Paul where he says, " Terttu^, who wroU thu 
 eJ.ilf.. kc. The sanation with mine oxm hand. Sd I icnte tn every 
 »ni3tle" " The salutation of Paul with mine own jiuiiU, mica is znt 
 lokm'in imv'J epistle'' etc. P^ad u.n^lly «rapl(iy(i(i an anienuetisis. 
 " Forgery," however, would have done a good many dwty little things, 
 
40 
 not only in the mattei of 0M«luUy forging all ih% r«qaiMt« »igtuttuiM 
 to tbt Uiifereut w itiuga, without omi»sioii ; but by carafully avoiding 
 the insertion of anything dettinieiital tu tha character of one and all 
 of the apostles ; and by casting out, or etudiuuiily k<*eping out dvery- 
 thing that miy^iii be considered a blomiDh from a Uum^ti, and particu- 
 larly, perhaps from a Tom Paim or iufidol point of view. 
 
 But while there is obviously an entire abrieuuo of studied deception 
 pervading the whole, there is also, as Turn admits, interual evidence 
 iufficient to prove that the writing of the saured bookd waa not by a 
 com'^ed plan of imposition by their several authors ; and the mani* 
 feRt artlessness and straightforward, transparent hcneaty of the writera 
 quite preclude the idea of a reasonable suspicion of their being separ- 
 ately and independently inventors of an uuposition and forgers of the 
 wiitinge. Nor were they intellectually capable of it. Besides, we 
 may add, the idea of forgeiy and imposition without immediate and 
 general detection, and universal and indignant exposure, all the Ida 
 torical circumstances considered, as contained in history piofaoe aa 
 well as eacrad, constitutes an absurdity so palpable and glaring as tu 
 impose a tax on credulity so gteat that it need be looked for nowhere, 
 I may say, exc<^pt in the school, the mental and moral emporium of 
 poor infatuated infidel humanity ! 
 
 Tom tells us upon another page that the Bible difft-n frwtK all other 
 ancient wntitigt with respect to the nature of tt»t «v»(ic»«c(» neccessaiy 
 to establish its autheniieity." Indeed ! What kind of evidence, then, 
 would you pronounce appropriate to the one, and what to the other'/ 
 —Something in "the nature of" wnUeu and hittorical teitirtmnyy I 
 suppose, for the one, that is to say, for tho secular, or "other ancient 
 writings;" but something in "the nature of"— well, what? Whet 
 kind for the ancient ''Bible and Toitam&nt" writings ? Tom very 
 shrewdly doesn't tell us what ; but leaves us to guess, or infer it from 
 what he tells us about the starry heavens; astronomy, and the like ! 
 Well, perhaps he does well, or would do well, after all, to direct hia 
 inhdt^l confriei-s and compeers, as well as his intidel "fellow citizens of - 
 all nations," to look in ar upicard direction for the evidence of " tha 
 nature" required to convinoe them of "the truth": for they have been 
 so much au«l so long accuptomed to receipts from beneath, that to 
 counteract its blinding influence, something must certaiidy descend 
 upon tliem of an enlightening, convincing "nature" from abouo, or 
 they will never, it would appear, in the case of very many of them at 
 lean, have theii eyes opened, tiieir intellectual and moral blindneea 
 removed, and see and be convinced of what is so plain and clear to the 
 disenthralled, tha wise, the virtuous, the sensible, the good— the peo< 
 pie of God. 
 
 But in additir i to the preceding quotation in illustration of Tora'a 
 incapability; of discerning what is or what is not the true "nature" of 
 the evidence required ih proof of Bible or any "»>thei ancient writ- 
 ings," let us quote the following : On paRe 178, of hia work, may ba 
 found the wonU: " The anthmticity of the book of Homer, so far ^ . 
 reganls tlie authorship." Now, allow me to oh»t>tV9 here, that Tom 
 seems to entertain a wry oonfused idea of historical evidence in ita 
 essential and distinguishinj< character. And this appear.^ to arise from 
 hit not knowing the ditiVreuce Letween a book that is ytwiinfi, aud a 
 
IgtUtOTM 
 
 itvoiding 
 and all 
 
 rt dvery- 
 particu* 
 
 deception 
 evidence 
 ot by a 
 ;he mani* 
 le writara 
 ng separ- 
 ers of the 
 Bides, we 
 iiate and 
 i the Ida 
 lofaoe as 
 ing aa tu 
 nowhere, 
 >oriuxB ot 
 
 i all other 
 leccaasaiy 
 ice, then, 
 \X9 other 'i( 
 
 r auvieut 
 i Whet 
 rom very 
 sr it from 
 the lika ! 
 iirect hia 
 iitizena of ' 
 of "tha 
 lave Iwcu 
 that to 
 tlescend 
 above, or 
 f them at 
 blind neea 
 ear to the 
 —the peo' 
 
 of Tom'a 
 [lature" of 
 lent writ* 
 k, may b« 
 , ao far - . 
 that Tom 
 toe in ita 
 arise from 
 m«, aud a 
 
 book that is authentic. But to clear up this confufied misty tnuddlt 
 that appears to have gathered into the brain and dropped from the 
 pen of this infidel, let the reader consider, first, that a book may be 
 genuine, that is, written by the person by whom it professes to have 
 been written, and yet not bo authentic, that is, not be true as to the 
 matter or contents of the })onk written by such person. And, secondly, 
 that a book may be genuine in the in>iin, that is, truly written as to 
 the principal part of its contents by the person under whose name it 
 is published, and yet have some additions, and perhaps true and 
 necessary historical additions made to it by a subsequent editor or re- 
 publisher of the book. And a small addition of such a nature, it 
 must be admitted, does not d -stroy either the genuineness of the book 
 as to its main authorship, nor its authenticity, or truthfulness, m 
 reference to the whole of it. Such small additions were doubtleaa 
 made, e. g., to the books of Moses and Joshua, whether relating to the 
 time and manner of their death, or to anything having a relation to a 
 period subsequent to their death. ^ 
 
 If moreover, the books of the Pentateuch, e. g., contain a true 
 account of the creation, &c., as delivered by Moses, the books are 
 authentic, whether Moses wrote them himself or not. And if he wrote 
 them himself, they are also ,,enuine. Bishop Watson very truly 
 observes: "A history may be tiue, though it should not only be 
 ascribed to a wrong author, but though the author of it should not be 
 known : anonymous testimony does not desfoy the reality of facta, 
 whether natural or miraculous. Had Lord Clarendon published his 
 History of the Rebellion, without prefixing his name to it; or had 
 Titus Livius come down to us under the name of Valerius Flaccua or 
 Valerius Maximus ; the facts mentioned in these histories would have 
 been equally certain." Wo may add, that the record of Chnata 
 sayings and teachings is authentic, is true, and is historically proved 
 to be 80, although written by others than Himself. These considera- 
 tione and reasonings rebut and quite overthrow the untenable positione 
 assumed by Tom on pages 82 an<l 96. A history may be authentic or 
 truthful, let it come down to us in the name of whomsoever it may. 
 And a work might, e. g., be a genuine production of Tom Paine, and 
 be handed down to us as such, even though he haa forgotten or 
 omitted to attach his name to it. And any man being inspired, or 
 Divinely appointed thereto, could write the Word of God, as delivered 
 by Mosob, as well as Moses himself ; and if it came down to us in the 
 name of Mohcs, it would nevertheless be authentic, although not 
 genuine as to its misstated authorship ; but it would obviously be none 
 the less the " Word of God " on that account. 
 
 The reader will here further observe, in reference to this 
 all-important question of the Bible's truthfulness, that, besides the 
 continued and well-known unbroken line of Christian testimony to 
 the genuineness and authenticity of the Xew Testament wnting% 
 (and to which, by the way, we have specially and at considerable 
 length referred in our reply to IngersoU,) the pcclesiastical reconh of 
 the Jews have always not only a.sociatoa th.ir sacred books with the 
 
 1 ,. »-».i,.b Mu'v h:ivo n.omp down to us as their authors— 
 
 thereby proviug them to bo <r.nmne, and not .^punuu«, nr.r anonymous, 
 a9 to their authorehip— but they have also declared them to be authm- 
 
41' 
 
 tit, or true as to the miracles and other matters ut' fact they contaiQ. 
 It is a well known fact also, that the Jews have kept those books, aa a 
 sacred treasure committed to them by the Divine Being with the most 
 scrupulous care from the time they were first written. And who, may 
 we ask, i" this Tom Paine, that with a dash of his pen, dipped in the 
 ink of ignorance, the most stupid incredulity, and sin, ihould over- 
 throw the united testimony of these successive generations ot men t 
 
 Referring to the five books ascribed by the Churches to the author- 
 ship of Moses, Tom says : " There is no affirmative evidence that 
 Moses is the author of them." To which we reply: The Jewish 
 " Confession of Faith," which they have unto this day, affirms both 
 the gmuineness and the authenticity of the Pentateuch — that it was 
 written hy Moses , and that its history, &c., as recorded by him, is 
 certainly and unquestionably true. It was their faith when governed 
 by judges ; it was their faith when ruled by Kings ; it was their faitb 
 when in their own land, and their faith when in captivity. It was 
 their faith according to the testimony of Christ and his Apostles ; it 
 was their faith according to the testimony of the Jewish historian, 
 Josephus ; and it was their faith according to the writers of the Tal- 
 mud, and the Jewish Babbies of all ages. There has never been a 
 time, indeed, when it has not been the affirmed, settled, and unques- 
 tioned faith of the Jews. Is this not " affirmative evidence T The 
 man who denies it, can have little respect for veracity, judgment, or 
 common sense. 
 
 Again : Is there no internal "affirmative evidence" upon this poitt? 
 Tom says, " No." Let us see. In Exodus, it is said : " Mostt wrote 
 all the words of the Lord, and took the book of the covenant, and 
 read in the audience of the people." In Deuteronomy, we read : 
 "And it came to pass, when Mosea had made an end of writing the 
 words uf the law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses com- 
 manded the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, 
 saying. Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the ark of the 
 covenant of the Lord our God, that it may be there for a witness 
 against thee." Is there " no affirmative evIJcnce" in the foregoing, 
 Tom ■? Look also through Ezra, who wrote five hundred and twenty- 
 six years before Christ, and you will find such confirmatory words as 
 these : " As it is written in tht; km of Moses, the man of God." — No 
 "affirmative as well as confirmative evidence," here, Tom? Look 
 through the P.salms, too, and elsewhere, and you will find further 
 "affirmative evidence" on the same point, certainly sufficient to bring 
 you (sorry to have it to say) under the prophet's denunciation of those 
 who have a " lying tongue." 
 
 The term "Law," we may further observe, was always given to the 
 five books of Moses ; and it was recognized as such in this combined 
 form by Christ and His apostles — one or two examples, in recognition 
 of Moses as the author, from this very best of authorities, Christ 
 Himself, may i:ere be given. In the Gospels may be found the 
 followino words of Christ : " If they hear ...t Moses and the prophets, 
 neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead." "On 
 these two commandments (which He quotes from Moses) hang all the 
 law and the prophets." " Ve do err, not knowing the Scripturea. 
 And have ye not read in the book of Mom" H«re " the book" is not 
 
Christ 
 
 48 
 
 onlv aacribed to Moses, but it is recognized by Christ as "the Scrip- 
 Ss " ''And begiuuiLg at Mosc. and all the prophets He expounded 
 unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. "Had 
 ve be ev^d M^ses, ye would have believed Me ; for he^m'ote of Me. 
 But i ye brieve not hu writings, (in whom ye trust,) how shal ye 
 beUeve my words 1" John 4 : 46, 47. Any "affirmative evidence in 
 Jhese quotations, Tom, in reference to Moses as the wnter and author 
 
 °^rtri8\°allo\eco.ni^es David as the author of the Psalms ascribed 
 Christ also recom ^ ^^.^^^ .^^ ^^^^ ,^^^^ ^^ 
 
 o ^/'°'.'" WhTlso is rfcognhed by Him as the author of a book 
 ^fTy' « ^Ztu;e '' ?; the foCfng words : "And He closed the book 
 ? f \tJi^f and Sgan to say unto°them, This day is this Scripture 
 fulfilled in your ea?6.'' And here is a general recognition by our 
 S of thlThole of the Old Testament Scriptures: "And He said 
 uSto them. These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was 
 vet wi?h you. that all thing- must be fulfilled, which were written m 
 ^th.7^l of Moses and in the prophets, and in the PsaZms, concerning 
 Me Ther o'ned He their\nderstanding, that they might under- 
 T'a i. Lrintures " Now, Tom, what have you to say to all this 
 S^n^ yon tS?k th t yo,7" Understanding " needed a little "opening," 
 ?nd even a S more than a little, when you wrote about these thing. 
 Isvoudid lean assure you that I think so, whether you do or 
 int^ Knew more about these things than Christ, you thought. Well. 
 Joul^e or w^ra clever fellow, no doubt; and must have been a 
 clever/not to say a conceited) fellow, in your o«vn estimation, to 
 ilnk so But be^not surprised, Tom, nor too much chagrined, if an 
 Intelligent, Christian world demand that, as an authortty in such 
 
 "^t^^il^I^V:^^^^^^^ evidence." to which we have 
 beJnTefe^LpT we therefore guess that he must have been a litl e 
 Sled or sleepy, or unwell, when he glanced over these and other 
 fuddled, or Sleepy, ' -j ^^^-^ f^^g y^^^^ j,ever at a loss, he 
 
 Ciottrtrgu^it^^^^^ upon; and one of them is th b : 
 
 «Tw7 books cannot have been written by Moses, because they are 
 •« These books cannowmv^ the Lord said unto Mosea, 
 
 ^nUen in the hird person-it is ahvay. ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ 
 
 by Serpresumpti^^^^^^^^ neither you no'r any other man, through 
 
 rXu^aTar^Btt'th^s^S^^^^^^^^ -ay not satisfy the cap- 
 be a fact t« a »acj. ij ^^ ^^ ty,,s nt 
 
 S- H riSbJrwn which is a fact!) that C.sar writes in 
 inus . XI It oi iqiifruace in h s commentaries as this : "A 
 
 the same ^^yj,;'// "^^^a^ ^ the Rhine; C.^sar invaded 
 
 K?n"lc td thafsuc^^^^^^^ as Zenophon, Jo.ephus and others. 
 Britain, f ^^-^ ^ " , about themselves— what then 1 Why. we 
 :" uSn t anothe rUent of course, and here it is : Verse U of 
 JiiiT of Genesis says, that Abraham with his trained servants 
 JMJl'. ISZLXgs) unto Dan." _Now the difficulty in tlii. 
 r* 7 Vi„ x„ ThnmaR is this : "There wab no su«n piacH as 
 
writer of the book of 
 a niomeut, admitting 
 
 44 
 the town of Laish was changed in name to Dan in commemoration of 
 the father of the tribe wliu scizeil upon the town ;" and the infeience 
 is, that, " consrequentlj Moses eould nit bo the 
 Genesia." Well now, Thomas, hsten to rae 
 (which will please yon, no doubt,) tliat tliere was no to^n of that 
 name at that time in that noighburhocd, the supposed difficulty may, 
 nevertheless, be accounted fur in this way : First, by the term Dan 
 having been inserted in Genesis in place of the original name Laish 
 by a subsequent copyist, or writer of a new edition of the books, 
 including other sacred books which had subsequently appeared. Or, 
 secondly, the Dan referred to in Genesis, and by which the warriors 
 in pursuit were stopped, may have been the river that went by, and 
 was then known by, that name, as a branch of the river Jordan. By 
 either of which explanations, you perceive, the difficulty is solved. 
 
 Another of the discovered difficulties is in connection with the 
 commemoration of the Sabbath day. The reason given in Exodus 
 for its being kept holy is, "For in six days the Lord made heaven and 
 earth ;" and in the book of Deuteronomy (the name of which imports 
 a repetition of the law, implying also its further explanation and 
 enforcement.) Tom thinks another reason is given, and inconsistently 
 given, for its being kept holy. There is, however, no reasonable 
 ground, in my judgment, for thinking so. Two grounds or reasons 
 urged upon a people as a stimulus tc the discharge of a sacred duty, 
 instead of one, may jiol be rogarde 1 as a crime, a sin, or an incon- 
 sistency. The repetition of the command referred to, as found in the 
 fifth chapter of Deuteronomy, thus reads : "Keep the Sabbath day 
 
 to sanctify it as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee And 
 
 remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the 
 Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by 
 a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded theo to 
 keep the Sabbath day." >^ow, Moses here gives not only a repetition 
 of the command to keep the Sabl)ath day holy, and for the same 
 implied reason that was given in Exodus; but enforces its being kept 
 '•a# the Lord their God had commanded them" — that is, as to its being 
 kept holyt and as to its being so kept, according to the original com- 
 mand, in commemoration of the Lord's having "rested" from His labor 
 —Moses hero, I say, simply enforces ol)edience to the original com* 
 xnand from the additional fact that God had chosen them from among 
 the nations to be a people unto Himself, and had given to them also 
 "rest" and deliverance from their servitude of toil and labor in Egypt. 
 There/ore, were they to be obedibnt, and keep the Sabbath day holy, 
 a$ God had commanded them. 
 
 Another thing which Tom thinks is worthy of special notice by his 
 '• fellow citizens of all nations," is thid, which amounts to nothing 
 more, I may say, than a mere quibble : The writer of the book of 
 Deuteronomy tells us that " no man knoweih where the tepulckra of 
 Mosee is unto this day'"; "how then," Tom asks, "should he know that 
 Moses was buiied in a valley in the land of Moah ? I suppose, how- 
 ever, that it might be known that he was buried in a "valley" without 
 knowing what valley it was. And even if the valley were known, 
 the place of the sepulchre might not be. Tom's shallow, exceedingly 
 thall^w reasoning, amounts to just this : beoause, a man might 
 
oration of 
 infeience 
 ic book of 
 adiuitting 
 n of that 
 lulty may, 
 term Dan 
 ime Laish 
 he books, 
 ired. Or, 
 e warriors 
 t by, and 
 dan. By 
 solved. 
 
 with the 
 a Exodus 
 eaven and 
 :h imports 
 ation and 
 jtisistently 
 reasonabls 
 )r reasons 
 :red duty, 
 an incon- 
 and in the 
 bbath day 
 
 And 
 
 id that the 
 nd and by 
 3d theo to 
 , repetition 
 
 the same 
 )eing kept 
 to its being 
 igitial ?om* 
 ) His labor 
 i;inal com* 
 rom among 
 
 them also 
 •in Egypt. 
 
 day holy, 
 
 itice by his 
 to nothing 
 :he book of 
 'pulchre of 
 know that 
 ppose, how- 
 
 !v" without 
 
 re known, 
 ixceedingly 
 uan night 
 
 •45 
 not kftow the exact tpot where his own precioua remains wer« "buried/' 
 ih«ri(for« he could not know that he was buried somewhere "nstt 
 Bochelle," as his biographer informs tht public in the sketch of hii 
 life prefixed to his work ! I have moreover, and so, I presume, have 
 more than a few besides me, a pretty good idea of where he is now ; 
 but as to locating the exact spot, 1 am neither able, nor have I any 
 particular desire to be able to do so ! 
 
 Tom's next charge is against the authorship of another book, and is 
 in keeping with all the rest. It is baaed on a passage in Joshua, and 
 to which Bishop Watson furnishes a reply : "I cannot," says he, 
 "attribute much weight to the argument against the geuuiueness of 
 the book of Joshua, from its being said, that — "Joshua burned Ai 
 and made it an heap forever unto this day." Joshua lived twenty- 
 four years after the burning of Ai ; and if he wrote his history in 
 the latter part of his life, what absurdity is there in saying Ai is 
 still in ruins, or he is in ruins to this very day ?" 
 
 The Gospel of St. Mathew was written, I may say ewiairUy not • 
 quarter of one centuiy after the death of Jesus ; yet the author, 
 •peaking of the potter's field which had been purchased by the chief 
 priests with the money they had given Judas to betray his Master, 
 says, that it was therefore called the field of blood unto this day ; and 
 in another place he says, that the story of the body of Jeeus being 
 stolen out of the sepulchre, was commonly reported among the Jews 
 until this day. Moses, in his old age, had made vse of a similar 
 expresuion, when he put the Israelites in mind of what the Lord had 
 done to the Egyptians in the Bed Sea, "The Lord hath destroyed 
 them unto this day." I)eu. 11:4. 
 
 To this we will add, that from the foregoing remarks it is evident 
 that the phrase *Ho this day' does not necessarily mean a great length 
 of time. It was a phrase commonly used among the Jews in just 
 Buch a manner, e. g., as we might say, "The like has never happened 
 from that duy to the present" ; or, "It has never been repeated from 
 that day to this." This form of expression may be, and often is, 
 applied to circumstances occurrinc; either in connection with our own 
 lives, or to other occurrences that have transpired within the period 
 of our recollection. So that. Tommy, the foundation also of this 
 Bible unauthenticating charge, is thus made to quietly slip from under 
 it } and, worsted in the conflict; as you always are, you haven't a foot 
 ef ground left you to j^taiid upon '. You would, by such baseless urgu- 
 ments as these, undermine the authorship as well as the truthfulness 
 of the Holy Scriptures ; but you cannot. We may add, that refer- 
 ence to this book of Joshua is touud in Kings 16:34, thereby proving 
 it to be older than those books. It is also (and so are the books of 
 Moses,) referred to as an authentic book by Ezra and by Nehemiah. 
 
 There is also "affirmative evidence" found within this book, (which 
 has escaped the clearness of your vision, and which consequently, 
 you denied,) that Joshua himself did write the transactions of his life, 
 although some things connected therewith, as a completion of the 
 history, wei<» doubtless written and inserted in it by some sacred 
 wMfav, /nvcbablv bv Sauiuel' after his death; The foUowina pAMage 
 is froni the last chapter of the book of Joshua : "So Joshua made » 
 eoTenaot with the people that day, and set them • ttatut* tad la 
 
'46 
 o»!hi«iie« in Shtohem. and ^oihua wrote th0H w>rd»in iht bode yf 
 fKelai^bf Ood," Ott this pasiftige, Bishop Wataon thui commwitt : 
 "Hore i» a'proof of two thingi-flrst, that there wa. th«»n, a few years 
 after the death of Mowa, existing a book, called, the book of the Law 
 of God : the same, without doubt, which Moses had written, and com- 
 mitted to the custody of the Levites, that it might be kept m the ark 
 of the covenant of the Lord, that it might be a witness against tbem 
 -.secondly, that Joshua torote a part at least of his own transactions 
 in that very book, as an addition to it. It is not a proof that he 
 wrote all his own transactions in any book, but I submit eii^irely to 
 the iudgment of erery candid man, whether this proof of his having 
 recorded a very material transaction, does not make it Fobable 
 that ho recorded other material transactions ; that he wrote the chiet 
 part of the book of Joshua ; and that such things as happened after 
 his death, have been inserted in it by others, in order to render the 
 
 history more complete." . , ,- j 
 
 But let us here give another instance of the very misleadmg and 
 unsatisfactory character of Tom's usual style of reasoning. Because 
 one event or circumstance is mentioned in ome sacred book and not in 
 another— as, e. g., in the book of Kings, but not in the Chronicles- 
 Tom accuses the one who records it with a want of veracity ! Specious 
 reasoning, i^ it not ? We might as well have accused the one who 
 omitted the eircunutanee of a defective memory ; or of a want of 
 faithfulness in his record for not inserting it ; and with a much larger 
 share of plausibility ai.d common sense. And this style of reasoning 
 he pursues in his references to the record of Gospel facts as well as to 
 thet of other books, not excepting such a book as the Chronicles, 
 which is universally considered by christian wiiters as Pimply a supple- 
 ment, or an abridgement of other books. "I esteem it," says Dr. 
 Watson, in referring to this matter, "a very erroneous mode of reason- 
 ing, which from the silence of one author concerning a particular cir- 
 cumstance, infers the want of veracity in another who mentions it. 
 He further shows the weakness of Tom's style of argument, and his 
 iUogical mode of reasoning, by the foUowing representation : Paine 
 asserts that "the account of the Kings of Edom mentioned in Genesis 
 is taken from Chronicles, and therefore," he says, "the book of Gen- 
 esis was written after the book of Chronicles." "Properly stated, 
 the doctor says, "this argument runs thus : A few verses in the book 
 of Genesis could not be written by Moses ; thprrforr n9 part of Gen- 
 esis could be written by Moses— a child would deny your ^/?-flre/ore. 
 Again, a few verses in the book of Genesis could not be written by 
 Moses, because they speak of Kings of Israel, there having been no 
 Kings of Israel in the time of Moses ; and thm'e/ore they could 
 not be written by Samuel, or by Solomon, or by any other person who 
 lived after there were ICings in Israel, except by the author of the 
 book of Chronicles !--a weak and illegitimate inference from your 
 position. Again, a few verses in the book of Genesis are, word for 
 word, the same as a few verses in the book of Chronicles ; therefore 
 the author of the book of Genesis must have taken them from Chron- 
 icles !— another lame conclusion ! Why might not the author of the 
 book of Chronicles have taken them from Genesis as he has taken 
 many other genalogies, supposing them to hava baen InMrted in 
 
I book f^ 
 
 mttnitxtM : 
 few yeftrt 
 ' the Law 
 and com- 
 1 the ark 
 inst tbem 
 insactione 
 ' that ha 
 i^irely to 
 is having 
 probable 
 the chief 
 sned after 
 ender the 
 
 ading and 
 Because 
 ind not in 
 ronicles — 
 ! Specious 
 one who 
 I want of 
 uch larger 
 reasoning 
 well as to 
 Chronicles, 
 y a supple- 
 says Dr. 
 ! of reason- 
 ticular cir- 
 ntions it." 
 it, and his 
 n : Paine 
 in Genesis 
 >k of Gen- 
 rly stated," 
 in the book 
 rt of Gen- 
 r therefore. 
 written by 
 ig been no 
 they could 
 pergon who 
 hor of the 
 from your 
 ;, word for 
 j; therefore 
 'rom Chron- 
 ithor of the 
 ) has taken 
 insertad in 
 
 QaneaU by Saavell (who had tha aMinpla of Joahua as a pi^ 
 «d.nt.) Jut where, you may ask, could Samuel, or any other parson. 
 hi«re oundthe accoint of the King, of Edomi Piobably. m the 
 public record, of the nation, which were certainly as oP«" /^^^'^P^: 
 tion to Samuel, and the other prophet., as they were to the author of 
 
 ^^■WrwiU here bring this chapter to a close, as it is quite needlaj.. 
 we think, to pursue the subject of it any further. Had wa 
 r^ten. or were we to gire the quotations which we make from Paina. 
 work in full, that is, in connection with all the «ofd«/«f »entenoea 
 usually or often accompanying them, our pages ^o^^^ ^f. f ^^^ff,?',.'^* 
 the virtuous reader shocked with one continuous exhibition, with little 
 or no variation, of the dire enmity of this carnal nature to Gods peo- 
 land truth, as expiossed in the language of misrepresentation, 
 obscenity, falsehood, scurrility, and blasphemy ! , , . 
 
 Tom his been accounted by some a good reasoner. but such per.on. 
 entirely overlook the fact, that in the selection of just and sound 
 Demises and bases on which to rest his arguments and reasoning, he is 
 famrtably deficient. His selection and statement of false premises 
 his blundering assumptions, and Scripture mistakes which form the 
 bMisof his reasoning all the way through, one might say are ad tnfm- 
 iZf And this, y! leaders of the infidel school, is your invariable 
 Btyre' and are ye not ashamed of iti "Aye, but we have found hia 
 Age of Reason to contain some cogent reasoning." say the admirers of 
 T?m Wonder was there ever another such an "age"! But this asser- 
 tion, my friends, amounts to no more than if you were to say ot a 
 structure that is being built upon fiani-"That is fine workmanship, a 
 splendTd bulling V Yes, but there being no solid base or foundation 
 on which to rest the edifice, the first flood that comes 7f«P«^V7h^ 
 Tom's "cogent reasoning" structure has lie, for its foundation ; let but 
 the truth blow upon it, therefere, and it instantly topples over and is 
 
 ^^W:!wetTw1n«upon it. and stone after stone is tumbling 
 down and before we have done, we shall doubtless have the whole 
 edifice leveled. And if after being thus utterly demolished, a single 
 stone of the fabric should appear to the mental Pe^^^P^.^^^/^ ^."?y 
 reader to still retain something of its original form or position in the 
 
 nfidel structure, as the consequence of ^^^ ^^^8 ^«f P^^^^^^^ 
 daguerreotyped in that position upon the mhdel disk ot his mental 
 v?in, let him but consult the Bishop of Landaff on the subject, and 
 he will be pretty sure to give it the finishing stroke for him. We 
 may through oversight, or on account of what we conceive to be its 
 Snificancy, Imve left a stone or two unmolested after the building, 
 as 1 whole. L tottered and fallen at our feet; but consult this good 
 Bishop's "Apology for the Bible," and you will, I think there find 
 not only the infidel building demolisho^l by the under mining of 
 ?ts geneial foundation, (if, indeed, it ever had anything worthy of he 
 name,) but you will there find also every rtone of ^"y ac^oy^'^, ^^'* j 
 S to pieces from the shivering blows giv.n to each by this skillful 
 demolisher, after the building had fallen ! 
 
 
 -, ij 
 
 oilUUiU 
 
 38 csO.led 
 
 linn n 
 
 ■h 
 
 to apoloaite for 
 
 demoUshing onslaught upon Infidelity, and why thw work 
 
 of 
 
 tbia 
 the 
 
 I 
 
demoUsber should be called "An Apology for the Bible," I am at a loM 
 to know. The Bible needs no apology. The need is all the other 
 way ; and I therefore now in the name of common sense and of all 
 that is reasonable and just, call upon Infidelity everywhere for t^ 
 apology. I call upon it to apologize for the senseless twaddle, the 
 arrant nonsenpi, by which it has been so long sustained in a professedly 
 intelligent world, in opposition to the truth ! 
 
 & 
 
 i 
 
 •i 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 MYSTERY AND MIRACLE. 
 
 Paine, judging from what he has said by way of preface to bis 
 remarks on " mystery," and elsewhere, appeared to think that our 
 system of religion is enveloped in mystery from beginning to eQd~" 
 from the strange and mysterious "story of Eve and the apple," to the 
 " sacrifice of Chriut because," as Tom puts it, "they say she iu her 
 longing had eal en an apple." He also lightly and flippantly aocusea 
 the "Christian Mythologists" of "damning all mankind by the outing 
 of an apple." His references to this transaction are frequent ; and 
 his misapprehension ur misrepresentation of the nature and design of 
 the whole are of course as frequent. He cannot, however, have 
 meant to insinuate that there was mystery connected with the bare 
 outward act of eating the apple ; which is simply a plain and easily 
 understood matter of fact ; but the mystery to. his mind appoari to 
 have consisted in the tremendous results to all mankind, arising from 
 the simple act of " eating an apple." In any case, however, it is 
 either stupid misapprehension, or more culpable misrepresentation ; 
 since the tremendous resi'lts refeired to are manifestly connected with 
 the "immutable decree," as based on man's freedom to stand or fall, 
 and which were clearly involved in the Divine and righteously 
 ordained testing principle underlying the disobedient act. 
 
 We may here say, that we refer to such and such like puerile 
 lepresent itions at all, because they are the very things which, being 
 easily apprehended, influence for evil the minds of very many. And 
 here also, therefore, I may be permitted to observe, that while Tom 
 seems to flippantly and ignorantly, or wickedly, associate the dire 
 results of the forbidden act with the valut of the apple eaten, as in- 
 volving all mankind therefere in the common ruin — the ruin ia not 
 eternal as to all. It is only those who refuse to take take the anti- 
 dote to the poison concealed within it, and which has infected all 
 mankind who are so "damned." It is just you, and such as you, who 
 realLee to the full extent the dread consequences of the daring act. 
 The "apple," as we have said, and as you know very well, or oui^ht to 
 hare known very well, was the appointed and 3c"ripturaliy asserted 
 teat of obedience or disobedience, Divinely oidained to b« the pivot 
 
 
49 
 
 on which was to turn man's future destiny a. a frfjo moral agent 
 capaT,U alike of undorstanrling an.l of oboyinj. '^^•^':y' J\'"« 1^" 
 pah and imple law under whi.h h.. was pla.-e.l by luj > ,^^^e Any 
 
 Truth never envelops itself .n »i!/d>'rii. is mat so. i j 
 
 horac, the wool of the shMV, .ni'l the teiitliei- or I ic -""■ '^ " . f 
 
 t S »pe,.ifie laberato,,y in whUO. it ;» '■-;"-';""'„ „ -, ;' ^J 
 ,„y»ter/eo„nectea wUh or e,vve^^op..« tl. , r «. , Ue o^^e ,^ ^_^ 
 
 miracle-but he ecr t of th^^,X'reicne rating 'power, togethe 
 operandi, so to speak, oi con\erun„, o nf t word spoken by 
 
 with that of the astoundms "';.™'" 'JX '-is alt Ti nriJicable 
 p„phets and ^l^2^^J^in Jowl to these'tMnga 
 
 LtionafvK nd.invoU.nta.,, of the ^J* --» .^oS 
 are also all assodatert with mystery. Onr """J""^' " ' '?, > 
 
 dition and P"v^lege by a revelatw rom o i,^U^^^^ ^^^ 
 
 facing that image .^y^^^^^^^^ tS^ i ^ help to manufictare hi.n 
 
00 
 than he has said about them eantiet well be imagined On page 62, 
 he says : " Mystery and iniiatle are incoujjjatiblc with true religinii|; 
 and prophecy, " he adds, "ought always to be suspected." The reader 
 of skeptical proclivitied will peihaps pardon me for not doing the 
 f^entleman thf di ference he may think his philosophic K''i;ius' in th( 
 conception and expression of such and such like opinions demands, 
 when I say, that bii* lor tho thick veil of ignorance and prejudice 
 that Satan had thrown over iiis eyes, he could not but have perceived 
 that miracle, or miraclt! and prophecy are among the vfuy indiapensaol' 
 e$8enti(dn, as connecte<l with th<- existence, origin, and establishment 
 of any system of religion professing to bave come fnnu tiod, in order 
 to its heing received as true liy a reasoning, intelligent race of men, 
 
 Ai^'ain ; on page G6, Tom says: "Nothing can be more inconsistenl 
 thanVj suppose tlial the Almighty would make use of < means, such a. 
 are called miracles, i hat would suljject the person who performed then' 
 to the EUipiciofi oi being an impostor, and the person who related 
 thern to be suspected of lyin;i, and the doctrine intended to be sup 
 ported thereby to be nispectod as a fabulous invention !" Can such, 
 we would aak, most extravagant, senseless, inconsiderate, and utterly 
 anreasonablo language as this be accepted by any man of ordinary 
 judgment, ai thus absurdly connected with the subject to which it is aj) 
 plied— the confirmation of a professedly Divine and inspired revelation 
 of God's will to men ' and as involving also, particularly, the dmiml oi 
 man's natural pown-j of disccrnrni.nt in the recognition of the unmis- 
 taicablo reality of miracle performed when of such a manifest and 
 irrefutable character as were all those which are recorded in the New 
 Testament 1 The man who ignores miracl** as an evidential necessity 
 u\ attestation of a Divine revelation, must either have lost his wits, or 
 be beside himself ! He can choose between the two. 
 
 To the above, with other similar assertions as found in Tom's book, 
 Hume's infidel writings, and elsewhere, we make the following reply 
 The possibility of miracle and of a personal Divinity must stand oi 
 fall together ; since to deny the possibility of a miracle is, in effect, to 
 deny the existence of God. The Bible recognizes the existence of 
 both. And Divine Revelation itself, we may add, is a miracle, in- 
 volving a supernatural manifestation of Divine power. 
 
 The laws of nature, it will uot, I suppose, be denied t.y the Deist, 
 are subject to Divine control. If, therefore, the wisdom of (iod 
 decree that the laws of nature which He establishes shall be subject 
 from time to time, during tjie course of their continuance, to special 
 interpositions of His ]uovidence for special purposes — which purposes 
 were also originally and eternally in the Divine mind — the immuta- 
 bility of His nature require, that when the time and oiiginally fore- 
 seen occasion for such special intervention arrive, the laws of nature, 
 which are but instruments of His will and pleasure, must be interfered 
 with. For man tu nucsLion the wisdom i.>f such a plan of operations, 
 is simply to do violence t^ human leasoii, and question the wisdom of 
 God. It is in ao.'oidaiu;e with thi; highest dictate, of reason, that 
 natural law must ever he ;nibservient to the. Author of nature; and 
 that to define the li:nits of such sulweiviency, or deciy against any 
 manifestations of it that the Divine mind may be pleased to make to 
 
 ■ Hia int 
 '' ness, ai 
 i God' 
 4f to "vie 
 Supren 
 Lord, a 
 Ex. 9 : 
 uals to 
 them— 
 cd heir 
 of mat 
 I do, t 
 obviou 
 Divine 
 
»n page 62, 
 e religionj; 
 Tho remlcr 
 doing the 
 iiiiif-' in tht- 
 j demands, 
 J prejudico 
 3 percoived 
 dispensabl'' 
 ablishnient 
 (1, in order 
 of men, 
 
 nconsistenl 
 ns, such ai 
 rnied tlion' 
 tvho related 
 to be sup 
 Can such, 
 ind utterly 
 3f ordinary 
 iichit isap 
 1 revelation 
 lie dPHiml of 
 the unmis- 
 inifest und 
 in the New 
 ial necessity 
 his wits, or 
 
 Pom's bonk, 
 (ving reply 
 ist atand ot 
 in effect, to 
 existence of 
 miracle, in- 
 
 61 
 
 Hi9 intelligent creatures, is ta» height r.i oresumption, anreaaonable- 
 
 ness, and folly. . . tt a i 
 
 God's primary object in performing miracles by His .servants is not 
 to "violdte" natural law, but to manifest to the world that He la the 
 Supreme Euler and Oovernor-"that ye may kno;v that 1 am the 
 Lord and that My name may be declared throughout all the earth. 
 Ex 9-16 and 10: 2,— and also, that He authorizes certain individ- 
 uals to publish to the world His will as supernaturally revealed to 
 them— such miraculous attestation of their being Divinely commission- 
 ed being absalutely indispensable to a rational reception, on the par 
 of mankind, of the truths declared to be revealed, " The works that 
 I do, they testify of Me," said Christ, hereby setting torth the most 
 obvious fact, that without such works given in attestation ot Hia 
 Divine mission, no one could reasonably leceivo it as such. His 
 miraculous works were His credentials, proving His mission to be 
 Divine ; an-^ without which His teaching, however morally excellent 
 and pure, could not have been regarded otherwise than as the product 
 of a superior, but uninspired human intellect. 
 
 Aiiain ■ a contravention of the laws of nature to convince the world 
 of the existence and omnipotence of the one only living and true God, 
 as contradistinguished from the multifarious objects ot idolatrous 
 worship, is not to "derange the machine of Hip own coiLstruction. as 
 Voltaiie says it is ; but, on the contrary, it is .simply to make it the 
 means of developing and perfecting His plan of operations m relation 
 to our world—" making His power known," and domonslrating Him- 
 ,s(.l{ to be the God of nature and creation, and that therefore men 
 were to recogn..?, bow down to, and worship no other (iod than th.- 
 lulinite Being who had thus supernaturally voycalod Himwdt to His 
 
 '^*BuT"miraclo.s"say the abettors of the various schools of Infidelity, 
 "arc contrary to present exr-erienco, and therefore wc will not believo 
 in them " This wore all the same as to say, that because the existence 
 of many species of the animal creation now extinct but traces ot 
 which geologists have professed to discover m the strati led rock and 
 elsewhere, is contrary to experience, we will not believe it. That they 
 existed in the past we will not believe, because they do not now exm. 
 \ow all, I presume, will acknowledge such reasoning to be absurd, 
 and should it be said that on the testimony of competent, reliable, 
 ' and even living men, di.stinct traces of such extinct species have been 
 discovered, we might still reply that even such traces are contrary to 
 our experience ; thousands of us ha c never .seen them, ,ind thcrotore, 
 
 we might .say, we 
 
 will not believe that they exist merely on the 
 
 recorded testimony of those who say that. Ihoy have made such di. 
 coveries. To argue thus were equally absurd. Ihe rational tounda- 
 tion for our faith in such matters would be the obvious fact, that theso 
 men being competent, and having no conceivable motive for deceiving 
 us, we are therefoie perfectly justified in accepting and believing thoir 
 testimony on the subject. The same may be said m reference to the 
 committing of righteous and holy men as martyrs to the flames. We 
 have never seen a martyr burn, nor i.s it easy to conceive it possible for 
 professed followers ot Him who xame nut to ue.stroy men:^ '^^.''-V"^ 
 to .-^ave them," tn bo so terribly deluded as to think they did God 
 
.servioo l)y ii«:U»»g '" ^^'i''' 'l"f<'*^^ »'"! manifest opposition to th* spirit 
 iuid teacliiut,' of uui iJivine Kxomplar. Vot rfucli is tho fact. AlthouKh 
 i.oiitruiy I.' present (^vpericnrc, wo bclievo it tu have boon tlie exi)eri- 
 .•ncc oi tlic paat . an<\ lalionally enuugh, too, sinco we have the testi- 
 tiiouy ot idiiiblu luslury in it* favor. This rational principle co»ceded, 
 then, IS all that we re<|uirt' in ordoi' to establish the authenticity of 
 airacles. Thoir autlientirity i.-^ osiablished on the authority of reliable 
 liiHtory— the authenticity of tho sacred record itself being abundantly 
 conhrmed by history, both ecclesiastical and secular. And that the, 
 sacrod historians could have had no possible motive for deceiving 
 mankind must be obvious to every candid mind, from the conaidera- 
 tion, that after a life of constant self-aacrifico, honestly and artlessly 
 recording' their own faults and failings, as well as their virtues and 
 sufferings in the service of their Redeemer, they, to crown all, volun- 
 tarily sealed their testimony witli their blood. 
 
 A miracle, in the Scripture sense, is an event or effect produced by 
 the direct agency of almighty powei', coi.trary to the established con- 
 stitution and ordinary course of things— a palpable deviation from the 
 known laws of nature, f(»r the accomplisliment of .some .specific 
 purpose. In effecting the estaldishment of a religion professing to 
 hare con.e from God, such miraculous interposition is manifestly 
 indispensable. And to such, therefore, the in.stitution of the Laiv and 
 the Go^'pcl appealed for cunhrmation, and by such has God been 
 pleased to ratify and establish the Divine origin of the revelations 
 made to the world through Ilis in.spired servants at the commencement 
 of each dispeii<iitiou. Miracles were thus to be regarded as a seal of 
 their Divine commission to make known the will of God to men, and 
 as such they were apjjealed to by our Lord Himself : " Go and show 
 •John again those things which ye do hear and see," " The works that 
 I do in my FatherV name, they bear witness of Me." These works 
 were necessarily of a nature contrary to ordinary experience, or there 
 would have ln-tii nu use in appealing to them as a witness of His 
 Divine commission. Contrary to ordinary experience they must be, 
 and contrary to such (ixpericnce they were. Christ did not, in ap- 
 jiealing to them as a witness of His Divine commission, enter upon 
 any labored argument or specious train of reasoning with a view to 
 convincing His auditory that they were really miracles, because they 
 needed nothing of the sort. In the self-consciou.sness of His own 
 .spotless integrity, and of the l.>ivinely conlirmatory character of His 
 miracles, He simply appealed to them as plain and indubitable faets. 
 And so also did the Apostles, when speaking of the miracles ttey per- 
 formed in Jesus' name. 
 
 The character of our Lord's miracles, we may further observe, is so 
 fully in consonance with the Div-c, the benevolent, and spiritual 
 character of His teacliing, and so entirely diverse are they in their 
 essential chaiucter ari professedly proceeding from an all-wise, merciful, 
 and bencvoltiut Deity, frum the character of the legendary miracles 
 ascribed In variou^^ hisloriial personages, that the wonder is that men 
 of fearing and ingenuity laiinot discern the stiiking dissimilarity, the 
 ontirc idiF-enei' n!' id! tiur analogy ln'tween tlieni Infidels may insti- 
 . tute a Gomparitsim, as they have dune, between the miracles of our 
 Lord and those ascribed tu '■ Simon the magician," such as "flying 
 
 ,'»• 
 
 .-'f 
 1*^ 
 
 
th« spirit 
 Although 
 le ex[>eri- 
 the tefiti- 
 ::oaceded, 
 nticity of 
 f reliable 
 lundantly 
 that the 
 deceiving 
 lonaidera- 
 i artlessly 
 'tucs and 
 ill, volun- 
 
 iduced by 
 shed con 
 
 from the 
 B specific 
 easing to 
 nanifestly 
 
 Laiv and 
 jod been 
 cvelations 
 lenceuieiit 
 ; a seal of 
 
 men, and 
 
 and show 
 rotks that 
 lese works 
 », or there 
 as of His 
 r must be, 
 lot, in ap- 
 nter upon 
 
 a view to 
 lause they 
 
 His own 
 icr of His 
 ible faets. 
 5 they per- 
 
 lerve, is so 
 1 spiritual 
 By in their 
 I, merciful, 
 ■y miracles 
 ? that men 
 ilarity, the 
 may ixisti- 
 les of our 
 as "flying 
 
 5S 
 
 throagh th« air. traniforming himself into a goat, putting on two 
 acM rolling himself unhurt among burning coals, making statUM to 
 IT Inddogsof brass or stone to bark,"-but so doing, common- 
 Tense ^ople, I imagine, will think that their powers of discnminttion 
 and of insSuting comparisons, to say the least, cannot be of the very 
 ^ghe t orlr. Such legendary miracles may serve to show the ohar^ 
 S of the miracles which would have been ascribed to Jesus had 
 Hs character of thaumaturgus. like that of Simon the magician been 
 but an imposition, or had his miracles been 'more the work of the 
 ZIZ than of Himself," as M. Renan says they were ; but btyond 
 Sis no leSimate use ca; be made of them. They are thu, by a faxr 
 and legiuLte deduction arising from the character of those legendary 
 wonders which wore ascribed to the magicians of the time plainly 
 TalculaTed to demonstrate the genuineness the reality and the super- 
 natural character of the miracles performed by our Lord. 
 
 lie character of His miracles was such, we need scarcely remark, 
 as to preclude the possibility of deception to even a aingle observer 
 from any class of society ; and this, in view of plainly stated and 
 well-authenticated facts, any unprejudiced man possessing a -mn of 
 Tandorand common sense must freely admit. We inay also observe 
 that science is in great part at once the cause and delecter of moderi^ 
 ufKlery and impc^iticn ; and to the detection of that to which it 
 mainly gives rise it must be confined. If it essays to inquire into and 
 Sin^he supernatural, it oversteps the boundary of its legitimate 
 splC The realm of nature is its domain ; the miraculous like its 
 uilue Author, is above and beyond it, and i« of such a nature, r^ot- 
 wSnd^ng assertions to the contrary that the "common people, 
 without the aid of science, are capable of testing it. 
 
 Allow me to add, that there are not wanting frequent opportunities 
 r.fVfi«tinc the virtue and power of the supernatural, even m modern 
 ? me Many B^irTtua^ «'new creation" has been supernatural ly 
 effec ;d among mei., the Divine character of which they are as capable 
 of testing and^nndeJstanding, as the scientific "natural man" ts of test- 
 in. and understanding the nature of any ordinary phenomena belong- 
 nc to hiriegitimatc sphere, the realm of physical nature. Miracles 
 a e neither "contrary to," nor are they wanting, even as to duersttu ot 
 cLacterfin relation to the experience of the present. There has been 
 rary a P cial interposition of Providence many a miraculous answer 
 Hhe prHv.r of faith offered on behalf of the sick and the neody 
 even iiou'r own day. Dispute it you may, but contravene or dis- 
 nISve he fact you^ cannot. A "cloud of living witiiess," embracing 
 m«n as learned and talented as the world can produce, can vouch 
 Tor its m'trand truth. And multitudes mox.. through the power 
 of the Spi it, will continue to arise and testify to the efficacy of 
 prater in h se respects, until the time shall arrive when both phy- 
 S and spiritual healing, so far as they relate to our world, shall be 
 
 '^The'beiief or disbelief of the Deistic school, as well as that of the 
 Pantheists who call the universe God, does not depend on evidence 
 at aU inasmuch as they wilfully close their eyes to the rational 
 !L!::\u nnwhtph SeriDture testimony is based-the only evidence by 
 the way," in relation to apostolic times, that is of any weigW wha^ 
 
54 
 
 ever, when brought to bear upon questions touching the supernatural. 
 Dreamy spoculation or theorizing in relation to questions of this nature 
 is absolutely worthless, and must necessarily go for nothing ; whereas 
 testimony, reliable '<^stimony, as given in confirmation of duly wit- 
 nessed facts, is everything. But this they reject. Men noted for the 
 holiness of their characters and uprightness of their lives ; men hav- 
 ing withal mental capacity and powers of penetration and discrimina- 
 tion, at least equal to the most intellectual of their modern detractors 
 — a Moses, an Elijah, Elisha, Samuel, David, and the prophets ; a 
 Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, the other Apostles, and Jesus Himself, 
 may with one voice declare, not only that God exists as a personal be- 
 ing, but that He has revealed Himself to them, delivered to them a 
 Law and Cummandments by which the lives of the human family are 
 to be gorerned, together with an account of man's origin and destiny; 
 and that in confirmation of all which He manifested His power through 
 them in the performance of a series of miracles, which were patent to 
 the then living woiid, to whom also they appealed at the time as wit- 
 nesses, and the supernatural character of which neither Jew nor Gen- 
 tile, learned nor unlearned, could deny — but it is all to no purpose so 
 fai as our modern unbelieving Savans of the Rationalistic and Deistic 
 schools are concerned. They have invented a theory of their own in 
 relation to the universe, its immutable laws, etc., and by it they are 
 prepared to abide. Passing by the overwhelming testimony relative 
 to God's revealed account of it, as a thing of naught, they are quite 
 prepared, in the self-sufficiency of their proud minds, to await the 
 issue of nature's future unfoldings. 
 
 All the revered authors and leading character:? of the Old and New 
 Testaments may bear an unqualified testimony to the fact that mira- 
 cles have been performed; and this may be confirmed by the unani- 
 mous testimony of all the holiest and best of the ancients — but to 
 Rationalistic and ])eistic obtusencss and perversity it is all to no pur- 
 pose. Even though one should "rise from the dead" and declare it, 
 there would doubtless still be found some who would not believe. 
 Aye, further still, so fully convinced are they of the immutability of 
 nature's laws, and of the undisturbed operation of its forces, that 
 when "the earth shall have waxed old like a garment, and the time of 
 its dissolution have come" ; when "the heavens sliall pass away with 
 a great noise, and the elements .shall melt with fervent lieat" — there 
 will perhaps still, in the judgment of tliese men, be a natural cause 
 for it all ; there will probably still be found men, true to their God 
 Nature, and skeptical on the subject of miracles, who will be very 
 capable of explaining it on n-itural aud scientific principles ; they will 
 doubtless see in it no more than a very natural eruption of the 
 internal fires concealed in the- heart of our earthly volcano ! And, in 
 accordance with the principles of Spinosa, who defines a miracle to 
 be a rare event, happening in c.onseciucnce of some laws that are 
 unknown to us — unless scicnro and scientific infidels ]>v dissolved with 
 it, when the dead that are in their graves .shall have come forth, the 
 judgment be set, the book.s o[)ened, sentence pronounced, and the 
 wir.kfil •'linnn.l h.yn,} ;,nd fw'\'' atid taken to the plac.; of "perdition of 
 ungodly men," it will still, in the estimation of these gentlemen of 
 nature, be but a rerv.-;,able natural phenomenon, .i strange freak "f 
 
56 
 
 their Idol God. Nature ■ And although they f^}^^.^;!!^^^^ 
 exoerience in this place for the development of thou n* lence tne 
 rSsof woe will perhaps afford them no ground lor a chang. 
 Keiropinonsrs tothe scientific change in their dest.ny bejn, 
 caused b/atrange erratic freak of "immutable" Nature rather han 
 rthe dLct .ute?position and sP-jal Judgment of he A irn^.^^^^^^^ 
 
 Tomsavs- "When Moses told the children ot Israel ^nar nc 
 rcceh^d the ♦ wo tables of Commandments from the hands of . d 
 rev were not obliged to belie /e him, because they had >w nthu 
 aSLn7/Vo/v7 than Ms tellimj Oum .vo.' This declaration of yours, 
 Tom ^though ontrary to fact, allow me to tell you, suggests at once 
 toTrefleS mind the absolute necessity of confirmatory m.race to 
 
 .ftVaS hs Clair, to le l.ar.l as a -^^^^Z'^fl^^ZT'^l 
 iu Ai«.,w>t-./ tn pnrrv a message from him to his tello\\men. nut 
 
 .^hat "when Moses is vead ])y the Jerc, the veil is upon him even 
 ll^toJLs da"" HTmlght ha4 extended it to our day, and included 
 
 nS^i^^^iS; "^dell^r^iation of the vame ]f^:^<ra,.^ ^ostens^ 
 ble exaltation of "morality," Tom says : "Miracle could be but a 
 Wo the moment, whereas moral principle speaks universa Uy for 
 S-YtsbuTvo; must be reminded, Tom that the moral prni- 
 Se" lacks ''universally" binding authority, unless it comes trom God 
 n nreceptive orm : and there could at first be no means of asc^rtau - 
 L with certair^y that it came from God, except as sui3Brnatural y 
 confirmed bv its first promulgators being supernatura ly endowed with 
 the uower of working miracles. The attestative evidence of conhrm- 
 Ihe power oi wuiku g nrecentive and doctrimd preach- 
 
 atory miracle in connection with the precepin t auu nivino 
 
 S" was to the beholders of it, irresistible evidence of tb«ir Divine 
 commTssion And the account of the miracles, as well as of the teach- 
 urw immediately transferred to the records of written h^torj , 
 ZU who larseen the miracles and heard the doctrines preached, now 
 saw befoiV hei eyefthe identical counterpart in the written records 
 And they I av been ceaselessly before the eyes of ^'f f «^^« f " '^: 
 tions offntelligent men. both in and out of the Church, from that da 
 to Sis 4 d our belie , therefore, both of the miracles and the moial 
 
 rnddJctrital teaching, i^ reasonably ^^^^^'^^' ^^ l^^^::^:^:^^,^ 
 ovnr Pvi^tin'v and to all the then known wuild, ceaselessly accesaiuie 
 
 SS^;:;sUn::iy which has thus been -^n-Jy J^J^^, ^ 
 watched preserved in its entirety, and handed doNUi to Ubthrouglx tie 
 «ive^ generations of believing and anbclieving readers of the 
 ;pcorS to the present day. That there were unbelieving readers of 
 retr. the Cross alUhe way down through the ages is no more 
 ofamnrvlthantuat there were also unbelieving- that is, incorri- 
 gLtelin-Ioving witnesses of the life, labois, and moral teaching of 
 
 ^'t\StUe veracity and reliablen^. of the --rd^d^stimoiiy 
 ^ ., , -.,!• -,.-„„..„ nf mi-iil" h'lwftver. Tom says, "millions oi iits 
 toe\S'StourtTme;andUU. there£o«, at least mUUo« to 
 
56 
 one, that the reporter of a miracle tells a lie" .' We reply : This pro- 
 position being true and a just style of reasoning, the converse of it 
 must also be true, and the conclusion quite as logical— "Millions of 
 truths have been told in our time; it is, therefore, at least millions to 
 one, that the reporter of the miracle tells the truth." But the fact is, 
 this is a very false and fallacious style of reasoning. We are not to 
 receive the testimony because millions of truths have been told ; nor 
 may we any more reasonably reject it because millions of lies have 
 been told. We know that while some men are liars, others are truth- 
 ful; also, that while there are some motives in connection with the 
 delivery of testimony which, from the attending circumstances and 
 consequences, naturally incite to lying from self-interest ; there are 
 other motives of higher origin which, outweighing in upright and 
 properly constituted minds tlie more selfish ones, incite to the state- 
 ment of truth. And when we find that all the motives in connection 
 with the testimony woul.i naturally incite to its suppression 
 Iroiii self-intorest, and yet that the testimony is explicitly and fear- 
 lessly given, there is every just reason to believe that the testifiers are 
 truthful in what they say. Such were the reporters and recorders of 
 the miracles as found in the (rospel records. 
 
 The same evidence, we may here furthere observe, that establishes 
 the genuineness and authenticity of any ])ook, whether ecclesiastical 
 or secular, may be logically and truthfullv said to establish the cen- 
 umeness and authenticity of a sacred book. But Tom says So be- 
 cause the sacred books contain an account of miiacles— "thincs " he 
 says "naturally incredible." But the histories of Josephus, and Taci- 
 tus, the Koman historian, contain an account of miracles : and vet the 
 genuineness of those books is accounted true, and has never for a 
 moment, that lam aware of, been questioned. Yes, but, says Tom, 
 we believe the things stated in these writings no further than they 
 are probable and credible." The same may be said of the sacred 
 wri ings; with the diflference, however, that the whole of what is 
 contained in the sacred writings is both probable and credible." The 
 ni . "^T^""^ i^ipostors, as recorded by Livy Tacitus, and other 
 profane historians, every man of common sense must know, are in no 
 
 7n\TT "!!!'' ^^' '"^•'"'^'^ ""^ ^^' «^^^«J Scriptures either as 
 to character or authenticity; and hence there is no country, tribe, or 
 
 Lrb 't";^'^"^ P^«P;^' that at the present time recogSzea them 
 as such. But It IS very different as to the miracles of the Bible ; 
 
 nlTl T' "l\^':^ ^^''" ^" •'^" '^'' ^'^^^^ to the present time, recoV 
 
 nized ai such by the most intelligent nations and communities oi men 
 
 hat have ever existed upon the earth. Moreover, the miracles S 
 
 ccorte/LVLTJ?'* '^ '^i ^'^'i!? ^«^^« '' the'Romans, haCt be^n 
 X, nf rV V ^?uir^'' ^'^'^ ""^'^^ their priests admitted the mir- 
 ?»lfK ./''*' ""'^^ *h°'" «^ ^'' ^Po^tles ami prophets, to be true 
 WanlT^°" pr.^^-^^^^^l"^"^^^^'^^ P^°P^«to abandon the k 
 Amlei^TLriT' ^'^"f '^"''^' they said, that their ApoUoniu., their 
 Apuletui, and thecr Arideas, wrought niracles also. 
 
 We further observe, that an unbroken line of the most reliable 
 
 haltr"'',^'^ ^^'• r^'-^~^' ^"^'^y '^ theworirto the pre 
 -. -iis-oncatly established, not only the fact of tiic possibility 
 
 sent. 
 
57- 
 nf miracle but also the truthfulness of the sacred records which cou- 
 ?L raccount both of them and all other sacred «^f «« , ^^nd 
 Wore we may add, it can be reasonably received as a fact that the 
 ofluZ Tf mirac es cannot be established by human testimony, it 
 mus be received as a settled and established fact that all men are liars, 
 Tttat a 1 men are fools naturally incapable of knowing, for example 
 whe her waTking upon the sea, sudden restoration of eyesight to the 
 whether waiKinb V multiplication of a basket of 
 
 a peculiar peasu^ei^ to swallow the 
 
 '". 1. than for X whale to wallow him." How very knowing Tom 
 
 -^^^^B^th^^^^^^^^^^^ -^d^ r^^^ss:i:^of the trau 
 
 corporatedhimmtohisme;^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ,^ ,,,1 
 
 his stony hc^^; ?^\f;ittm^^ of X the most daring blasphemies, 
 no compunct on in the ^ J™^" , farther remark, if the 
 
 But as to this miracle of t'^^.™^''.^ J devil himseif-his 
 whale had swallowed Tom nistead of ^^^^^^^^leZrc^^, body and 
 Deistic god-couldn t hav p evc^^^^^^^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^^ ^,,y ^ g 
 
 to vomH him up'in less time than it did Jonah ! 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 yCKIPTURE PROPHECY. 
 
 A. the evidential or attostative val- of ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ 
 
 by Mr. Paine to be -^^fy^^^J:JTTiL^ iLnrU.ly to M. 
 here enter largely upon the ^^ s«ussion ^^ ^^^ 
 
 Ileum;' however, we have tr«a^;:^^ ^ J t^^ ^T^ut one volume of some 
 sidered great 1-f , f;!^ ^,, ^^^^^^ ; and from this workwe 
 
 470 pages, on " ^^o'^'^^^^JiX'g',^^ of Tom's remarks, an appropriate 
 „,ay here make, ^^d app Y to omc o ^^^^ ^^^^.^^^ ^^ . .^ ^^^ . 
 
 quotation or two ^^ « ^^ .^^^^^^^ ^i^.t work in this country. The 
 intention to publish '^^ ^\^^V^ , "^.^ be inappropriate . 
 following general 7?"f J^^J^^rof ages is pierced, and the events 
 The power by which the vista oia|, / ^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^ piyme J 
 relating to the remote iulurc rovcaleu. ma«. ..., -. 
 
58 
 
 person bvwlK.mtle,m;t ^'very unbiusse,! min.l i).„t tl,. 
 
 not indeed carry wi h^t fy IZ'"""'? T -^ ^"^^ ^^^^^^ ^t does 
 tir«t enunciated exc pt vv L a on 'r. n ijf l"^ ! '^ '^'^'"^ -^"'^'^^ ^^^^^ 
 otherwise mira ulous wiU 'iic T 5 ^'l '"' '^^^^'^'^^ ^^ P-^^^^rs 
 but as the future gradu^ v 2.; 1 , ' °^ .'^^ ''''' ""^'^ ^^'^^^'^'^ ' 
 manifest accordance vv^^h th^ S;,l"V''"^' *''"'P"''^ "' «^"^^ ^"^^ 
 literal and complete fuIfiL it 'ffi.;'^ I>iophecy, ultimatino in its 
 utterances were Divine InttiC n..'°"'^"''^' ''^"'^"^^ "•'^t the 
 ed. and that the .loctrhles lau t Tn ' ''''"' «"l'«'"^t"rally endow- 
 
 bow of'S thousand vi^rs to s Se witiTn "^ ' '" '^T''''^ ^^^^' '^^ ''^"fe' 
 the ingenuity of posterity could m^k n TT' ""^^" «^ ^ '"-^'^t 
 pened to be directly y^roLXtT^hS'^ ^'"^ ' '^"^ ^^ ^'« ^ap^ 
 'ionah and .\ineveh that f n 1 1^1 ^ \ «»PPose, as in the case of 
 nund."-c;uess that yo tv ": S " "''"?f ""^ ''^'^"^-^ "- 
 »"ud, too by this tiL.n; poor iV'w^^'^"',^ ^O"'' 
 
 leaves a wide margin around tircontreol^ I "T "'""'«"'' ""''^^ 
 you must be a liberal fellow h^ioo, > .1 Lw il'"'''^ '"^ ^"^'"'^ ^ ^"^' 
 prophecies so nuicJi latitude' A ''1 .r. »^. "'' /»*^«'l>'Hers of the 
 the same in religion, [ observe Vm ,1! ? • ''1''""' y*'" ^^'""^'^ be 
 hat we are desimus of <,,v n-/ you " ^ /'^^''^'^ observation, Tommy, 
 bave reasoH to think it your cfueT ^^'''''''^'' '"^"'^ whenever wo 
 
 ./^^^a^'V.;'^^^^^^^^^^ i« the Bible word for 
 
 an.n-nce he fiunl^. tlut " he' l^^dlT^.;; ,1 m f '/' '"•^'^'"^ ^'-^'-V ^" 
 poets have been foolishly erect,.,! inf . "'«taphors of the -lewish 
 Cleverly conceive.1 ! 14 e ;V" ::^tr '"T^f '^'^ P-Pbecie!. ' 
 the prophecies (winch he calls'',S.T .. f ' i'^'"' ^'"' ^^'''''^^ ".at 
 prophets were originally set o ' i^ i, " f"r' , "' ^*\" ^>-k, of the 
 neg ected to preserve and hand . o n'to , '^ ^'": ^^'''^'^'-^ ^''''^ot or 
 And these opinions, be if known T .'"^ '""'''^ ^'"» ^bc poetry i 
 
 world with all the parent eSsLt^'T'^ 'f Publishes to the 
 must say, however, lu t now to ur L "^i '""f^'^'^^ «f belief - I 
 
 shooting, that to my mind the book o tlu' 'i '^'' ""^°"«^"J '"''«" 
 0/ "poems"; and the prop Ldos if Jf'^P^^^ 
 strangely tinctured with ti\Siiv.'?r "i^^ ''"^ ^'^^''^ «'•« 
 
 Tom objects circumstantially o'lV,h!' 'V" .^''«- 
 bave a direct relation to Christ as tl.'> r P'?^'^'^^ (P«eins !) that 
 of the world ; and thus st k „'' ■ 'T^-'"^ ^^'''^'^ ''^"d «^viour 
 would undermine and brin- to^io 1 1 Tl\ '"-^ °^ ^^"^ ^^''o'^ be 
 importance connected with lli e ^f vil „ ''^' !? "' "'^ "^^^ vital 
 
 „ ot.*;..^ 1 * •'"^ "'OHr. vital 
 
 ''"iHo system of Scripture prophecy. 
 
59 
 
 But this cannot be allowed ; no, not even to the author of the "age ot. 
 reason !" Graciously promised to Adam immediately after the fall, 
 Christ was made the subject of prophecy down to the time of the close 
 of the prophetic dispensation. He was the ceaseless burden of 
 prophetic " song " — the soul and centre, the Alpha and Omega of all 
 Scripture prophecy. Even the predicted rise and fall of empires all 
 really culminated in Him ; and they were all, and are .still, either 
 directly or indirectly, made to subserve the interests of the Uedeemer's 
 Kingdom. Whether by their being instrumental in the punishment 
 of His people for their idolatry and sin in the past, or in purging Hig 
 Church from the sins of carnal entanglements under the present dis- 
 pcn.sation, or by casting away their own idols and heathenish super- 
 stitions—they successively prepare the way for the accomplishment 
 of the predicted triumphs of grace, and have a direct bearing upon 
 the spread and universal establishment of the empire of Christ. 
 
 As the subject of prophecy, we may further observe, Jesus, when 
 He came to our world, voluntarily placed Himself into direct collision 
 with Jewish bigotry, prejudice, and earthly ambition, and succeeded— 
 succeeded in establishing His character as the true Messiah, who, while 
 rejected by the Jews as a nation, in this very ciroumstance fulfilled the 
 predictions of their prophets, and accomplished the merciful intention 
 of God in redeeming Jew and Gentile alike from the curse of a broken 
 law according to the only olan which, inconsistency with justice, even 
 the inlinitelv wise God Himself could devise. The majesty ot the 
 1 )ivinc government is hereby sustained and the law of God vindicated ; 
 iustice i1 aatistie.l, mercy to the sinner is proclaimed, and man, fallen, 
 tuilty man, may be saved. Such is the Divine end oi the glorious 
 dispensation which, according to prophetic teaching, it was ChriScS 
 mission to introduce into our world, adorn by His life, confirm by 
 His miracles, and seal with that blood of the Now Testament which 
 His own lips declared "was shed for us." ,, ^ . ^,, _, . , 
 
 The frequent appeals of Christ Himself to the Old Testament 
 Scriptures as bearing testimony to His Divine mission, plainly show 
 that He regarded Himself as the leading ©bject of Divme prophecy. 
 "Search the Scriptuiob," said Jesus to the Pharisees "for they are 
 they which testify of Me." Again : "lor J^^ ye believed Moses, ye 
 would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me." Again : "Thmk not 
 that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets ; I am not ^me to 
 destroy but to fulfil." Again : On standing up to read from the book 
 of Isaiah when in the synagogue at Nazareth, He "opened the book 
 and found the place where it was wntten, the ^^P^"^ «f the Lord is 
 unon Me. because he hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the 
 poor ; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to.preach dehver- 
 Le to the captives, and recovery of sight to the Wmd to set at 
 liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the 
 Lord " He then adds : "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in yo-r 
 ear9»_A Scripture prophecy fulfiUed, Tom ! and, if you know any- 
 Zc^of Christ's character and work, you will know also that this 
 nroDhecv "shot within" something leas than "a thousand miles of the 
 Sr'^ufhrs hearers, says the evangelist, ''f ,^- «- -^^^X" 
 and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded uu of his mouth, 
 ana ^on««rLu di ti b ^ ai«civ"le« at Emraaus with being "slow 
 Tet again ; after cnuigi"b ^"' "i>'^4^'=- * — 
 
*4 
 
 60 
 to believe all that the prophets have spoken," He said to them : 
 "Ought not Christ to have suflfered these things, and to enter into 
 His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He 
 expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Him- 
 self." And of His interview with the Apostles at Jerusalem after 
 His resurrection, it is written : "And He said unto them, These are 
 the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all 
 thiiigs must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and 
 in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He 
 *^fir understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and 
 said unto them. Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suf- 
 fer, and to rise from the dead the third day ; and that repentance and 
 remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, 
 beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." 
 
 We have thus the unimpeachable testimony of the sincere, the true, 
 the spotless Jesus Himself, that He, as the Messiah suffering to pro- 
 cure for all nations "repentance and remission of sins," was prophe- 
 sied of in tl^e books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms; in other 
 words, throughout the entire .n\.^pired volume of Old Testament 
 Scriptures. 
 
 .But tlie story of Christ as connected with the fulfillment of pro- 
 phecy, Tom, (with Kenan, Ingersoll, an I all other inlidel writers ) pro- 
 fesses to believe is a fabrication— is legend. It is legend then, we 
 would further observe, of very ancient origin, and having very remark- 
 able con-oborative testimony ; but this is of course, all nothing to 
 lom. Strange, however, if he possessed even the smallest mea'^sure 
 of candor or sincerity, that it did not strike him as something more 
 than remarkable that legend should be sustained for so lengthened a 
 period, and by testimony, both prophetic and historical, the best and 
 most reliable that history can furnish. Referred to by Moses in the 
 prediction, that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the 
 serpent— which prediction is still in course of fulfillment in the un- 
 ceasing conflict between light and darkness, good and evil, the domin- 
 ion of Satan and the Kingdom of Christ; a contest which is destined 
 to continue until the head of the serpent shall have been completely 
 bruised, hi.s usurped authority destroyed, and "the kingdoms of this 
 world which are now being rapidly enlightened and Christianized, 
 hare Wome "the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ"-prophe 
 sied ofTy Isaiah as "the Virgin's Son, the Prince of peace, the mighty 
 God whose name shall be called Immanuel "-reiterated circumLn 
 tially and m a variety of forms by all the leading Jewish prophets-^ 
 appealed to by Jesus Himself, and claimed by Him as having a direct 
 and special reference to His person, work, and mission-confirmed by 
 the declaration of the evangelists, that the events as predic ed had 
 actually and literally transpired^and lastly, further borrwUnes to 
 
 fLt nf"^A"^-' f^°'^" T^K'^ Apostles: who confirmed Thtrnth 
 fulness of their testimony by the performance of the most astoundiru/ 
 mirach>s and by finally sacrificing their lives in defence of thtriih 
 hey had espoused. Such a concurrence of reliable testimony is S 
 to be found m support of "legend" throughout the historirannals of 
 any civilized people in the world, But the confirmatory t"stimonv of 
 miracle, and of prophecy fulfilled, in connection withle hiZl^ L 
 
61 
 
 faithfully delineated by mch men, prove the events narrated to hav 
 been fact and not fiction, God's truth, and not legend, vain man to the 
 contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 In Christ also, we may add, all the eacrificial types and shadows of 
 the Old Testament and the Mosaic law had their fulfilment. T pified 
 by Abraham in the offering of his son Isaac, heir of the promises, 
 upon the altar of sacrifice — by the brazen serpent which Mof ; erected 
 in the wilderness, and to which the dying Israelites were directed to 
 look and live — by the Off'ering of the Passover, or paschal lamb, which 
 was to be without blemish, and not a bone of which was to be broken, 
 thus prefiguring the spotless " Lamb of God " who was to be offered 
 for the sins of the world ; and while His blood was to thus and for 
 this purpose be literally shod, not a bone of His was, according to pre- 
 diction, to be broken, and which was literally fulfilled, although con- 
 trary to the Roman custom with thos whom Uiey crucified — typified 
 by these, and by all the sacrifices which, under the former dispensa- 
 tion, were appointed to be offered for sin, they clearly and specifically 
 pointed to the great Antitype foretold by the prophets as being 
 "wounded for our transgressions, bruis' <1 for our iniquities," and by 
 the shedding of whose most precious biuod He has "ma<1<^ an atone- 
 ment for sin," and "obtained eternal redemption" for them that 
 bel:"ave. 
 
 Prophesie4 of by Moses, as Him in whom "all the nations of the 
 earth should be blessed "—by Jacob as the "Shiloh," or Messiah the 
 King, "unto whom the gathering of the people shall be" — by Bavid, 
 as "God, the sceptre of whose Kingdom is a '•ight sceptre, who loveth 
 righteousness and hatetk wickedness." Also, as the personified One 
 whose " feet and whose hands were pierced, for whose vesture they 
 cast lots, and whose garments they parted among them "—by Isaiah, 
 as "tho Man of sorrows on whom was laid the iniquity- of us all" — 
 by Daniel, as "the Son of Man," and "the Most Holy" who was "to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, anil to bring in everlasting righteous- 
 ness," and whose "dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall 
 not i>ass away"— by Haggai as "the Desire of all nations who should 
 come, and whose house should be filled with His glory"— by Zachariah 
 as "a fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness "—and by Malachi, 
 as "the Sun of righteousness who should arise with heahng in his 
 wings "—prophesied of by all these, we say. and in this remarkably 
 express and dctinitc manner, Chri.st's person, life work, character, and 
 mission, exactly corresponded, in every particular, with tho predictions 
 uttered and recorded. And yet, notwithstanding the definitenesa of 
 these and other predictions, and their most manifest and appropriate 
 application to the person, advent, and work of Christ, Tom can see 
 nothing in Scripture prophecy but jioetry and ohscuntij / His spec- 
 tacles with which he scanned the sacred pages m his old age, must 
 have had one eye blue and the other green, with the word "poetry en- 
 graved upon the one, iind "obscurity" on the other, and in this way, it 
 in no other, we may account for his not being able to see anything 
 else before him ! I presume also that his political goggles and his 
 Scripture goggles weje kept in separate and distinct cases, to be 
 spverallv donned and doffed as occasion might require— the one 
 
I 
 
 62 
 prompted by enmity to f !od a;vi His people : the other, by love to his 
 " fellow-citizens of all nations !" 
 
 On page 70, Tom has the following: "U is consistent to believe 
 that the event communicated, would be told in terms that could be 
 understood ; and not lelated in such a louse and obscure manner as to 
 be out of the comprehensions of those that heard it, ana so equivocal 
 as to lit almost any circumstances that might happen afterwards ; yet 
 all the things called prophecies in the book called the Bible, come 
 under this description." 1 )o they, indeed '? This is in keeping with 
 what you have had to say about miracles ; neither of which amounts 
 to more than the illuminating efJects of the moon's ray when strug- 
 gling for existence under the radiancy of the noonday sun ! Christ — 
 compared to whom as a moral and intellectual luminary, you are 
 obscurity and darkness itself — appealed not only to His miracles in 
 confirmation of the truthfulness of His words relative to His mission 
 and Messiahship ; but He also referred His disciples to the confirma- 
 tory character of prophecy in such words as these : " Now I tell you 
 before it come to pass, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe 
 that I am He." 
 
 Yes, but Tom tells us there are '"unfultilled " prophecies in the 
 Jjible, to one of which, in particular, we will here refer ; first, because 
 Tom's unfounded assertion relative to its non-fulfilment carries with it 
 a sfiiihlancc of truth ; and, secondly, because it is the only one to 
 which he refers that has any real difficulty with it. I refer to the 
 I)rophecy of Kzekiel against Egypt. The prophecy, referring appar- 
 ently to one of the three ancient divisions of the country which it 
 names Paf/iras, and which ans.vers to the Greek r//''6rt A, declares thai 
 it shall be "utterly waste and desolate "; and further, that "no foot of 
 man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall i)ass through it, 
 neither shall it be inhabited forty years," &c., 29 : 8-15. This is the 
 I)oint at which Tom sticks ; and he says, " It never came to ppss, and 
 conscipiently it is false." I dispute, however, both the "never" and 
 the "conse(]uently." Tliat the prediction was fulfilled through the con- 
 quering army of Nebuchadnezzar, we have the testimony of two 
 Heathen historians, M''i/(isfhnfs and BrroHn^, who lived about 300 
 years before Christ, one of whom affirms expressly, as observed by 
 Dr. Newton, "that Nebuchadnezzar conquered the greater part of 
 Africa ; and the other affirms it in ellect, in saying, that when Nobu 
 chadnczzar hoard of the death of his father, having settled hi;- ^^ffairs 
 in KiJtipt, and committed the cap/in;^ Avhom he took in Egypt, to the 
 care of some of his friends tu bring them after him, he hastened 
 directly to lialjylon." And whether tlie whole or only a part of Egypt 
 is referred to in the prophecy, its terms doubtless simply denoted 
 grral '/eaolafion, imp(jrting, as Dr. AVatson observes, "that the trade of 
 Egypt, which v/as carried on then, as at present, by caravans, by the 
 foot of man tuid beast, should be annihilated." We affirm tliat the 
 prophecy was thus fulfilled through the instrumentality of this 
 monarch ; and it now remains with Tom, or with his confreres ^Q the 
 infidel succession, to prove that it wa.s not. But this they cnnot do, 
 either from the rccord.s of Egyptian or any other iiisitory. 
 
 It thus ajipoars from this, as well as from a host of other predictions 
 
63 
 of Holy Wi-it, that tlio Divino iiHpiration of ih' prophocios of Holy 
 Scripture, wliich arc siicceasivcly vt!riti»'il, without cxiM-ptinn, hy th«> 
 events of history, is invariably continued }jy stuily, ohsiavution, ami 
 roaeaich. A continuation of this suuib prophecy runs thus : " Yet 
 thus saith the Lord ; at the end of forty years will 1 gather the 
 Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered ; and I will 
 bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the 
 land of Pathros [name given to the southern part of Egypt,] into the 
 land of their habitation ; and they shall be there a base kingdom. It 
 shall be the basest of the kingdoms ; neithnr shall it exalt itself any 
 more above the nations ; for f will iliuunish them, that they shall no 
 more rule over the nations." That this prophecy, which was delivered 
 more tlian two thousand years ago, wlien Mgypt was powerful and 
 great among the nations, has l>een literally fullilled, no one at all con- 
 versant with the history of Egypt from that time to the present can 
 for a moment entertain a rational doubt. Made tri!»utary from that 
 period successively to the I'.abylonian, Persian, and the empires suc- 
 ceeding, it has rf-'uained subject to the yoke of foreigners, and is 
 without a native prince, even to this day. And so, as the " ba.sest of 
 kingdoms," it will doubtless remain until it may please God to fulHl 
 another prediction of Holy Writ which seems to point to the future 
 of this once haughty but now greatly humbled nation. Like the 
 Jews, when they shall turn to the Lord and seek lu^lp from the (Jod 
 of Israel, they may look for a revival of their fornuir prosperity,w]»ich 
 seems to be indicated by the following passage : "And the Lord shall 
 smite Egypt; He shall smite and heal it; and they shall return even 
 to the Lord ; and He shall be entieated of them, and shall heal them. 
 For they shall cry unto the Lord because of tlit! oi)prcssors, and He 
 shnll oend them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver thi^m," 
 
 Isaiah 19: 20-22. . , , , 
 
 To the fact that Egypt has been deprived of its sceptre, has Jiad 
 " no more a prince of the land," and has continued to the present m 
 the humiliating condition foretold by the Jewish prophets, \ olney 
 and (Jibbons are witnesses: Volney says: "Such is the state ot 
 Iv'ypt Deprived, twenty-three centuries ago, of her natural pro- 
 prietors, she has seen her fertile lields successively a prey to the 
 Persians, the Macedonians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Arabs, the 
 Georgians, and, at length, the race of Tartars distinguish«|d by the 
 name of Ottoman Turks. The Mamelukes, purchased as slaves, and 
 introduced as soldiers, soon usurped tlu', power and elected a leader. 
 If their llrst establishment was a singular event, their continuance is 
 not less extraordinary. They are replaced by slaves brouglit from 
 their original country. The system of oppression is methodical. 
 Everything the traveller sees or hears reminds him he is in the country 
 of slavery and tyranny." "A more unjust and absurd constitution, 
 says (Ubbon, "cannot be devised than that which condemns the natives 
 of a countrv to perpetual servitude under the arbitrary dominion ot 
 strangers and slaves. Yet such has been the state ot Egypt; about 
 live hundred years. The most illustrious sultans of the waharite and 
 liorgite dynasties were themselves promoted from the Tartar nn.i Cir- 
 cassian bands ; and the four-and-twenty beys or military <■ nets have 
 evov been succeeded, not by their sons, but by their servants. Such 
 
i 
 
 the truth of Scripture 
 they were neverth»'less 
 two ihou: iiud four hundred 
 
 hif 
 
 (Irath they would 
 noiii lli'i A.iy which ha 
 "will !)fd'all you in the 
 
 64 
 
 ia the testimony of two intidel writers to 
 prophecy — them^elveH scoU'ers n! tht! iUble 
 eye-witnepges of the fact ■ fcjit! Id in it 
 years before. 
 
 Moaes prophesied of the JeWM that after 
 "utterly corrupt themselves," and turn aside 
 had commanded them; "and evil," .^aid if, 
 latter days ; because yo will do evil in the .sight of the Lord, to pro- 
 voke Him to anger, through the work of jour hands. And the Lord 
 shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even 
 unto the other," Deut. 31: 29. — Anything very "obscure" aboUt this 
 prophecy, Tom ? Is it not in "terms" that even the most addle-bended 
 might "understand" ? Moses predicts many other things v^pecting 
 this people, descending even to minute particulars, all of which were 
 literally fullilled >n tiieir after experieucir ; b\it we have not space to 
 insert them. We will, howevtir, for tlie further confu .uding of our 
 adversary, just glance at a few prophecies by the other prophets. A 
 prediction by Jeremiah relative to the Jews, reads thus : " For thus 
 saith the Lord, That after seventy years be acaomplished at Babylon 
 I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing 
 you to return to this place," 29: 10. Is this prophecy "ao equivocal 
 as to tit almost any circumstances that might happen afterwards," 
 Tom ? Again : Isaifh also prophesied of tliis event, and predicted 
 that a Persian monarch, whose very name he also gav u[)wards of 
 one hundred years before he was born, should be the chosen instru- 
 ment of its fulHlmcnt. Read Isaiah 44 : 24 to 45 : 4, Tom, if you 
 have a Bible at hand, and then be honest enough to send me your 
 proposition or flrr.larafion versus Scripf/ire prophecj/, revised, with all 
 " loose, obscure, and eqiiivocMtiim" or lying words expunged from it ; 
 and, as you are good at figures, sura up and give also an honest 
 statement of the number of words, or letters, you have left ! 
 
 The following is by Isaiah : " Strengthen ye the weak hands, and 
 confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fourful heart, 
 be strong, fear not ; behold your God will come. . . ,Ho will come and 
 save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the cars of 
 the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an 
 hart; and the tongue of the dumb sing." — Isa. 35: 3-6. Prophesied 
 of here as the God who should come, work miracles among His people, 
 as well as spiritually save them — in a prediction by Zachariah, Christ 
 is spoken of as a King having universal dominion, yet lowly, and 
 bringing salvation : " Rejoice greatly, U daughter of Zion ; hout, O 
 daughter of Jerusalem ; behold thy King cometh unto thee : Ho is 
 just, and having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon ti 
 colt the foal of an ass. And He shall speak peace unto the heathen ; 
 and 1 lis dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river even to 
 the ends of the earth."— 9: 9, 10. Christ's lowly, yet Kingly entry 
 into Jerusalem and the shouts of " Hosanna to the Son of David" 
 from the rejoicing multitude, was a literal fulfilment of a part of this 
 prediction; and the other portion in reference to peace through His 
 Name being extended to the heathen or Gentile world, and to His 
 dominion being extended throughout the whole earth, is being rapidly 
 and as literally fulfilled. Isaiah also predict.'^ that " in llid name shall 
 
65 
 th>- Utntdt^ Wwi." Ah.l ^o Uj.>y 'lo, .i.m't thoy. T.mi i Any ..l.Hcurity, 
 ur looPoiif^M, <>i .'((uivrKuitioii, ul.out siiuli luuphecies, Tom '\ And ilu 
 vrui call (.lfMr-< pioi.lu^ts who utt.Mv.l Ih.Mti, '-lyin^ prophets an.! ini 
 'priRtnrR'' ' It ho, yuu df..'iv.- to 1..- h(ii-.-wlupp.^a, until y.ni shall huJir 
 hly, ami upon yonr kn»'fd, r**irud. your liLise words, a?»d suy, ".No' / 
 
 uiii thu liar /" ... It.. 
 
 Wo nii"lit noloc.i itn.l sulnnit for tho ooRitatiou :vud roroiisideration 
 of th.we wlio ai.! ol th.. Tom Pain.^ way of thinkiuK', a h-^t /.f such 
 nrmlictioHH ; but wo must make a couple mom sufticp. U.- .^ is one of 
 Ihem- "SeoBt ihou tlicse -reat Imiklinss'l There sha "^^t be lolt 
 ouentom: upon anoth r that shul' not b. thrown down " lu.r the 
 days ahull f-omo upon thee, that thine enemies shall oast a trench about 
 tboe, and .•ompuss thee ruuipl, and keep thee in on every side, aud 
 .h:,ll : .y tiiee even with tli. .rouml." Also : " \\ hen ye nhaU «ee 
 .I.TUsaleni .compassed with armies, then know that the desolation 
 thereof is ni«l:. . . '^r tin-se be the days ot vengeance that a 
 Ihino. which are written may b<. fnltilled. . . And they shall la 
 Svthe ftd<'e of the sword, and shall be led away captive into al 
 .mtions; imdJerusulcm shall be iP.d.len down of the i.ent.les, u-.l 
 he times of the (lentiles be fuUillod." V-ry circumstantia this pre- 
 diction voM iK-c.,ivc, an.l its fullilnient, as history dcnionstra os was 
 
 r lon.linily «o. Iforo is the .iher : " Ik-bold, we go up to .leni- 
 s len ; and i\l Son of Man shall be ' .traye. unto the duet priests 
 and unto the scribes, and they shall comlcmn llim to dea h and shaU 
 doliver llini t.. the (SenUles to mock, and to scourge and to ci t) 
 
 im and the U.ird day He sh 11 rise agahi." May the "torn.s o 
 
 irpm>hecy oc "understood,' lum^^ or are they so loosely and 
 oL\l\y ex/rcsscd, Ms to lit almost any circumstance that migh 
 afterwards happen!" • iivc me an honest anawer, now ; and do no 
 lllrtrpmSon "a fabrication'' or "a fraud," for if yon do, shal 
 tak to you after this fashion : Such is th. uitirlel's usual method <.l 
 dsposin'^of all historical testimony hat does -t jf k-v^ the. ^^^^^^ 
 pose in the attempted establ.shment of their '"^'^^ . Jf^^*' ■ ' "*'X 
 carnal -uid baseless im-m/ulihi, (which means ..' p/'«Mpa«oning unb> 
 )^ni^l^^^^ynn^^A^''oi historical criti- .sm, is thus brought 
 n\; vet fmi'' "t reliuisition, because .1 stands hem m adm.m e 
 :^a.r7^:sinable ai^ument. , l>f-^-\ ^'^ ^;;;^J ,^^::^;^^"; 
 
 C^IJre^. veiitu. a;, ^^^^ 
 
 n„t, with men of this description it is ,.mcult ^"'^^^ ,^^^;^tlet^ 
 
 .11 ui^ument, however rational and i;-^ ^^''^ ^^^^^^.f fl i S 
 
 the ..II. ever-recurring objection, "/^^'> '< (f'/'f ',",'„ , i^.j^t's 
 
 helieve." Well, whotlu. sud. m.; wiU .^v^^ 
 
 further pre.liction Will still hold go"^ |"^ »"' „ 
 
 saved, but he that believeth not shall do damned. 
 
 Krom the foro.min.' Scipluve .,uotations, it is very api-arent that 
 rrom lue lon^ninr, i ' j,, >, ,,i .,<, easilv undei'fitood an 
 
 very many ..f the prophecies =ue a P^.^ n . .K s ^^j „„ j,, t,Ue„». 
 
 any historical iMirative-the expressio.. -.1 ^1 1 lihuent <.f 
 
 1 1111... ..imI tin' lUiilKa ii'ii and liieiai iiiiucni "h 
 
 selves jemarkalily clear, ami Uk appiK-.m 
 
 4f ii M^^^m^. 
 
fli 
 
 i-.i; 
 
 tlu'Ui uiiini.-itiikiililc. It Ijiif Ihim -aiil, liuwi-vci, ait>t dv I'oiii .'iiiiiiii'^ 
 tKc ri'f^t, that shiik' ol' tin.' Siii|iliiic pi«)|ilit'i'ifs wi-re rcrnnlcil utter the 
 prptlirtion? wop' lultillfil. Thi' i-- tulic; hut ■iipposc it wtTe :i(i : 
 duppoflp, lor example, that Luki), whose Gospel (ontiiins ;i prediction 
 of the siege and dcstniclion of Jerui'nlem, really wrote it after tho 
 siege, this would imt ailect iii thf least the veracity nf the EvnnHelist, 
 nor t\\tt tiMithfidness oj the prediction he recorded. Luke and tht 
 other Evangelists give it aw a fact that Christ uttcn-d the prediction 
 when lie was with them in tlie ll(!sli ; ami a.s a fact must over remain 
 a fact, whether it he ovm reer»rded in a hook or not, the whole of tiie 
 argument turns on the veracity of the men. It is not--provo that 
 the book was written after the sje^e, and you thereby prove that the 
 [•redietion was false; hut thus: Pnivc that the men were lyiuK, 
 hy[)ocritif'nl impnstnrs, aiut yni tin ivliy provf that the trul.hfulne.ss ..f 
 their tnatimfmy is open to cpiestion. Thi.>» no man ever did, >t can do; 
 but the opposite by a variety ot .vidence, even God's enemies beinji; 
 judges, has been clearly e.stablished. They were the most holy and 
 self-denying of men : men who for the sake of Christ and the world 
 nobly persevered in the proclamation of the truth in the face of the 
 direit ignominy and persecution, and kncwiug, too, that they were 
 dastined to seal the truth of their testimony with their blood ; whicli 
 they accordingly did, fulfilling thereby anotljer prediction of our 
 Lord's ; " Thoy shall deliver you up to councils ; and in the synagogues 
 ye shall be beaten ; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings 
 for My sake, for a testimony against them. And some of you shall 
 they cause to be put to death." 
 
 Is this "bombastic rant," Tom, "lull ot extravagaut metaphor, 
 without application and destitute of meaning," as you have iguorantly 
 and undiscerningly said of Isaiah's propherie.s ? Was this prediction, or 
 were any of the other prophecies t.. which we have referred, "ahootin^' 
 with 11 long bow of a thousand year.a, and striking just within a thou 
 sand miles of iho mark, leaving it to the ingenuity of posterity t.. 
 make it point blank 1" Or were these predictions in very deed s.. 
 loose, obscure, aud equivocal in statement, as to ^/it almost any nttif 
 (the seduction, wife stealing, and drunkenne.ss, "of Tom, I suppose, 
 excepted,) that Tnitrht afterwards happen' (»! well, as to that, he 
 can say, of cour.sc, in common with all "reasonable" iutidel.s, that thev 
 are all alike '• bomha.stical rant, destitute of application and of mean- 
 ing 1" And, determined at nil .•vents, and in any ca.'jc, to thus do away 
 with the whole of the pioi)h..cii.s, c.niin;,^ t<. them in the .spirit of <he 
 fabled wolf with the hinl), lie say.s " I will even -^'oblile them all up • ' 
 But knowing that he lies and that the Divine' Word brings, as the 
 Ghri.stian has lnought, to his notice many real prophecies which were 
 literally and circumstantially fullilleil, and that thev are there plainly 
 recorded in the Hook before him. .tartin-- his serpent tongue at thenl, 
 he .says, " i will make piovision a-ainst them alsr, and say, that ttiev 
 '','';\,rJ ■^"r^'"'''''''' *'"''' '"'' ''i-^'r.iios ! /icrav.^r they were litrraUy 
 jul;dltd IS TMtstu- jjruof that they rue nut -itropheeie.s l)ut historie.'? 
 and 1 will even goliblo them upon th.ot .^core! Aud the lamb, he 
 think.", cannot help it.self, 1„it must meeklv and helple.«.sly submit to 
 the .■haigcs, and sutler itself to be tim ; " -obbled up," or down into the 
 throat ol thi : hiuvrv, r.ive,: .us I.o;,; t ' Hut there is a "Lion" in the 
 
 

 H7 
 .S» ripliirnl fuM, a< will a. .1 " Lamb," .iml li llir, l.ainl', iv- In- lliiiik.'', 
 fan <l<t lu'tliiii^ liut iini;kl) .uWiiiil, tliii " I, inn' j^luro.s .it liiiii vvhilr in 
 th«' very ml "f liikiiij^ hi.s lipH aft(.'i' llif fniil dcrd, uiul iidt only .showt* 
 light, but bpriu^^ iqiuii liiui, Icaih liiiii lu pioi e. , uml t.'xiiusc;; hiii vib' c«r- 
 caHc t(» an obKrrvingand iultnct'lotl world. Tbr tvoll' would Hwallowtbc 
 pure and innocetil I.aiub. but the " Liou of tho tribe of .Tuduh" <onif c 
 aUtng and inspires Ibusc wlit) partakf! nf bis linly, U\Jih-lo' uig tiatun* 
 and spirit not exactly to swallow bini up, foi iliat would be a 
 nau«eouK bit'' indciid, but to inflict upon bini nieb proHtr.iting wounds 
 that all virtuous intclligunct: shall lipneidortli point tho finger of dcoin 
 at him, and say, "Aha! such he dusurves ; und no would wt; have it I" 
 
 I'lcfore bringing this ehaptei to a dose, I ought, I think, to obscrvis 
 that TiJiii at'cusj!s tin; good, the devoted, the holy propliet, -Jerciniali, 
 even of " lying," as well as of uttering unfullilled predictions. I»ut 
 as Bishop Watson has given him a .satislactory going over about thi.s 
 piece of gratuitous niisciiief , and also made "the lough places" (so made 
 bv the venomou.s pen of Tom) quito smooth, and "tho crooked places 
 straight," we will not here ucodlossly occupy spactt by a further refcr- 
 f-nco to them ; although, did space permit, we think wo might improvn 
 a little cvou on tho liishop's explanation of this and other things, by 
 giving them a tinishing stroke or two. The opinion which this ain 
 Foving, truth-hating Tom, the Deist, entertains of those holy men, and 
 their prophetic mission, is of course widely ditlercnt from oui-a. He 
 designates them, as to their "general t;haraclcr," a band of "poetical, 
 
 musical, conjurin 
 
 g, dreaming, stroUiu}, 
 
 ,"utry"! p. 143. What con- 
 
 ncctiou there is , between " /"Wn/' and ''cDiJuriti;/" Im takes it for 
 "ranted that his "fcUow-citizeus of all nations" must, of course, 
 thoroughly under.:tand, for he does not attempt to explain it ; and thi.i, 
 I suppose, because "aswr//o?;,'' ami not '''■.rplaunti'nn," is his fort. 
 
 Allow rac to add, in bringing our leiuaiks upon this subject to a 
 close, that as the .lewish nation was, according to the teaching of 
 .Scripture, as well as according to other records of providential and 
 Jraditional history, originally chosen by God from among all the nations 
 of the earth to be the Depository of God's word and will tc men ; so 
 itB prophets were tho chosen, holy. Divinely appointed instrumentB of 
 deliveiiug God's messages to Hi. people and tha world. Aud hence, 
 from Moset; to Malachi, extending through a period of more than a 
 thousand years, they all united in delivering the name doctrines and 
 predicting the same blessings or judgmenls to mankind, according to 
 moral character aud conduct, fheir doctrine was holy, and with fear- 
 less confidence aud sincerity, they invariably reproved and threatened 
 tho wicked, however encircled by power or exalted in rank. Their r.eal 
 was disinterested, their ccuragr untlauuted, and their integrity wai 
 unimpeachable. Their Divine commission was attested by the intrin- 
 sic moral excellency of their doctrine, by the miraculous power vvhich 
 they occasionally exerciecd, and by the fulfilment, durn.g their lives, 
 of many minor predictions. Their mipsion was thuP, beyond reason- 
 able dispute, or doubt, by Divine appointment, and then work wa« 
 holy What, moreover wae said of Samuel, might with equal pro 
 priety and truth be said of each and all of God's prophets : "And he 
 said unto him, Behold now there is iu this city a man ot God, and M 
 
6S 
 ,> an hnnomhir man, all UaU h" ^atfh rnmih .^imhj lo pattir 1 
 8auiucl 9: 6. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 T(>M, WITH M(»Ri: <»!■ lllS MISTAKF.S, AND SCKH'TUKE 
 - CONTKALIICTIOXS," cn\b] J )i:KKi). 
 
 Paiue's m\ is written ac with the point nf a (liiiuiuiul, iiiul is i;ii- 
 j^ravou as upon stone ! It is ii pciiictual nifniorial iif,'anisl him. If is 
 "iV of ihaum, in common with most if not all <itli(>i' inlitlcl })roUuc- 
 tiun.s, is made up of bu.seless all-^gationn, chinerical or whimaical 
 opinions, sarcasm, sophistry, mi.srepre.sentation, false a.ssertion, un- 
 warrantable assumption, scurrilty, obscenity, and blasphemy ! -these 
 ronstitutc the compound argument by which intidelity is sustained, 
 and which, in the estimation .i inlidel scribblers, constitute their pro- 
 ductions unanswerable I While, however, to a virtuous mind, obscen- 
 ity and blasphemy may not be answerable, the other comi.oiients of 
 an intidcl argument arc. 
 
 Tom's theological and Deistically religious uiulertaknig, we may 
 further remark, is strongly suggestive of a compound of vain ailccta 
 tion and igncranct; assuming the snnhlaiif of knowledge and deep 
 research, lie prates learnedly (I suppose he thinks) about triangles 
 and astronomy, as though the comiuiss ami the telcscoi»e were ihc 
 instruments by which he meant to discover the existence and measure 
 tin; dimensions of Ihble untruthfulness: Mis object, however, in 
 writing so much about his theological triangles and astronomy, by 
 which he professes to have discovered, taken, and settled for all time 
 and "all nations," the dimensions of his Dcistic <Mid, is evidently, 
 first, to show to the world that he knows sonietliiug secondly, to get 
 the world to think so ; and, thirdly, tof\unish a religiously revolution- 
 ized world~.so made by Mes.srs. Paine vK: Co. -with a scientific peg 
 upon which to hang the sum total of their theological faith : And 
 this by the advice, sage counsel, order, sriciiliiic ilemonstration, and 
 predictive prescience extraordinary of the mar. who foretold to a group 
 of tavern frequci\ters who met him at a hotel to ih) him homage on 
 his return to America from France, with his precious freight of 
 property which he stole from a bookseller's domicile- the man, we 
 say,who fontohl to that intelligent audience, that in Jh-r i/rars A»i>rir.a 
 wouM h>' nithvit a Bihh' .' lie didn't tell them what was to become 
 of them all ; nor how long his theological )ie.i: of .scientific Deism was 
 to hang for the world's M'orsliip suspended in the heavens — he forgot 
 to announce whether suih woi.sliip was to be, Ity Dcistie theological 
 1a\s, interiuuiable mu\ the peg eteriinl or not ; alpo.whethcr the Deiat's 
 heaven was !,o be, ceaselessly ami eveilastingl} ; upplied with adultfir- 
 ers' and debauched wiveb' childroi., &c., or not ! lie forgot also tu add 
 
 i 
 
69 
 
 (let) I 
 
 ciu''lc.s 
 
 that, f(.ll^^vin,^ his cxauiph- in the iiiuritl rsv.m\ 
 
 jHficatiMii of hi^^ 
 
 tlic iKiy 
 
 Dt'isti 
 iiiont () 
 
 f 
 
 Mviinii)lcs <'VciY ""uod Deist" woul.l bo e,r "nipt Iron. .. 
 
 irriu^U^^l^va^s' wages, .mlc. forced thereto. hyUu^cru. and 
 unscieutitic aim ol the hiw, the cruel weight (d which, lot haid pui 
 
 ul ^K from said cause, was felt, time and aga.n, by poor drunken, 
 S^::t Tom Paine I Touching the origin of his P^^^^' ^";^>^:^ 
 genital occasion of the supciior chuivcter of »"\™ y' ^^^^^^ ^ 
 himself (».. to,) on being a (Inahr by birth and decent . ^^^ f"'b' J 
 
 Turn has, I-""';'. ; ' "^ X ,ui ., .o«.. i^u-Hl .-uugh, ..r h,..l 
 Ills owu uW,rliiil liM», »e " ' "" I", ",„,,. ,,, ,,.,, '„( l,;, piedeccsaors, 
 
 Miivid • 
 
 Vrii.rm^'elvcr^, in the eouisc uf a much 
 
 , „,„ J": Luithstaniiug olic or tw.mis-stops in the cour.: 
 ., , ,,.;:; hr"L-on.pa.cdu,th the "thousand and oue_ flagu.d 
 
 violatiuns.-l the l'i\'".c ';^'' j-\"''' ;;;.;; j^i^^t^^iji,,;, this mis-at^p or 
 shorter life -the man who * :;';^;, '' ^^^^ ..n,i/,vliolc life, wa., as 
 two by the ..Micrwisc undeviating tenor 
 
 compared wiUi themselves, arh>r 
 
 uncommon faithfulness and '^l^' ';;'; r',;V^,;;;;/i,;t,." ti,, mgh distinc- 
 
 thc world, ,,ustly c. ,tl. , by ^^f^^^^T ^,;'f.,i,ow,ng "s what a 
 
 "■'■''''',"",;i, iuM. lie nrnaments ,.f his person, and 
 '"'"' M"^'''!'"''*-""'^' '" , ,. ,• ,,,1; the surprising 
 
 ■""^'''""^ '''*;:i";;;;^lK:,,rv '■™-»,>'' "^ 
 
 itself ; and was also, through his 
 to the uitf<rc;its <jf rohmou and 
 
 tioti ol 
 
 Irarni'i 
 
 variety "I' liis 
 
 the far ni(»re 
 
 revolutions in his fortune 
 
 revolutions in ins loriune . ''-"";■,■:,,,,,, ua, ..f prosperity ;~-hi'^ 
 ,,vers,tv sometimes -l;;;.^-; ^^^^^ ^ , aiihcuWes, Ld peculiar 
 .ingular dexterity ,n ''^ -^j^^j^'^^^^ circumstances ;-the pri.es he 
 iclicity m accommodating him^c 10 ^^^ ^^^ ,^^ ^,,^ 
 
 "^'"' "" , J , i„ . ,„-,vterlv hand uuon tn<' narp, auu •"" •■ -" 
 
 pcrieticed general Juuia^tul^iur^ 'ulations of his royal govern- 
 
 talent for poetry . Ui^ tl '^^^^^^^^^ hi. public writings ;-the 
 tnent, and the incomparable u f «^^^ his devotion ;^the rigor 
 .j^^pth of hi:^ repentance, and tU. Ht M ^.^ ^^^^,^ ^^^ ^^^ 
 
70 
 huuur uimI yra(;c which rimolilcil the history of his life ; wr ehail «oi' 
 such an a8seniljla;,'c of shiiiiiij,' <iualities, as perhaps were never united 
 ir. any oilier merely human charaftcr." 
 
 God, however, Uoos not h;t these slandering', nndiscerning, mistaken 
 Deists rest quietly and ccniplarently undisturbed in their sins. Having 
 given the requisite yraccs, tale, its, and inspiration. Ho sends first one 
 and then another of His servants to convince them of tlmir madness 
 and folly, and to bring tho'u to a scjjso of their duty and obligation 
 to llim as their RMrern'r as well as their Creator. Hut what, in 
 general, do they Jo to t/icui ? Why, to use the expressive language of 
 Scripture, they maltreat one, stone a secoiid, anil would kill a third ! 
 But what shall be dojK; with those men .' Why (iod says, "they shall 
 to miserably destroyed." Kejccting, as they do, the Heir of all things, 
 the 8on of Clod, in all Che essentials of His character and being, a« 
 Redeemer, Mediator, and Haviour, what saith the Creator of all things 
 to such men ? Why, " he that hath the Son hath the Father also ; 
 but he that hath not the Son of (iod, hath not the Father." ft is 
 thus very manifest, the Word of ( Iod being true, that, as certainly anil 
 as fatally as docs the doomed Atheist, the Ihiist lives without ("Jod, 
 and dies Avithout hope ' 
 
 But let us take another look into this book of lies, the production of 
 Tom's pen, written in attempted refutation of the liook of Truth. 
 Permit us to prcmisi', however, that if, through the age past, an 
 intruding "iuterjMjlation" may have crept in among the sacreil writmg»i 
 here and i\i^tG~ -anivrKj fhrm will b« found the alleged "contradictions," 
 if they really contain any. I am not aware, iiowever, tliat they e.on- 
 tain even any of such. Dut Uni Bible being a very old book, written, 
 as to its different parts, by various authors, at distnnt periods ; and, 
 furthermore, translated, copied, and re copied, again and again, it ih 
 certainly no great wonder if a feiv difficulties and aitparent contiadic] 
 tions should appear in some of the historical parts of the different 
 books. If there are any real mistakes or contradictions, however, we 
 again assert, they arc the work of < /jiyists or iA interpolators ; and 
 they do not, moreover, affect in the least the great and holy doctrinal 
 truths and teaching which ruti through all the books. Wc may 
 further obssrvc, that a repetdion or an abridgement, with some truth 
 ful variations or additions, is allowable lu sacred, no letis than in pro 
 fane history. The ( tospels.four in number, may br cited as an illustration. 
 It ip very remarkable also, that among all the variations found in thp 
 ditterenl manuscripts ;iud versions of the New Testament, they do 
 not, as Dr. Simpson says, " when all put together, allcct anything 
 eB8«utial, either in the doctrines or i)rccopt,s of the r,uspel." I may 
 here say, that the Rev. Mr. Simpson, author of "A I'lea for Relii?ion," 
 to which I have here and elsewhere referred, is an " M. A."; but 1 
 have taken the liberty of dubbing him " Doctor " in my book, because 
 »t IS not only a convenient and respectable title of personal reference, 
 but because also, he is, T think, in every respect worthy of it— much 
 more BO, indeed, than some uf the D. D.'e who are distinffuished by 
 tb« title. • ' 
 
 On ptge 1 72, Tom acknowledges that "the writers of the Gep.«4ls 
 have not acted in concerted imposition, but each writer separately and 
 individually for himself, and without the kno^'ledge of the other " 
 
71 
 lie thus maintains that it is an unconcerM impoiition. liut lUd it 
 not atrike him, as it might any reasonable, person, as exreetlinr-ly 
 strange that so many impostors should spring up at the, same tiras 
 relative to the same thing, and each, too, wholly unknown to the 
 other?— to which conclusion, it appears, Paine was inevitably led trom 
 a consideration of its mriations and imagined contradictions, i^trange 
 inspiration to imposition, truly, such would be, come from whatever 
 source it might. But its variations, not to say "contradictions such 
 as might naturally and ordinarily be expected from separate witnesses 
 and fecorders of the same facts and events, certainly go to show that 
 the whole was not only uncovcerfM, but affords also strong preaump 
 tive evidence of its truthfulness. While the great general and lead- 
 ing truths, as enunciated and recorded by all the sacred writers are 
 identically the same, the descriptive and historic variations, whetlier 
 as to insertion or omission, are purely characteristic and natural- -hs 
 naturally and varyingly circumstantial in the narration, as is the .-o,- 
 reaponding individuality of the separate writers. 
 
 Let us now look with the eye of an unsparing but hones, and 
 truthful critic at a few of Tom's all but mterminabk mistakes He 
 sirKing Aha., was defeated and destroyed by Tekah. This is false 
 he^a. defeated, but not destroyed. He died a natural deah ; and the 
 prophesy by the prophet Isaiah was thus literally fulfilled. le 8a> . 
 SattL Book of Ezra was written immediately after the -lews retur. 
 Uom Babylon. He should have kn.»wn that it was nearly eighty 
 
 ^* hI*2^-. "th. Jews never prayed for anything but victory ven- 
 geance, *..i nche,..' Let the reader consult I Kings 3:6-9, and 8:J3.M 
 2 wel ^ prayers by David and other., as recorded ,n the .Id 
 Testament. L V wi prove this assertion to be nothing .short of . 
 
 ''T^'t^* M*«lhen «. a Just, moral people, .>t addicted to 
 ..rueltv and reve^, i.«ther .'ere they wiv,hippers ot images. This 
 is aUo' false, t.s «f«««^tic, reliable history proves^^ 
 
 ■i\m savH : "Alm.-*t v,.^ only parts m the book ••'^1«^\ ^'^^J^'^- 
 tha Lvey to us any idea of Cod, are .some chapters m .lob ami the 
 l^^^ii Su r recollect no other." Tom's memory is saul to have 
 b!en t:^ retentive ; his recollection is here, ^-w-^-^ -j; ; - 
 ^adlv at fault as a great variety of passages m "the book caiuu .n 
 Bible" deSvpovo Tand which, moreover, makes pretty ol,v.ous tl. 
 [acf that UiTs admirer of Kuclid and l^ver of the se.r,ces was not a ht 
 man to write against the Bible. 
 
 of the Lor.l is perfect, eonvertint' tjtie soul . th*. ^f ^l^?^ , ,^.,^ ^;^,,t 
 
I J. 
 
 iny 
 
 tht^ eyes. Till' I'cai nf tiic Lonl i.s clean, uiuliinn,!^ f.-u'eviT 
 
 t\u 
 
 juiigint'.iits of lilt; i.urd iirc true ami lij^'hu.'ous alto^vlhcr, Moro to hv 
 desired art' thoy than '/nU\, yea, Ihau rmuh find r'uld ; ^-.wpotfir also than 
 honey and the honoycoml). Moreover by them is thy =^ervant warned , 
 and in keeping of them there is ureat reward. Lot the words of my 
 mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acfeptable in thy sight, 
 () Lord, my strength and ray Kedeomf^v."- -Herein is distinetly reeop 
 nized the law and the commandments t/.s' a IMoiw Heiwlation : that 
 these, with "the judgments of the I^rd, arc true and righteous al- 
 together ;" that in the keeping of thcni "there is great reward ;" and 
 that the F3almi;st hoped [or acceptance, even of the words or prayer of 
 his mouth, through (lod as his "strength and his Rfdfnnn':'" which arc 
 the great and lundamiMital doctrines forming the basis of nil Scri|)tural 
 antl Christian tlieidogy. And yet Tom says, there is nothing but 
 Deism in this cliaptcr ! A man, Imwcver, wlio will b<' guilty of a 
 barefaced lie iibfuit one thing, will as readily be guilty of it about 
 another. \Vlieni't» it has issued, houcvei', it is not hard to tell, ilc 
 tisUs us upon page 'id, tliat his mind has long })ecn subject to a holtiny 
 process — the "father of lies" being of course, the prime originator of it, 
 lie givps us ;i clue to the source of his knowledge ami reasonin;' in the 
 following words : "There .uc, ' he says, "two distinct classes of wkat 
 ate called 'thoughts;' tho.sc thai we produce in ourselves by rellection 
 and the act of thinking, and tiiose that bolt into the mind of their own 
 accuid, I have always madt; it a lulo to lieut those vohmtary visitors 
 with civility, taking car(> to examine as well as I was able, if they 
 were worth entertaining ; and it is from tlu'iu that I have acquired 
 aliiiox! all lliL' kiuiiulfilijf that I liavr.'' This thougitt lioliing process 
 tieing the devil's mode of injection, it is hence pretty dear whence 
 Tom has derived "almost all' his stock of "knowledge." Those 
 thoughts that "bolt into the mind of their own .tccord," that he here 
 speaks of, are nut unfrequently S.itau'.-; injections designed to be 
 elaborated into "Ages of IJeason," and such like Apoloniaii literature. 
 If Tom had selected und ap|)ropriate(l verse 1.") of this P.snlin, as "the 
 words iif lii.>^ month and the ineditation ind prayer of his lieart," he 
 would have found it to be ]»eculiarly .appropriate to his own ca.se ; foi, 
 in a pie tunineiit sense, he was verily guilty of "presumptuous sin and 
 the great tiausgression' the presumptuous sin of rejecting "the 
 revelation of His will " which (Jod lias given to men, and of dis 
 belieying "the leriud which (!od hath given of His Son," and the 
 con.sequeiit great, unpardonable, .soul-ruining "transgression " of ties 
 pising and rejecting Christ as tlie only Saviour ;iud Mope of a perish 
 ing world. 
 
 So profound was Tdni's knowledge of the silences and of .•^cientilic 
 terms, .(.Tubineil with what he didn't know of Hebrew and Hebrew 
 lerm.s, that he has atlempted to prove, that because the book of .Job 
 contains the Creek words, PAmrAr, (}r/n„, .md Archtrax, therefore it 
 must have been the work of .some heathen writer who was acquainted 
 with .science and the s.ientilic names in ( ireek of (.hose celestial orbs ' 
 entirely ignoring, in his ignoiance, the fin I that in the original Hebrew 
 Hie words of the levt ;uv. /;,/^. CIuhU, and Kuaa ' ' 
 
 iMiivlaliiit, |],,,t lins a.lopted the Creek woril 
 
 ■MV\ thai !i 
 
 SSo deep also antl uxten^ivf was Tom'-; kiiuwtedi'c (.f .-^oript 
 
 pture, even 
 
73 
 
 in hia own vornacnJar, that he mistakes Mark and Liik.- for iipostU'S. 
 au.l ^o (IcMiK'nat.'s them upon p!i<,'e KVJ. And so convorsiini was he 
 witli the mind of (Jhrist, that lie tell, us that Christ did not intend to 
 be apprehended and ciucilied ! .puto overlooking^ the 1 act (which is a 
 complete refutation of the assertion,) that Christ's own express, unequi- 
 vocal, and unmistakable prediction in reference to his ciucihxiua, 
 convicts Tom himself either of the most stupid oversight, or ot 
 falsehood. Wlien 1 wrote the former part of the "age ot reason, 
 Tom says, "1 had tlien vnfh.r liible »,„■ T.'stament to refer to ! Hence 
 (if true,) may be accounted for, in part, the egregious bluudeungs, 
 misrepresentations, and mistakes, with wliich the first part of his inli- 
 ilel production is tilled ! And hence also, having, as we may suppose, 
 aftetwards procured "/..//, a lUbh awl a n^tcm>'<' the superior! yot 
 the "second part" (to which we have been chieily referring,) with its 
 Deistic expository scrii)ture referen.u^s, and equally teeming I )eistic 
 Scriptural blun.leriuus ! Ihit, by the way, I liuve always unders oud 
 ihat the "Bible-' inrh<M the "Testament." This well known tact, 
 however, has eluded both his store-house of knowlc.lge and ot extra- 
 ordinary discernment. He is very wise in his own conceit ; but from 
 ul and many other such statements, we gather that he was not o 
 learned, and knowing, and discreet, and wise,as he imagined himself to 
 
 ^"speaking of >nnnrncal "contradictions," Bishop Watson says iii 
 repWto Tom : "You allow the book of K/,ra to be a genuine book; 
 b, t that the author of it may not escape without a blow you say ha 
 in matters of record it is not to be depended on ; and as '^^oof ot 
 vouTaiertion, you tell us that the total amount of the numbers who 
 returned fron Babylon does not correspond with the particulars ; and 
 tha evm "hild may have an argument for its inlidelity you display 
 e mrSlars and show your own skill in arithmetic, by summing 
 telC S^^^^^^ '-"^^'^-^ "^^"\"^ great learning, 
 
 knew^o little of science, s.I little of the lowest branch of science 
 that he could not give his readers tlie sum total of sixty par icular 
 urns You know: undoubtedly, (question) that «- Hebrew 1^^^^^^^^ 
 denoted also numbers: and that there was such a ^'-^^ similai^.y b 
 tween some of these letters, that it was extremely easy for a tia 
 Sber of a manusenpt to mistal^ the letter whu i i^prese^its io^ 
 
 '' Vo^I" i^t^ do not shirk real ditliculties or nustakes when and when: 
 ^ouseeweaou furnish a solution, and, 
 
 mmmmm 
 
 that Alattnew mauc.^ ^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^^,,, ,|o„l,tlos^ 
 
 before Uiey married^ /^ ^>\ '' „^ ,, ,„a most reliable authority 
 uware, the Bislu p ol ^^^ " •» ' ^ ^. .. -j.,,;, ..^umeut," he says, 
 
 lUllll *"»!'*• "*• 
 
is in ii. style wliich BVeii its trutli would nut oxcusf : yet tint ur^'unient 
 isgou<l foi nutliiiiK, and tli<! conehusiun is not true. You have lead 
 the Bible with aonie attention; and you are extremely lii.eral in ini 
 puting to it lies and absurdities, read it over a/.,'ain, especially the 
 books of the Chronicles, and you will there find, that, in the <,'enealogi- 
 cal list of St. Matthew, three genearations are omitted between Joram 
 and Ozias ; Joram was the father of Azariah, Azariah of Joash, Joaah 
 of Amaziah, and Amaziah of Ozias. I inquire not, in this place.whence 
 this omission proceeded ; whether it is to be attributed to an error in 
 the genealogical tables from whence Matthew took his account, or to a 
 corruption of the text of the evangelist : still it is an omission. iS'ow 
 if you will add these three generations to the '27 you mention, and 
 divide 1080 (the number of years from the birth of David to the birth 
 of Christ,) by 3U, you will lind the average age when these .lews had 
 each of tlieni their first .son born was 3G. Tii;,y married sooner thri 
 they ought U) have done, according to Aristotle, who fixes thirty-seven 
 as the most proper age wlien a man shauld marry. Nor was it neces- 
 sary that they should have ])een old baclielors, though each of them 
 had not a son to succteed him till lie was thirty -six ; they might have 
 tjeen married at twenty, without having a son till they were forty. 
 You assume also in your argument, tliat the first-born son succeeded 
 the father in the li.st — this is not. true. 8olom(;n succeeded David ; yet 
 Uavitl had at least six sons, wjio were giowi to manhood before Solo- 
 mon was born ; and Kehoboam had at least three sons before he had 
 Abia (Abi.jah) who succeeded him. It is needless to cite more instances 
 to this purpo.se ; but from these, and other circumstances which might 
 be insisted on, 1 see no ground for believing, that the genealogy of 
 -lesus Christ, mentioned by ^t. Matthew, is not a solemn truth." 
 
 Speaking of Matthew and Luke and the Amiundation, Tom avers, 
 with a view to making them contradiiit each other, that the former 
 says the angel appeared to .loseph ; the latter, th^t it was to Mary." 
 Hut the truth of the matter, which Tom tries to evade, is, that the 
 angel appeared to both — first to Afary, informing her that she should 
 miraculously conceive and bear a son ; and some months afterward to 
 Joseph, informing him of the nature and holy character of the concep- 
 tion. 
 
 Upon the same page (160,) speaking in reference to the mas.sucre of 
 the children in and arouml Bethlehem "from two years ofd and under," 
 Tom .suys, "the story belies itself," because while Jesus was eared for 
 by his parents tloeing into Mgypt with him, "the writer forgot to make 
 any provision I'or.lohn, but who, having stayed behind, faied as well 
 as Je.sus who fled." But here Tom must again be reminded of his ac- 
 customed inaccuracy, and the rash, unreasonable precipitancy of his 
 conclusions; for, first, .lohn was six months older than Jesus, and was, 
 doubtless, more than two years old when the bloody edict to destroy 
 the children was issued. Herod, as we lead in Matthew 2 : 16, had 
 "diligently inquired after the wise men for a period of two full years," 
 from the time they had visited the young child at the house of Mary 
 his mother. John must therefore have been at least some months 
 above the age of the iid'ants who were doomed to slaughter. And ,sec- 
 niidiy, the parents 'A John did not live at Piethlehem, but at Hebron. 
 But as Tom, in his ignorance of Scripture, appears not to hai 
 
 cnowi 
 
75 
 
 from the charge of 
 
 anything of all this, wc may release him this tunc from the charge ot 
 wilful lying, although not from his habitually cul liable negligence, and 
 consequent ignorance and entire unfitnesp for the work he has so un 
 scrupulously undertaken. 
 
 Tom says moreover, that "the only one of the men called apostles 
 who appear to have been near the spot where Jesus was crucified was 
 Peter." This statement is also false. Whether VettiT was present 
 or not, it is distinctly stated that John was there, and that Jesus 
 spoke to him from the Cross, John 19 : 26. Peter's testimony, 
 however, whether in reference to the crucifixion or anything else, Tom 
 thinks we have no right to believe, because he had lied. If all men 
 refused, upon, the same principle, to believe auy ;>tatemenl, whether 
 political or theological, that Tom has made, where would his writings, 
 and even his infidel reputation be 'I But of Peter, we may nay, he after- 
 wards repented, was converted, and, there is good reason to believe, never 
 lied again. The />nr that led him to lie upon this occasion was removed 
 from him by converting grace, as plainly appears from his after bold- 
 ness, faithfulness, and perseverance in the good way. Peter did not 
 die, like Tom, as he had lived. He repented of his lying, and of all 
 his' other sins, and, by the regenerating grace of God, became a new 
 man. The true belief of the Gospel, Tom, makes dishonest men 
 honest ; drunkards, sober ; impure men, pure ; and liais, truthful. 
 And when they become such, they may be depended on, and their 
 testimony believed and accepted as the truth. 
 
 With regard to the asserted disagreement as to the time of the cru- 
 cifixion, it may be accounted for in various ways ; but the one, in par- 
 ticular, which Bishop Watson advances is this—" That John, writing 
 his Gospel in Asia, used the Roman method of computing time ; which 
 was the same as our own : so that by the sixth hour, when Jesns was 
 rnndi-wnrrl, we arc to understand six o'clock in the morning ; the inter- 
 mediate time from six to nine, when He was crucified, being employed 
 in preparin-r for the crucifixion. r.ut however insuperable this difh- 
 culty may have appeared to some, the main point, the crucifixion of 
 Jesus, is not affected thereby." And, speaking of the s:!ence of one 
 Evangelist in reference to what is recorded by another, the Bishop 
 savs " H there had been no supernatural darkness, no earthquake, no 
 rendin.' of the veil of the temple, no graves opened, no resurrection 
 of holy men, no appearance of them unto many---if none of these 
 things had been true, or, rather, if any of these had been false, what 
 motive could Matthew, writing to the Jews, have had for trumping up 
 such wonderful stories? He wrote as every man does, with an inten- 
 tion to be believed ; and yet every Jew he met vyould have stared him 
 in the face, and told him that he was a liar and an impostor. What 
 author, who twenty years hence should address to the t rench nation a 
 historjl of Louis XVT.. would ventui^ to affirm, that when he was be^ 
 headed there was darkness for three hours over all Fr^^-^^.^^! , h3 
 was an earthquake? that rocks were split? graves opened ! and dead 
 men brought to life, who appeared to many persons in P«"«J-1 '« 
 ■.. imw-ib!" t- cnr^nnfiP. that auv ouc would dare to publish such 
 ;^b;;i^u« lie: ; and T^think It oquallY impossible to ^PT ' ^ 
 Matthew would have dared to publish his account of what had 
 
76 
 
 liiippened at tlic ileatlM.f -lesus, hu<l u<>i Hint iiccuimt been generally 
 known to lu" ti'iic' 
 
 Keferrinj,' to thu "niionin^ uf the „'raves" at the timo of the c.rufi- 
 li X ion. Toin hays: "Mad it been true, it wnnilil have filled up whole 
 cliiipters of lllosc books, and been the chosen theme and general 
 iilioi'us of all the writers. " So you say, Tom ; but we have learned to 
 regard you as anything Init an""oia(:h!" on this or any other subject. 
 lt°was not the wont or th(! aim of tlie F,vangelists to thus endeavor to 
 UK^et th(! demands of the captious, or satisfy the ilesires of the (luib- 
 blin" curious. Nor was it their sty hi to tluis vindicate the truth of 
 their assertions. The evangelist .states the fact, the bare, unvarnished 
 unaduUeralcd ///'M, and was at no pains to reason or argue the 
 like of you int(j the l)elief of its being such : nor to answer any of 
 your licentious (piestions about it, as found upon page Ki.'J of your 
 "iufamous pimluctioii. .\n(l, believing it not, you are of course 
 ' I'.mned," according ti- tlic positive <li'claration of the unerring Word, 
 and are now doubtless having your i(U(istions answered in a way that 
 is anything l)ut desirable to you ! 
 
 Tom wonders why, if it were the trutii, there was not more said 
 aljout it : and this, it W(jidd appeal, with especial reference to the 
 gratiHcation not oidy of the curious, but of the lic(!ntiously curious ! 
 Well, it is really no great wondei', T(jm ! We do not care to gratify 
 hog rooters by giving them an unlimited range among our clover and 
 pasture fields; since it would only be giving them a wider range and 
 more liberty to follow their natural instincts in further rooting up and 
 destroying (everything that was good in their hunt for something they 
 liave a' brutal or swinish desire for, and which suits their natures bet- 
 ter. No, Tom, an animal of your nature and depraved instincts, needs to 
 lie pcimed uji in the midst of your own moral tilth, and the smaller 
 the enclosure, the less harm done ! And it matters not how much 
 Divine truth might be thrown into your pen, it would be all instantly 
 rooted up anil lost siglit of among the devil's lying muck in which 
 you delight to wallow ! No, Tom, it is no wonder that the great 
 inspiring, heart searching, and heart discennng spirit did not see fit to 
 make any further disclosures in reference to this or any other matters 
 for the gratification of the like of you ; for, to continue the very sig- 
 nificant comparison, it would only be like casting more pearls b(;fore 
 swine, to liavc them give an extra scornful sniff and indignant grunt 
 at them, and tln-n turn away from them or bury them in muck ! Xo, 
 Tom, "pearls of tiuth" are not your aliment, you cannot digest them ; 
 you cannot be uourisheil by them. Such is your nature. You belong 
 to a lower order of animated moral existence ; and hence pearls of 
 Divine truth can neither l)e comprehended nor appreciate*! by you. 
 They belong to ( !od's elect ; to those who are of pure hearts and up- 
 right minds, who delight not in lies, and can take no pleasure in 
 unrighteousness ; but who can, with all their heart, delight themselves 
 m that (tod whose written Word i.--' the law, and "whose law is the 
 truth." No, Thomas, further disclosuics were once made to an unbe- 
 lieving namesake 'if yoi^rs : but he was not only .sincere in his unbe- 
 bi^t', or rather, luu'.fudy licsitating doiibtfidnep-s, hut he wa.". also 
 intensely anxious to come to a knowledge of the truth. He would. 
 
 ) 
 
« t 
 
 of 
 
 77 
 
 from choice, hi; a .siiiceni and cxperinieiitul realizer of ///'■ tniih, that 
 hit" after life, (■onduct and doings, iiiwaid aud outward, niiyht be there- 
 by ceaselessly moulded and governed. Xo, Torn, ho was not one of 
 those who "are of the night and of darkness!" lie was a different 
 character from )ou -just as light is from darkness— although you have 
 claimed him as a brother unbeliever. Do you know the difference 
 between light and darkness ; and do you know anything about the 
 (;od that created the light .' Is lie in very deed your Deistic, theolo- 
 gical authority .' Well, then, He tells you positively that you "love 
 darkness rather than light, because your deeds are evil !" And it i< 
 because of thif, and this alone, that you arc, or were, a Ik'i^L 
 
 Speaking of the resurrection uf Christ, Tuni says ; "The only 
 {)oint in which the writers agree is the skulking privacy of that ruap- 
 pearance." Do you know what "skulking privacy'' is, Tom! As it 
 does not appear that you ilo, 1 will toll you. it is to ,>//'// i/inir.-o'lj ,ip 
 //i (( /yw/;; when under tlic inllucnce, or when you weie about to be 
 under the intluence of your cnpx, and then peremptorily forbiil any 
 access to it. I'.ut, if on the other hand, ten or a dozen of your friends 
 were, with your consent, to enter youi room that they might be wit- 
 nesses to your f/rhuHr/i, it could scarcely Ijc called ''■•</,■ iilkin;/ prmiof 
 then, couid it? It would certainly not bo very pvimh', even though 
 they were your friends ; and much less might it, in such a case, be 
 called ".sA-/i//rt/r7 privacy." Well, now, all the writers of the <lospels 
 unite in telling u.s that Chrii^t a)ypimr<l f<> and mnrrrm/ infh flv 
 rlrmi ApnMex aftci' His resurrection. It appears also from the 
 records, that Tie appeared to the whole of them both in Jetusalcm ;uul 
 in an open mcuntain in ( lalilee, as well as to other disciples, near the 
 sepulchre and elsewhere, at several different times. And Daul beais 
 testimony to the fact that He was also seen by himself, and by "above 
 live hundre.l brethren at once ; of whom," says he, "the greater part 
 romaiu unto this j. resent, but some are fallen asleep." A pretty bold 
 tcstimonv llus, in view of the very hirge number ot living wit 
 ncs,sca appealed to, if it were not given iu support fef the tiuth ! See 
 1 Cor 15:1-8. lUit was tiierc really any "skulking privacy about 
 such open manifestation of Himself, after His resuirection as these , 
 Will any one in his senses venture to say that there was ! io be able 
 to say so, it is obvious that at least the uwral '<ni.^r must bo wanting. 
 Tom, however, take., objection to Pa»r.< testimony to the resurrec- 
 tion ol Christ, on the ground that "he did not l)elieve a word of he 
 mattei himself at the time it is said to have happened. To n h c 
 we reply, there us no proof of this. The cluet priests etc. did i ot 
 deny 01 even .luestiou the fact that miracles wei^ performed both ly' 
 our lord and His .\postles; but while they admitted that notable 
 nuracles were wrought by then, ^'^y'^'f^'^'^f,^,,;'^^^ 
 together to put them to death. .VnJ so, Paul being at tha t^nie one 
 of their number, and of the same persecuting spirit as themselves 
 
 was like the resl, nut deterred from P--" ""./'" f'T thif he ta^ 
 .our,se towards the di..ciplo.s, notwithstanding the fact that he may 
 have believed m the resurrection of Chri,.t with the other muac. 
 
 But 1". «h.^ as it mav, Taul wa.s not, as Tom says, "like a man who 
 
 nui, .... --!..- .1 - _ ^,'. ^. ^ .,_,.,„ ,1,^,, ,^i,,^|, hn had sworn before 
 
 comes 
 
 IS 
 
 false." The comparison is simply ridiculous. Paul had never 
 
78 
 sworu that to be fulnc which l»e now belit-veil and positively tlcilared 
 to be true ; and at a time and place, too, wlierc had ho with tlu' oth- 
 ers been impostors, the fraud would certainly luivt- been discovered. 
 Rut whatever Paul's belief as to the resurrection may have been in tin; 
 past, he, as well as every one else, had of course always the right of 
 liberty, upon the receipt of further information and evidence, to change 
 his opinion as to whether a thing related was really a matter of fact or 
 not. And further demonstrable evidence to this effect he had received 
 which brings us to the consideration of another of Tom's remarkable 
 if not very weighty and wise conjectures. He thinks, he tells us, 
 that when on his way to J)amaHcu.s (where, according to his own state- 
 ment, he was miraculously arrested by, and conversed with Cliri.st,) 
 Paul was struck with lifjhtninf/, causing hira to lose both his appetite 
 and his sight for three days ; and that "the stroke h(! had n;ceive<l 
 had changed his thinking, without altering his con.stitution" ! (p. 182). 
 liut why a stroke of lightning should have the eflecL of changing 
 him from a .lewish fanatical Pharisee to that of a zealoun Christian, 
 he does not explain. Saverr,/ front fli' nthir attfniHitg {■iri'innxtani'ox 
 nf ihi' ^'fitrnh;" the mental, spiritual, social and circumstantial change 
 effected by it, was certainly something extraordinarily new under the 
 sun ! Wonder was anybody else ever converted from Judaism to 
 (Christianity, by being struck with ligtning? 8u])pose philosopher 
 Franklin (whom he claimed as his friend,) in drawing it from the 
 clouds, had tried its effects on infidel Tom, how would it have oper- 
 ated? Would his "infidelity" have vanished away as the morning 
 cloud, or as the ligtning which conveyed Paul's Judaism away ? But 
 though it were admitted that infidelity might be thus philosophically 
 or scientifically expelled from the moral and intellectual nature, I 
 sacrcely think that the religion of a Jew could thus easily and with- 
 out intelligent cause, be made to evaporate. F therefore conclude 
 that Paul's experience, change of sentiment, etc., when upon the road 
 to Damascus, was effected through the direct agency of the 8on of 
 God and the inllucnce of His .Spirit, by which he was there, 
 according to his own statement, arrested and converted ; also that the 
 transaction was wholly miraculous ; and, moreover, that Paul himself 
 knew quite as much about whether it was so or not, as this very judi- 
 cious, faraceiug, uncommonly discerning, .scientific Tom I'aine ! And 
 it remains with this publishing agent of the inherent virtues and capa- 
 bilities of this thing scientifically called "lightning," or his legitimate 
 successors, to prove by reliable historical testimony, that Paul's posi- 
 tively asserted high-Avay and broad-day experience, with its religiously 
 transforming effects, wa^ not miraculous ; and in default of this, you 
 will perhaps pardon us for not calling you anything worse than a com- 
 bination of the most unreasonable bigots and dolts. This double 
 designation may perhaps take you a little by surprise ; and while you 
 may be prepared to admit the applicability of the designation "dolt" 
 to yourselves, you will perhaps repudiate the idea of being .stigmatized 
 as " bigots." And if so, it devolves upon us to further tell you, that 
 such repudiation simply arises from your ignorance uf its meaning. 
 Con.s.',i!t, Wp.b.stpr, and he will tell you liow exactly the cap tits you. 
 A higoly he says, " is a person who i.'- nhstinaffihj and unrna$»nabh^ 
 wedded to a particular creed, opinion, ur practice." Stand before this 
 
w '^^ -, .li^P' * ^^F 
 
 Tom thinks, more 
 to the body of '►'sn- 
 were asleep, ni 
 for anything w. 
 dence," he ahoul 
 also hnve known. 
 
 79 
 
 looking .M-^, then, y. Dei ' - . -l Athei-stn, . ry tim. you comb youj 
 liuir, ami yo,i will \Uv\ that yu are , .mbu.h' Jt over the inteU... -i 
 an_arrant bigot. ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^_^ ^^^^^ ^^_ ^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ 
 
 I ng tuken away by the disciples while they 
 
 In well enough for Testament evidence, but not 
 
 ,- truth ia conci-.a.d." t "will do for liar« evi- 
 
 have said ; and this a mai. of his experience should 
 
 It is iust such jitrf ctorv lence as liars aie 
 
 wont to gi^ ; hut this ^.ell known Tart, ^- ■ the institul.ou « 
 
 further imuuy suallv c.nse.iuent 1. ereu, ., were provided aga.nat 
 
 n as l,y the elder, tellin, Ih.-n, that "if lhi«-t us he upon the 
 
 very face of it-cumes . th overuor's ears, we w,ll prrsucuU hvn 
 
 "i^rT^ ^ants to know "wUy Jesus did not show hims^ .. alUlie 
 
 people after the resurrection." I'.ishop Watson jn^^vexs h n fl s 
 
 8 one of Spinom's objections ; and it may sound well enough m the 
 
 mo th of a Jew wisli ng to excuse the infidelity of his ..onntrymen ; 
 
 bu i no iud ci< u.ly'aaopted by Deists of other nations. ( lod ,ives 
 
 "the means of health, but he does not fr us as to the use of them, 
 
 le gTv s u the powers of the mind, but h> oes not compel us to h 
 
 "tiotion of them; He gave tl- l^^^^ "l^l^^l'Te lem Th ? 
 
 miracles of Jesus, l)ut He did not oblige them to believe tt«eui lUey 
 
 ^vo persevered n their incredulity after the resurrecti a of Laza- 
 
 n^ iou d have persevered also after the resurrection of Jesus. La a- 
 
 .'mJ "Whit .low. Uor this mail. loeUi many miracles. If we let 
 
 m till, alot all men will believe in Hiiu tlien ^'O^^^JZl^^i 
 
 tliey took counsel tog«il;« to PU' im '-"^a TlCfroTthl 
 
 ;;:rl\TtreVeUe'ft'haf mtacle'Xl .oi «e,ierate conviction that 
 
 their purpose of destroying Hm. f ''^f „Xred another council, 
 
 ..surrection ^^ .^^%^^ ::f^^ZST^^ a determination 
 l.ave opened It with, What do e^aml^n^ ,esurrection of 
 
 to put him to death. . '^^^.^'^ JI'jjHp "'^^^^ ;, f^r more convincing 
 
 "oi-ht .ir nine persons a>- witnesses lo nrithme- 
 
 (pMl, From tKis affi-at^u it wou d app . a Tom^-^^^ 
 tied skill must have suddenly failed him . ^^', "r^^^.^^n.ij.tf^,, 'of the 
 l.ngthy column of figures when ^^^^ ^h'-W -cceedod in 
 "Genealogies," &c. ; and liuving, u« he thiu..^, o'"" .- 
 
IMAGE EVALUATION 
 TEST TARGET (MT-3) 
 
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 Photographic 
 
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 (716) 872>4SC3 
 
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so 
 
 tliat enterprise, buint^ now ongaf^od in a ■^imihii «h\(H:i lus to thu 
 "Resnrre.^tion"--th<- ii|.|»eiu'ajicc' of Christ to tlit- 11, ''as thi^y sat at 
 mnat," pli's tli.- TiOO who all saw hiui "at omv," <,'jve a sum total of 
 S o;- 9 persons. A possihlrt mistake of one in the fount, is hereby 
 modestly acknowletl;,rtt(|. Well done, Tom !— honestly acknowledged ! 
 "Honesty is the best policy" in our age as well as in yours ! 
 
 Our next theme ou which Tom iharacteristically animadverts is 
 the "Asernsion." He says, ".lohii does not say a_,f>yflable about it." 
 Wh.at mean, then, the words of John as fouml" in 'chapter G, verse 62 : 
 "Doth this oli'end you f What and if yo shall se(^ the Son of man 
 ascend up where Ho was before?" Also in verse 17 of the 20th 
 chapter : "Jesus said unio her, Touch me not, for 1 am not yet 
 lur^'HiM to my father ; l)ut ,l,'o to my brcf latu), ami say unto tlieni, 1 
 axrrwl unto my father," .Vc.— Is there not "a sylla])le'' said abuut the 
 ascension m these i.assaj,'es ? Tom is Jusl us accurate in his statement 
 here, us where he asserts, that "there was no such bck.k as the Xew 
 Testament till more than 800 years after Clii-ist'— so his "father" told 
 him and so he has told the woi'id. lUit this lie, or at least false 
 assertion the otispnng of historical ignorance, is now, like the rest of 
 his false assertions, .piite {,layed out : for the (Jhristian world knows 
 Itetter. 
 
 Mark tells us that "after the Lonl had spoken unto them, j the 
 eleven,) He was received up into heaven," IG: 19. That is ''after" 
 but not inuuHdiaMy after He had spoken to them. It must be under- 
 stood to mean, after he had jbmhtd speaking to them us He was 
 leading them along by the way to Bethany, of which Luke tells us, 
 and from which, although Mark omits it, Luke says. He as(;ended. 
 lomdoesnt like this omission on the part of .Mark; or, rather, I 
 should perhaps have said, he v.uy much likes it, and was most happy 
 .0 hndwhat he conceived to hi^. ■Adim,jrrem,nt between him and Luke 
 I. ut omissions, he must again be reminded, are not contradictions. 
 1 e er also, a tew days attei the ascension, borf testimony to the then 
 well known fact m the following words, addressed to tlie nndtitnde 
 who were gathered together to hear him : " This .Jesus hath ( lo.l raise.l 
 up, whereof u^ all an- witnesses. Therefore, being h„ th- n^ht hand 
 t.trrlu' ^;"' .''^,^"]o '-eceived of the Father the promise of the 
 w^ ''".SSV" ^f '\-1i'^V°*"' ^»"«'^v'hich ye now see and hear," 
 Tl^- ' ; .( V •'"'"'. "'^'^'^"K''' not an eye-witness, bears histori- 
 cal testimony to the Ascension, and also to (Jhrist's Divinity in these 
 words "(,%/ was manifest in the flesh, believed on in vfi d, 
 
 ™W .;,,./.,,/,,,, ' Also: "Seeing then that we have aCrea 
 High 1 nest, tl.af .passed into II..: h.acms, Jesus the So,, of (Jod e 
 us hohl fast our profession," Heb. 1 • 14 'oo, lei 
 
 On page 171, Tom says: "The whole" space of time from the cruci 
 hxion o wliat is called the ascension, is but a ,W da,s, a,, leutly not 
 more than three or four: and all the circumstaiu.es ccnrtdwi 
 tl resurrection and ascension,) are reported to have happen d;J«/ 
 
 abonl th. sa.nr s,,,i, Jerusalem!" False statement a., in. Tom a 
 
 alse as it we 1 can be : but we are g.tting used to it now, ,h evpe 
 not nng else from you. John tells us.thaf, Thomas being d . ' , when 
 
 i"t...n, cjle, r„jl,i aays he appeared to them ag.on, when Thomas was 
 
81 
 
 with them. John also infcrms uh that aftrr these two !ippearancoa» 
 which took place on the first day, and the eighth (hij- after the losui- 
 rection, that Jesus again appeared to His disciples at the sea of Tiberiusi 
 which Dr. Watson says is 60 or 70 miles from Jerusalem —a wide step> 
 one would think, for a man with no longer Ipgs than Tom I'aine hath 
 to designate '■^ahuiit the mme spot "/ 
 
 And as to the question of intervening tinn , which Tom with his 
 usual accuracy, sets down at ''apparently not mor(> than three or four 
 days," Luke in the beginning of the Acts furnishes us with additional 
 information. He there says that Christ "showed Himself alive after 
 His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of the Apostles fn,-ty 
 (Jays, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." 
 
 Xow, Tom, what have you to say to this? Are you not dumb with 
 astonishment at the inaccuracy and falsity of your figures 1 I fear 
 such is not, and never was, your wont, my friend. Concocters of lies 
 from innate enmity to the truth, are not wont to plead guilty of the 
 same. 
 
 But after the foregoing presentation of more than a moderate size 
 "parcel" of lies, the reader will probably not be very much surprised 
 at the following crowning quototion from the i-eliable pen of this 
 Deistic "oracle" : "It is, I believe," Tom says, "impossible to ^ind, 
 in any story upon record, so many and such glaring absurdities, con- 
 tradictions, and falsehoods, as are in those books." Poor Tom, he 
 didn't seem to know tJiat when penning these words, he was, in his 
 blindness, so far at least as the alleged absurdities and falsehoods are 
 concerned, characterizing to the very letter his own production. So 
 much, however, for the conclusion of a man who, it may be well for 
 us to charitably hope, really thought he saw what he didu't see. Ho 
 is a literal fulfilment of the passage, "seeing they shall see, and shall 
 not perceive" — that is, see something through their evil eye; 
 but cannot perceive the truth, even though it l)laze as the noon-day 
 sun before them ! If, however, Tom had lived in oin- "age of reason," 
 instead of his own, possibly he might have seen things differently. 
 But, in any case, it is most obvious to the truly discerning, that Tom 
 stands before the book of (Jod just as a deformed and impure maTi 
 stands before a pure and perfect mirror, who sees nothing in it, or re- 
 flected from it, but a picture of his own physical, intellectual, and 
 moral debasement and deformity ! lUit let an honest, true man .stand 
 before either, and he will see nothing before him but a picture of 
 p?0'%,and a plain, unmistakable delineation of howMijaml fnifh/ulm'^-oi 
 —except, indeed, it might retlect something also from the back ground 
 that did not belong to " himself ; just as the Bible reflects and sets 
 forth to the view, not only the purity of Cod and the beauty of holi- 
 ness, but also, from its Ijack ground, to be eon lomned, the delilcment, 
 the impurities, the abominations, and sins of tlu; wii:ked and the 
 
 eriin". 
 
 It appears clearly enough to our mind from the foregoing infidel 
 references to Pivinc truth and the Book of (lod, together with a very 
 great deal of lyinj;, obscene, blasphemous stuff, that is iv,dly not ht to 
 be quoted, that whatever Tma may have thought of himself and his 
 specious allegations relative to scrii)tural persons and things, for misap- 
 prehension, misrepresentation, false assertion, bitter m-eetive, anl 
 
82 
 
 criiniual accusation, In- cannot well Le beaten His enmity to the 
 sacred Scriptmes, and tu all Sci-iptiiial clmraclers, liowevti' holy, God- 
 lik(i, and qood, sciiikmI to lie of tin: most viridtint kind ; and his "llow- 
 er.s" of 1 istit: ilietoiic iid.«'rs|i('r.s(t(| tlniMij^liont tlni \vhol(' of his por 
 I'otniance, an* of the n;osL malij,'iiant character. The following' words 
 of ins|»iratini.>, by the mouth nf a holy man of (lod, aro peculiarly 
 applicable tj this wicked ciiampion of inlidelity : "Why boasted 
 thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man 1 Thy tongue deviseth mis- 
 chief, like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Thou lovest all devour- 
 ing words, thou deceitful tongue. But God shall destroy thee foi- 
 ever, he sliali take iheo away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling 
 place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous 
 shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him. Lo, this is the man that 
 made not God his strength— but strengthened himself in his wicked- 
 ness." 
 
 He is, however, acknowledged to be "a man of shrewd abilities," 
 and who has '-a method of setting difficulties in a strong point of 
 view"; and hence the reply to him, condescendiHgly undertaken, we 
 might say, by so talented and learned a divine as the Bishop of 
 Landaii". J5ut notwithstanding this admission, from a careful exani- 
 inatioii of his production, we are constrained to say that, in reference 
 ' i moral and mental character as exhibited by his "theological investi- 
 gations, he was nothing more or less than a calumniating, scurrilous 
 sciolist ; and his work, instead of being called -.he "Age of Keason," 
 should have been entitled, "The Age of Indfiddity, as characterized 
 by Deistic Moral and Religious Imheciliiy!" Such, then, is the char- 
 acter of the "evidence," anti- Christian, as set forth by this reputed 
 prince and premier of inUdcl writers, and by which the infidel world 
 is fed, and nourished, and kept in self-complacent existence ! Truly 
 the mystery of infidel theological research and intelligence Avould bo 
 an inexplicable riddle, were it not for our knowledge of the fact that 
 the "mystery of iniquity" is at the root of it all ! 
 
 We cannot of course afford space for the whole, or for even a refer- 
 ence to the whole of Tom's blasphemous rant; nor would we if we 
 could. Finding it to be all about alike, for my own part 1 desire no 
 more of it ; and I presume the virtuous reader feel about the same. 
 If out of a nest of a dozen of eggs, you break some half dozen or more, 
 and find them all rott n, you will be able to form a pretty correct idea 
 as to the character of the rest. And so it is with Tom's assertions and 
 charges; they are all, like rotten eggs, full of putridity and and gas ! 
 and, having no weight in them, like them also they fiout upon the 
 surface prominently to the view, until, being broken to pieces by a 
 ruthless hand, their putridity is discovered and they become alike a 
 stench in our nostrils. 
 
 On page 187 Tom says : "T hore close the subject on the Old Testa- 
 ment and the New. The evidence I have produced to j.rove them 
 forgeries is extracted 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 admiited, the authenticity of the books is dis- 
 proved." If, however, tlie "evideiKte" adduced has failed to prove 
 them "forgeries," as it has must signally, as we have seen, then the 
 
83 
 
 other od^re of thn "sword" mutilates, disables, and most humiliatingly 
 mortifies the man that lias wielded it. Tom experienced this, more 
 especially towrirds tlio close) of life, wishing that he had never writ- 
 ten his infamous book, and then died an abject, despised, and miser- 
 able thing! screaming with horror, if left r.lono for a few minutes, 
 for the inmates of the house to come to him that the agitation of his 
 mind might be in some measure allayed by having his attention fixed 
 upon the presence of some one. lie was an exceptional sinner, and 
 he appeared to be exceptionally tormented, even before passing the 
 confines of the eternal state ! Infidels may try to throw a covering 
 over this, and s' ■'j, as the sketch of 'I'oni's life prefixed to the book I 
 am reviewing, says— "He died almost without a struggle." But the 
 wretched state of his mind during his last sickness is well authenti- 
 cated ; and I do not here, of course, refer to the very last moinent of 
 his existence. 
 
 In concluding his self imposed task, Tom says : "I here close the 
 Subject. / liaiy sh(>w7i in all thr fom/oiuff parte of this work thmt 
 the ^Biblc and Testament arc ivipo»iiti(ms and forgeries" ! ! Was 
 there ever penned a more incomparable bit of conceited audacity than 
 is contained in the italicised words of this quotation ? And is it not, 
 we ask, jnough to excite the intelligent risibility or smile of even the 
 very gravest at the purblind ])resumption of the man % But we must 
 allow Tom to finish his sentence — "and I leave the evidence I have 
 produced In proof of it to be refuted if any one can do i*^ " "Well, 
 Thomas, having, as we think, logically dissented from youi views, we 
 have the assurance to think that we have quite disproved your proofs; 
 and now, if you can do it, send us a rejoinder, with present address, 
 and wo will again give you a patient hearing ; and will then forward 
 it to your address, with notes and coram ..its indicating (an we with all 
 Christians, know that a corrupt tree can wrer brinij forth ;food fruit,) 
 the absolute necessity of a thorough tovision in its every part, before 
 it can hope to pass current for anytliiiig but vile and senseless twad- 
 dle, among the more intelligent and sensible people of our day. 
 
 But, "should the IMble and Testament hereafter fall," Tom further 
 modestly observes, "it is not I that have been the occasion." Our re- 
 ply is : We quite agree with you in this, Tom. Nor has even Dr. 
 Darwin's "evolutionary" system been able as yet to evolve the man 
 that is capable of doing it. Nor, from present appearances, is there 
 any immediate prospect of his scientific development and appearance 
 upon the stage of lif-'. Wc shall have, [ apprehend, to go in search 
 cf him to tho world where a noted infidel (J. Stuart Mill,) says, 2 and 
 2 make 5 ! where two parallel lines may meet ! where a straight line 
 may return upon itself find enclose a space ! and where, also, eternal 
 and immutably established truth may be proved to be a lie, and a lie 
 the truth !— Infidel axioms ! 
 
 Tom says, moreover, "1 have now gone through the l^ible as a man 
 would <'o through a wood Avith an axe on his shoidder, and fell trees. 
 Here they lie, a'lid the priests, if they can, may replant them. They 
 may, perhaps, stick them in the ground, but they will never make 
 thern grow." Thi;> pasbagi' proves Tom to be just the same kind of 
 prophet or >vvr, as the man who, by prcliction, emptied America of 
 its Bibles !- -No better ; and imr^'' he couldn't be— />»• the very same 
 
84 
 
 "tyi's" ar>- 'jr'nrimj f^-thv/, awl rt.s- f/ri'i'ii a.s 'Vt^y. And liis prediction 
 having tlms sii,Miiil]y failed, like a greenhorn fresh from the "ould 
 soil," in his ignorance, he has let the "trees" down upon himself! and 
 there, crushed and rotting under them, without even a decent burial, 
 may both himself and liia Deism, ever remain. "The memory of the 
 just is blessed ; but tho name of the wicked shall rot." 
 
 Although wi'ddeil to his Deism for life, however, he was evi- 
 dently not in liapi)y wedlock with it. As was the case with Vol- 
 taire and other noted iutideJs, relentings and regrets at the unsatis- 
 factory union considei'ably disturbed him at times, giving rise to man- 
 ifest indications of foreboding uneasiness. The following, referring 
 to his words to a young man while I'aine was yet in comparative 
 health and strength, is given by a writer in the Wegtern Observer 
 (said to be Ilishop Mcllvaiue,): "I have recently been in conversa- 
 tion with a gentleman who personally knew Tom Paine, from whom I 
 have learned some paiticnlars which it may be useful to repeat. This 
 gentleman states, that when a young man, he was driving his father's 
 waggon fiom Hing Sing to a place in V^inchester County, N.Y., when 
 Paine, travelling the same way, requested to be taken in. The yeung 
 man consenting, they rode about twenty miles together. The fame 
 and talk about "Paine's Age of Reason" had made a skeptical impres- 
 sion on the mind of the youth, and finding himself in the presence 
 of its author, l.e gladly availed himself of the opportunity tc learn 
 more of that sort of reason. In the course of the conversation, 
 Paine positively asserted that he believed the Scriptures to be the 
 Word of God, and most seriously charged his auditor not to read his 
 book, or if he did, not to suffer it to have any influence on his mind. 
 He said it did not contain the truth ; that he deeply regretted its pub- 
 lication, and would have given anything had he never witten it. And 
 such was the serious earnestness of I'aine in these remarks, and so 
 conclusively did he reason against the principles of his "Age of Rea- 
 son," that he entirely removed all skeptical inipressionr. from the mind 
 of the young man. Again : At the time of Paine's last illness "a 
 gentleman of tlio neighborhood" occasionally furnished him with re- 
 freshments from his own table, of which a respectable female of the 
 family was the bearer. She Leing asked by Paine her opinion respect- 
 ing the Age of Reason, frankly told him that she thought it the most 
 dangerous l)ook she hud ever seen ; that the more she read the more 
 she found her mind estranged from all good ; and that from a convic- 
 tion of its evil tendency, she bad burnt it without knowing to whom 
 it belonged. To this Paine replied, that /i>' iri^hcd all if$ readers had 
 been as wixr as ■■^Iw : and added, "If ever the devil had an agent on 
 earth, I have been one." Mrs. Bonniville, also, the unhappy femalo 
 who accompanied him from France, "lamented to his neighbor her sad 
 case, observing 'For this man I have given up my family and friends, 
 my pi-operty and my religion ; judge then of my distress, when he 
 tells me that ///'■ iirinciph'x he lias taught me will not bear me out." 
 And to the Rev. Jedediah Randall, who paid him a visit on his death 
 bed, Paine said : "Mr. Randall, I never confidently disbelieved in 
 the Christian religion ; my unbelief and skepticism were rather 
 a8S;nne<l than real. .\nd one object of my writing the Age of Reason 
 was to cripple the power of the corrupt and tyrannical priesthood of 
 
85 
 the Romiah church in France. Should I ever recover from this ill- 
 ness it is ray intention to publish another book, disavowing the intidel 
 doctrines contained in the Age of Reason, and expressing my convic- 
 tions of the truth of the Christian system." Ood know his poor 
 deceitful heart, however, better than he did himself ; and that he had 
 opportunities enough of doing this when in health and strength, if it 
 were really and truly in his heart to do so. And hence God did not 
 suffer him to "recover from this illness," not afford him another oppor- 
 tunity of a more public recantation, and a more explicit avowal of 
 his life long dissimulation. 
 
 But how is Paine's change in sentiment, real or assumed, to be 
 accounted for? Well, he had read Bishop Watson's reply to his 
 "Age" of intidel d)'»:u'iiialation and antrnthfxdncss, and the castiga- 
 tion thus received through the literary production of this moral men- 
 tor was probably, however transcient, not without its effects for good 
 upon him. Also, such conversations as the following, to which, it 
 appears, he was a party after his book was written. Passing the resi- 
 dence of Dr. Staughton when the doctor was sitting at the door, 
 "Paine stopped, and after some remarks of a general charJacter, 
 obaerved, '5lr. Staughton, what a pity it is that a man has not some 
 comprehensive and perfect rule for the government of his life.' The 
 Doctor replied, 'Mr. Paine, there is such a rule.' 'What is that t' 
 Paine inquired. Dr. S. repeated the passage, ' Thou shall love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.' Abashed 
 and confounded, Paine replied, ' Oh that's in your Bible, and immedi- 
 ately walked away." 
 
 A gentleman of New York who personally knew Thomas Paine, 
 and was repeatedly in his company during the last yeqrs of his life, 
 gave the following account of a conversation with him respecting the % 
 Bible : "One evening I found Paine haranguing a company of his 
 disciples, on the great mischief done to mankind by the introduc- 
 tion of the Bible and Christianity. When he passed, I said, ' Mr. 
 Paine, you have been in Scotland ; you know there is not a more 
 rigid set of people in the world than they are in th«ir attachment to 
 the Bible ; it is their school-book ; their churches are full of Bibles. 
 When a young man leaves his father's house, his n: other always, in 
 packing his chest, puts a Bible on the top of his clothes.' He said it 
 was true. I continued, 'you have been in Spain, where the people 
 are destitute of the Bible, and there you can hire a man, for a dollar, 
 to murder his neighbor, who never gave liim any offence.' He assented. 
 'You have seen the manufacturing districts in England, where not one 
 man in fifty can read, and you have been in Ireland, whei-e the majority 
 never saw a Bible. Now, you know it is an historical fact, that in 
 one county in England or Ireland there are many more capital convio 
 tions in six months, than there are in the whole population of Scot- 
 land in twelve. Besides, this day there is not one Scotchman in the 
 alms-house, state prison, bridewell, or penitentiary of New York. 
 Now, then, if the Bible were so bad a book as you represent it to be, 
 those who use it would be the worst members of society: but, the con- 
 trary is the fact ; for our prisons, almshouses, and penitentiaries arc 
 iilled with men and women, whoso ignorance or unbelief prevents 
 them from reading the Bible.' It was now near ten o'clock at night. 
 
from tho table, 
 staring at one 
 
 86 
 Paino answered not a word, but taking a candlo 
 walked up staiiH, loavin;,' his friends and myself 
 another." 
 
 'torn had suddenly got sleepy, no doubt, and his Diisin, as the con- 
 aequoncc, was dumh. And in his last days, conscience stricken and 
 alarmed, he professedly wished it might for ever remain so. But it 
 will not — And why ? Why because, while we read that th 3re are 
 some dwnh devils, there are others who are not; and these will speak 
 through the human organs of those they possess. 
 
 But this gentleman's reasoning with Tom reminds us of the plain 
 and simple argument for the truth of the Bible which was most influ- 
 ential on the mind of Naimbanna, a black prince, when on a visit to 
 England from the neighborhood of Sierra Leone, in 1791. Receiv- 
 ing tho Divine Book with reverence and simplicity as a revelation of 
 God's will to men, he gave as his reason for so accepting it : "When 
 I found all good men minding the Bible, and calling it the Word of 
 God, and all bad men disregarding it, I then was sure that the Bible 
 must be what good men called it, the Word of God." 
 
 Birds of a feather flock together. The "good" cluster around thr 
 Word of God, feed on it, and find it to be sound and good, nourish- 
 ing, and spiritually strengthening food to them ; but to the tastes and 
 habits of literary crows and vultures, depraved and putrid carrion is, 
 as it always was, better suited. Which, then, young men of the 
 present Age of Reason, will you feed on and be nourished by, as 
 immortal beings, the devil provided carrion of the infidel, or the 
 wholesome, Heaven-manufactured, Divinely analyzed, and "pure"- 
 marked, God-sent food of the Christian 1 The one nourishes for 
 heaven ; the other for hell ! Make thoughtful and deliberato choice, 
 therefore, between the two ; for as is your choice, so, reader, will bo 
 your certain and eternal destiny ? And may God grant to many a 
 skeptical reader of those pages "a wise and "an understanding heart" 
 that they may bo enabled to truly discern and embrace the things 
 that belong to their eternal peace ; also, that the reading of those 
 pages may, through the Divine blessing, by way of confirming and 
 establishing them in the faith, "help those much who have believed 
 thi-ough grace."— Acts 18:27. 
 
 Following the example of an apostle, in our replies lo this and 
 other infidels, we may, at times, haye used great plainness of speech, 
 and occasionally had recourse to what the Apostle calls "sharpness" in 
 rebuke ; the general style also of much of what wo have written may, 
 perhaps, by some minds peculiarly moulded, and who view it 
 in the light of their own individual type or style, be regarded as 
 not "speaking the truth in love" ; but Christ, I presume, did not devi- 
 ate from the law of love when He said, "go ye and tell that fox," etc., 
 nor when He said,"whitcd sepulchres, hypocrites, generations of vipers" 
 "how can ye escape the damnation of hell f We are not all moulded 
 after the same pattern. There is an essential variety even in Divine 
 moulds ; and saints or sinners, we should be a pretty monotonous lot 
 of us if there were not. Tii language as in tone and style, there is scope 
 for pleasing a.s well as useful and appropriate variety. "Hell" is a 
 Scriptual term as well as "luavcn" ; and the style of Scripture, 
 although equally "holy" and delivered "in love," is diversified. 
 
87 
 
 chapter of our " Keply to I'aine" to a cloae, I 
 special favoi' of tlic general leader, ainl 
 
 u 
 
 In bringing the last 
 would like to request 
 
 especially of such as occupy influential positions in society, or in con 
 nection with the public institutions of the country. It is this : Will 
 you who think well of this little work, kindly bring it before the notice 
 of friends, acquaintances, college students, Ac, &c., and recommend 
 them to send to the Author's address for copies. By so doing, you 
 will not only help the Author pecuniarily — to which, all will admit 
 his untiring labor, not for fame, or the world's praise, but for the 
 world's weal, entitles him — but you will thereby also help to leaven 
 our country and the world with the righteous principles of the only 
 religion in the world that is rationally and logically defensible, holy, 
 and true. Mr. Spurgeon thus recommended our "Reply to M.Kenan" 
 to his College Students, and the result was that they purchased some 
 eighty copies of the work. You will please remember, also, that this 
 work is but the " forerunner " of another which may be expected to 
 follow in due time. 
 
 At this critical time of increased infidel agencies and zeal, it would 
 doubtless be well to have them plentifully scattered throughout the 
 Dominion. The 150th anniversary of Paine's birth day has just been 
 celebrated ; and in reply to an impeachment of this "Author Hero " 
 and " Religious Reformer," as he has been styled in infidel journals, 
 I now send forth my little work, and would like to i^ct agents for its 
 sale all over the country. Who will be a canvassing aj^'ent for it in 
 Toronto, and other cities and towns of Ontario and the other 
 Provinces 1' 
 
SECULARISTS AND SECULARISM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MR. C. WATTS AND THE BIBLE AS A TEXT BOOK FOR 
 SCHOOLS; WITH OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS. 
 
 Up to the present, (January 24, 1887,) I have not engaged, nor have 
 i had any desire to engage in the Ross Bible discussion of Ontario • 
 for altJiough a believer in tlie plenary inspiration of the Scriptures, it 
 has been a matter of little or no concern to me whether the whole or 
 only a part of the Bible be admitted into the schools— provided how- 
 ever, that such pait be judiciously and honestly compiled, and is suffi- 
 ciently varied and comprehensive in its selections. I have not seen 
 the book of selections, but if the eight verses from the Epistle of St. 
 Peter, to which reference has been made by the Toronto MaiL are 
 omitted, they certainly ought not to have been ; for I do not. of 
 course, any more then any other reasonable and consistent Protestant 
 approve of making Bible .selections to sui^, the dictatorial assumptions, 
 the usurpations, the whims, or the prejudices of Roman Catholics, or 
 indeed, ot any other merely denominationf.l body of professing Chris- 
 tians. 1 he verses in question ought not to have been omitted, because 
 they are not unsuitable for either man, woman, or child to read : but 
 are just exactly what state schools in the interests of a Dominion or a 
 Nation should teach They simply inculcate, with the authority of 
 the Divine Word of inspiration, the social and civil duties which are 
 undenominationally obligatory upon all good citizens, irrespective of 
 country or creed. Read the verses-1 Pet. chap. 2, from the 12th 
 L n„Lr ^'^'^7^»^ f e for yourselves. A creed that opposes such 
 s purely man-made and criminally ignores New Testament authority ' 
 aLinstri"/- Ai^ i Kome rebels against those verses.it rebels 
 against God and the Sta e, and deserves to be inquisitoriallv dosed 
 
 r«if ''1??^'^^*^T,^^"^^ ^^^^ °f ^very nation under the sun"at their 
 next Mtting of Parliament-rather an unpalatable dose, some will 
 think, for the old Queen of the seven hills ! 
 
 sDeopL^'anf/'^n^r'"^''^."'-?'^'^ ^'«^"' '« °P«" his mouth, make 
 r^rf„!?' A ^^i J/sparagmgly of that blessed Book, the Bible, as 
 IT 'f "^' ^f:^^ J'^^^^y l^th, I feel like throwing aside nat^ive 
 reserve, gloves and all, and going straight into him. I do not purpose 
 saying very much on this subject, however, but what I do say shall be 
 to the point. And, in the fn^t place, I trust that fellow citiaens iu 
 
*:CULAllI.si.« AXli ^ICCUr.AHMM. 89 
 
 Toioiito iiii.l tl,.. cnvniiy j-,.,i..rally, will s., [e,.,I that Sm^hir .hiuoxfi,' 
 !i-Vu'.-,^J'^^'' ('''"'• ^ .....hMsta;,.!, has lat.-ly comim a.r.mi.r „„.) 
 with broad of nfttiotinn iin.l with u-at.r nf alllirfion," that tho lmctv* 
 ing slack M("9j. nf his socly surroniKlin-s will soon J)p-in tn r-min.l hiir 
 tliat It will l)fi to his intnrost to sock his bread and hiittei clacwhoro 
 and atnong a people not only loss "vori,dn- ..n lanati-Msm," (aa he says 
 loronto la.) but also loss virtuous and loss flonsiblo. The ontiro coun- 
 try wdl, I trust, j,'iv.> this veritable representative of a pro.'re^sion 
 which reaches no tarthcr than the sci.Mitilioally "unknown and un- 
 knowaI)le! and to which very elevated point of advancement, (u»do«s 
 the histoncal re(!ord nf th.; fact is alto-ether to ania/in- to be other 
 than faoulous,) then j^reat, yroat inlidel j,'iandfatheis reached before 
 them— the people of both town and countrv will, I trust, soon ^ive 
 him to understand, and in the very practical manner suggested, that 
 any man wIki has no more common sense than an infidel is quite 
 incapable of instructing intelligent Christian Canadians. 
 
 A secularist, l)y the way, is an Aniinxfir; and what does an "Agnos- 
 tic really knov>- 1 Well, he answers that ([uestion for us himself; 
 for he tells us that h>' /nioirs that In- ,h,r^nU l.wn; and that he nan^r 
 mlUniow! lie, I believe, admits that the Universe is in erdstence, 
 but says, // ni;;'r was „ta<h' for he doesn't know whether it ever was 
 made or not ! Also, that although Christians mn they know about 
 this and a good many f)ther things, they don't know, because he 
 doesn't know whether they do know or not"! This, reader, is the kind 
 of knowledge possessed by Agnostic Secularists ! Are they not, then, 
 truly a knowing lot of " Kn,»r,/„f/,i„;,s," as the (Jreek term Agnostic 
 signifies ? I'eople may well wonder why they are not ashamed of the 
 name ! but was ass ever known to be ashamed of its name 1 or can 
 secular man, of monkey descent, be expected to have any hrniiliating 
 appreciation of the personally associated facetious 1 Mr. Watts thinks^ 
 however, that Sfni/arfsi,/ (we ([uote from an article in S'-mlar 
 T/Hii/.;//if,J might also "be fittingly termed the Srimcr nf RrMn/rr." 
 Well, if so, in conformity with its dotiiiition and philological meaning, 
 it is the Science of /in/.'i/u/rn and iinlniniirdih' (>xistence !" and as it is 
 with such science that Agnostic Secularists have to do, their liusiness 
 is to reduce the inilnioim and the inilnidirahh' to a si/sfein, and to such 
 a .system as shall constitute it Ai/n<isfir Simlar Sn'tti^-r .' A chemical 
 reduction of shadows and emptiness to tangibility, would thus consti 
 tute a "science" worthy of the best talent, the energies, and the wisdom 
 of that very distinguished as.sociation called Agnostic Smilarisf-'^ / 
 Success to their miraculous enterprise ; foi- they must certainly be en- 
 dowed with the quality of supernatural and creative omnipotence to 
 eflfect it ! r>ut this is of course not much for ignorance ami know- 
 nothingism to attempt ! Success to you, gentlemen ! and when you 
 have succeeded, you will have proved yourselves to lie gods, having 
 both personality and intelligence, capable of educing knowledge out 
 of ignorance, system out of nothing, and a science comiiouiuled of 
 both! 
 
 Such being the aljdia ami omega nf Agnostic Secularism, who would 
 not aspire to an association witli its intiilel, jjliilosojiliic supporters? 
 Certainly all umliscerniiu; moral and spivitual imbeciles and idiots 
 sliould, for they will lie sure to lind pleidy of congenial company 
 
90 
 
 SKt UI,AUI.ST« AND MKt LI.AIUM.M. 
 
 ciiiliii' AK'iKtHticiMiM, it, i.H flairiit'tl l.y its fxpiiiii.iit." 
 
 umuii^ thuiii 
 
 I 
 reason to be J— lioiioralily iiifHilitTs nf flic " st/shni " .if 
 or, of thft "x( 
 
 i'jHt imd liiiiiil.ic. W.ll, wliflli.'!' it I 
 
 IH 
 
 r not, It ffitiiinly Iiiim 
 
 '/' '"I nomxistt'iico ; 
 
 irurr of 111,, iihkiiowiilil.' '" W.. do nut wontlrr that, in 
 
 mined 
 arisni, hh an organization, makes 
 
 his sketch of " ScMilaii^ni in Kn-hnid," Mr. Watts f.'.ds n.nsi 
 to make th(f admission, that " Si-nd 
 
 l)Ut comimrativ.d.v htll.. proar, hs ainoni,' th<' learned and cidttned 
 le jodinal Diakcs also the I'ollowini' (to Secularists) hiiiuil- 
 
 class 
 
 Tl 
 
 luting iicknowled,L;ement : "In tho opinion oi thoiighfid men, Christ 
 worship, instead of ^iviii^' way heforo the attacks of mod 
 
 IS ac 
 
 tiially 
 
 )ii UK! increas(! anion;,' all classes of Mi 
 
 Mil criticism. 
 
 e (!oi 
 
 Miminity. 
 
 [illions of human hein^'s. ii. Indin^r men r)f the woild and Chribtiami 
 
 't? "!'"'^*L "\ '*i"^'','^' i'""""'""T ""*' '■^'^'*'''""<=" ♦" "f«' Carpenter of 
 ' ^ ' " ' 'ng as Christian 
 
 knowledge and intelligeine has nothing nioie popularly aggressive to 
 contend with than Secular stupidity and ignorance. 
 
 I5ut in nfeience to the subject ;.f "the iJible'in Public Schools " 
 what, may we a.^k, is State e.lucation for, but to make the rising 
 generation gro'v up to be good, moral, intelligent, u.<,eful, law-, biding 
 citizens / This being its acknowledged object, there is no book, we af- 
 hrm, better calculated to pnunote this end than the IJible, without note 
 or comment, e.ther in whole or in part. To oxchidc the entire liible 
 from me schools, as this Secularist advocates, would be to leave many 
 of th<, (lay school children uncare.l for and entirely uninstructed 
 religiously. Jut this, of course, would exactly suit those go.Uess, 
 soulless, inhdel Secularists. When, however, Secularists and other 
 uihdels are in the majority, and have taken the country out of the 
 Christians hands, it will bo time enough for them to prate about 
 set ing up and legally establis.iing Satan's Kingdom in the country, 
 sealing the I.ible as a day school instructor, and either confining it to 
 the Churches or commiting it to the flames ! which latter it ia certainly 
 in their hearts to do, as witness what inlidels have already done in 
 America, and their doings in connection with the ascendancy of 
 A heistic "free thought," at the time of the K.oespierre »t Co. Revo- 
 ution in iM-ance. Secular jWr thou-ht, indeed ! It is as "free" to 
 tolerate religion as the devil, their spiritual " father," i,s, and not a 
 whit more so. Ihey simply lack, in a Christian country, the power to 
 exhibit themselyes in the.r true colors-that is all that is wanting on 
 their part to accomplish all that is and always has been in tlieir 
 wicked heaits to accomplish. Xor are we, as a professedly Christia 
 country bound to tolerate the .levil and the.se his inlide/emissanes 
 \Uha<l enough of him and h.s work in the Garden ! And experience 
 of the dire lesulLs o the human race naturally enough puts inllligent 
 Christian men on their uuard as to the further toleration of him and 
 his. And whoever wouhl be thus "the friend of the worl.l," the un- 
 
 rt'f"'"^Nr'f'^f/-''"'''i;7n'^'" '"^"""''>' -^-"red,"is the enenyof 
 (.0(1. Alark this well, fellow-citizens. I'.y th- way -rhid to leirn 
 
 hat Secular editor, Mr. Foote, has had a 'period of 't'w^d e L n 
 elaxa ion from his tods -.tru.st that it .nay do him good morally as 
 well as physically, and that his .\ewgate coinoanions were not 
 unusually contaminating; also that his Secular morals have not suffer- 
 ed seriously from contact with the same. 
 
HKlULAIIISTs AM) NKCUI.AIIIPIM 
 
 Hut wf Imve not yet .lono with iUf Hil.le l.rnnch of our Hubjoct 
 n.l I would hkn just horn to put u (|u..'.stioM .,r two to th 
 
 91 
 
 ilimit'rrituent.wlio m 
 h 
 
 iH limn of 
 
 it 
 
 •Moiniccs Home of tliu contoiil« (»f tliu IM,U> »rir 
 UKly tlt-nouncoa him hm mvU. ami aLso h... 
 
 I!C(IU«0 
 
 photoKTuphs (.!• (lolinoat.!.M him in Ist .;hu..so of i'salm 14— I would 
 hko, i Huy, touchn.K tho alleged unlilneHH <.f thu Bibh, as a moral 
 instructor udapt.nI to tho re.iuirementH of i'uhlic School children to 
 a«k thiH Kt'ntlo.nan whothcr it i.s riKht, or proper, or even decent' to 
 read vvn-yUnnn t" duldren out of many other books that nnldit be 
 named, however good and unobjectionable they may be in themselves? 
 And It It IS not, is it not equally right and proper to discriminato as 
 to what IS or IS not prober to read to them out of iho liihlr > Jg tl-u 
 Hible, moreover, to be condemned »ny more than any other book 
 because it contains things unrit or unsuitable to bo read to children \ 
 take Medical works, e. g., especially such as are desigm-.I for the use 
 of medical students. Is there not niudi in them, as well as in many 
 otnor books-good enough in Ihemselvoa, and for the {.urposes dosicri- 
 ed— which is unfit to b(! reod t,; or in the hearing of children? 
 
 Again : Is it not lawful and light to discriminate as to what lesson 
 book, or what particular parts of a graduated series of lessons in a 
 school book are ititrllrrtiiallii suitable to read to or be reai" by children ? 
 And if such discrimination is allowable as to what is fit and suitable 
 inHlrd/m/li/, is it not ecpially allowable that the age and the relative 
 distance between children and man and womanhood, should be taken 
 into consideration in the selection of what might be regarded in z?'i/ 
 ot/i'r respect suitable and appropriate reading for them ? as also,"wo 
 may add, between the married and the single, and before mixed or 
 public assemblies of any kind Discrimination, sir, in these respects 
 and in relation to all books, the Hible of course included, as also iri 
 relation to jniblic or private discourses of any description, whether 
 intellectually, morally, or religiously considered, is not only right and 
 proper, but it wouKl be most injudicious, unwise, and often really 
 criminal not to do so. And hence this man's objections to what the 
 Bible contains, b-^cause some of it is unfit to bo indiscriminately read 
 before either young or old, is simply infidel balderdash, and, like all 
 the rest of the Agnostic criticisms against the P>ible, is nothing more 
 nor loss than senseless, shallow, undiscriminating twaddle. 
 
 In hi' " lecture," which was delivered on Sunday night, Mr. ';\'attfi 
 also made the assertion that Christ, according to the Xew Testament 
 "WW f/ir (jmitrxt of all Sahhath l>r>uh'r><"! "But this, with the New 
 Testament for his text boolc, the reader need scarcely be told, is simply 
 a Secular calumny, and a most false statement ; for so far from His 
 bei;ig such, Christ never broke the Sabbath at all, although, bein" its 
 Lord, He could of course institute or abrogate it at His pleasure, and 
 not sin. liut healing the sick, and plucking and eating ears of corn 
 on the Sabbath day to satisfy the cravings of hunger and the neces- 
 sities of nature, was not breaking or in any way violating the Sabbath 
 according io tiie original letter and intent of the institution. Christ 
 moreover, tells us that He came not to break but to fulfil the Law ; 
 and one important command of the Law was to "remember the Sab- 
 bath day to keep it holy" -how, then, could He be a breaker and a 
 fuHiller of it at the same time 1 < *, but it is to no purpose that Christ 
 
 4\ 
 
 m 
 
 n 
 
SECUT.ARISTS ANP ffi5CUi.AKI^<M. 
 
 or ko[tt it, liceiui.sc Mr. AViitts suys Ut" broke it, and 
 
 tliou"li lit' iloos belong to tho 
 
 92 
 
 says Ilo fullilk'd 
 
 Mr. Watlri of coursL' know.s evou lliougli iif 
 'unknowable ' fraternity !— Xlie American term for tlieyc wiseacres is, I 
 believe, ''Knwnwthiwiarian^'' : and tbc, dellnition of a Ktiownothing- 
 arian is, "One tliat not ordv knows notliing, but an imp who pretends 
 to know mon; than those who do know !"' Such are all those of the 
 Watts and Ingersoliiin srluuil. 
 
 But keep holy the day thai ( lod has commanded to be kept i.oly, 
 fellow-citizens. Intid'd'plt'ii^iHiJ-si^clvfis and railroad money-grubbers 
 may want to rush with their engines, unchecked, into hell ; but don't 
 let them do it on the Sal)bath «lay ! Steamboats, on Sundays also, 
 may want to puH' tlieir smoke from the ticry furnace while on their 
 way to "the hike of the" ; but don't patronize them, and don't let them. 
 
 Ihit the idea of this n.an (as in hip prnsprrfus,) talking of " bearding 
 the enemy" (the enemy bein- Cod,) in Ilis " very fastness and strong- 
 hold, ' tho.se being Canada rather than the I'nited States, which judg- 
 ing from such leniarks, one might suppose, has been already through 
 inhdel ag^ ncy handed over to l' 3 devil 1 If Canada, however, is a 
 " very fastne.;- of Christianity," long may it continue so ; and if Toron- 
 to is the capital and principal seat of Cod's " stronghold," long may it 
 retain its high and enviable ])osition in this respect ! And if Mr. 
 "Watt is the cliampion that Satan has selected and stationed at that 
 point for Israel's overthrow, 1 pray < !odto defeat his vile intentiors by 
 sending against him a second David, to whom, with his " sling-stonc " 
 of truth and skdlful aim, it will be but as child's play to smite nim to 
 the eurth, lniml)lc his vaunted strength, dispossess him of his armor, 
 and thus proclaim an ea-\y conquest and victory on Israel's side. 
 
 Hut ye must be literally mad, ye inlidel dupes, although boastingly 
 clad in Philistine's mail, if ye think to upset Christianity and overthrow 
 the truth of Cod ! And the man who is thus prnfcsmmHiln engaged 
 in damning not only his own suul, but those of others, is certainly not 
 to be envied ! The thought of such a man's moral condition and re- 
 sponsibility before (Jod, his Sovereigii judge, is terrible indeed! I 
 would not be in his place, as a professional horse-leech sucking the 
 moral life-blood from tho vitals of the community, and thus sell my 
 soul to the devil— no, not for millions a year, nor even, at Satan's 
 own stipulaLion for tlie sovereignty of " the kingdoms of this world" ; 
 no, nor forworlds upon worlds ; although his own dupes will,and for a 
 great deal less ! I'ut Id us hoist tht'in nut of thit-, fellow Canadians, 
 and give them no lest here for the soles of their feet. Our soil is too 
 .sacred, and our people too wise, I tiust, to submit to its desecration 
 by such sin polluted mortals. Starve them out, and thus help thorn 
 across the " border,"' when' 1 su[)[)ose they came from ; or else acroi(^ 
 the " Jordan " to their " fathers " home beyond, where they will be 
 for ever with their "lord !" 
 
SBCUI.AniSTS AMD SECULAJUSM. 93 
 
 THE ATHKISM, c^-, . OF WATT8, TNOKKHOLT. AND LUSE . 
 
 WITH REFEKENCK8 T( ) " SECULAR THOUGHT " 
 
 AND ITS CONTENTS. 
 
 
 The foregoing, with some little variation, I wrote as a Newspaper 
 article, and had no idea of writing anything further on the. sbjcct. But 
 I have since thought that a further wholesome analysis of the prin- 
 ciples and teachings of that foreign Secular import — not from the 
 States, as I supposed, but from England — Mr. Watts, might prove, if 
 not profitable to himself, at least beneficial to others. And as Secu- 
 larism (so far as my knowledge of it is concerned,) has but just crop- 
 l)ed up in Canada, and an infidel journal has just been .started (1st No, 
 Jany. 8, 1887,) by Mr. Watts, in Toronto, in the interests of Secular- 
 ism, I have felt it to be my duty to have something further to say 
 about it ; and, therefore, at the risk of making my book unprofitably 
 large, I will say it. I ser^t for either the prospi'duf or a specimen 
 number of this New Journal, and the Editor very considerately sent 
 me three ; so that I have a pretty good idea of what that Journal is 
 and what it is to be. But although I cannot conscientiously patronize 
 this blasphemous, God-dethroning " venture " by subscribing for the 
 Journal, if its I^ditor desire I will cheerfully pay him for the three 
 copies received. 
 
 As a key note to what follows, I may here observe, that I have 
 called this gentleman a/oreiyu import, because I would not care to 
 own him as an l''nglishman. He is utterly unwoithy of the name ; 
 and so is everyone who is associated with tliat abominable, (iod-defy- 
 ing, blasphemous mn, through which, indifferent of moral conse- 
 ([uences, he hopes to pick up his crumbs in this fair Cananda of ours ! 
 The man who would thus deliberately set himself to the task of blasting 
 the faith, the virtue-inspiring prospects, and animating spiritual hopes, 
 of his fellow immortals, I have no hesitation in saying, if not taken 
 to Kingston as a criminally unfit subject for liberty, ought to be com- 
 fortably accommodated vvith an asylum retreat, and charitably " crumb- 
 ed " with a strait jacket. It v/ould be the best and most charitable 
 thing that could be done for him. 
 
 And here, before further proceeding with my subject, I would like 
 to make this observation, tiiat if a vein of the humorous, or of the 
 smi-humorous .should be found to run through any part or parts of 
 this production, the more grave and naturally sober-minded reader 
 will, we trust, kindly throw the mantle of charity over the indulgence, 
 as being tin- product on our part of thi; very best of intentions ; but 
 which, however, we frankly acknowledge, it is not ea.sy for us to do 
 over the head, ajid heart, and mischievous tloings of the poor be- 
 nighted Secularist ! if I occasif''>.ally drop into a semi-humorous 
 style of writing, it is not becau.se x am not most serious ,iii reference 
 to the important subject in hand, as serious perhaps as mortal can be, 
 but .'■imply becaHso T think that T am th'3ireby enabled to gain a great- 
 er and more widespread inlluenct; for good, thus acting on the prin- 
 ciple and from the motive advanced by Mr. Spurgeon, where he says, 
 "There is no particular virtue in being seriously unreadable." 
 
94 SECUI-ARISTS AND SECUI.ARIKM. 
 
 Since writing the paper above referred to, havin;,' had the. privilege 
 of reading an article pul)lished in the Toronto Mail from the pen of a 
 gentleman who subscribes himself " On Giian/," and having also con- 
 sulted an ably written little work by (i. Sexton, Esq., IJ. D., entitled 
 "The Fallacies of Secularism," which I obtained in London, Kngland, 
 T have ascertained not only that Mr. Watts is an Englishman, 
 but that he was for .some time the recognized editor of a Secular paper 
 called the Emsoner. And from this circumstance, 1 take it, the gen- 
 tleman is probably first cousin to Tom Paine, both as to his assump- 
 tion of more'than ordinary skill in the art of rmsouimj, and as to his 
 more than ordinary deficiency in the same. I understand also that he 
 is a Bradlaughitfc Athcisf, having published a pamphh.t setting forth 
 the reasons why he is one ! and this circumstance, in connection with 
 the fact that his pamphlet according to a published statement by 
 Dr. Sexton of London, to vvhom I am much indebted for information 
 on this subject, is " full of the most violent denunciations of religion 
 in every shape and form," convinces me that his deficiency of discern- 
 ment and of judgment is such, that, whatever his age and experience 
 may be, he still remains, so far at least as any practical moral benefit 
 derived from it is concerned, in the position of a novice who is scarce- 
 ly conversant with even the first principles of the art. And hence even 
 the very best of his " reasoning " against God, the Scriptures and 
 Christianity, having no sound or solid basis, can in no case be said to 
 be logical ; and if it is, it is " falsely so called." He is a pretty smart 
 fellow, however, no doubt ; but so, also, is the devil ; and in this 
 respect, as well as others, we will not dispute that father and son may 
 bear a very close resemblance. 
 
 And here I am reminded of an observation by Col. K. G. IngersoU, 
 aa found in Scai/ur Thought, whose columns have been graced with an 
 article from his pen. He said : " A personalty is always out of place "; 
 and further, tiiat " Every minister can answer the argument of an op- 
 ponent by attacking the character of the opponent." Perhaps Mr. 
 IngersoU is not aware that his own writings are full of such personali- 
 ties, or of very personal generalities, involving professing Christians in 
 general, and the clergy in particular ! but perhaps if he ever has the 
 privilege of reading my reply to some of his writings, which I now 
 have in manuscript, he will be led to think differently. These men 
 take serious objection to personalities, when themselves are involved ; 
 and they have, no doubt, good private reasons for it. But the fact is, 
 there is peisonality al)out tlieir exist ■•nce.there is ])ersonality about their 
 evil doings, their sayings, their general character, and their personal 
 pernicious influence ; and hence we cannot afford to altogether ignore 
 personalities in dealing with, and speaking of such men. We are 
 quite willing, however, for tlrem to be as personal with us as we are 
 with them ; but our connection being with God, and theirs with an 
 entirely different spirit, they very naturally conclude that reference to 
 it on our part helps to weaken and destroy their influence, and frustrate 
 their unhalU)wed puiposes. 
 
 I do not err in making this marked distinction between the infidel 
 and the Christian, observe, for does net the inspired Word of God 
 itself (^jroiW to be such,) cay : "They are of the world; therefore 
 speak they of the world, and the w(»rld heareth them. We 
 
SECULARISTS AND SECULAHUM. 95 
 
 are r)f (J.mI : lie that knoweth (h)d hearotli ms ; Iw. that is nut of God 
 hearetli not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of 
 error." 
 
 " Arf^ument " is usually i telling weapon in the hands of Christians 
 against infidelity ; but an argument clinched with a persunality some- 
 times makes it peculiarly effective, and often very unpleasantly so to 
 the infidel, ^foreover, personalities may, 1 think, sometimes be made 
 to take the form of argument for or against ; and Satan himself was, 
 1 think, aware of this when in the Garden he first accused his Maker 
 of lying, and then used this assertion as an argument to pursuade and 
 induce Eve to disobey God and partake of the forbidden fruit. Of 
 course hiijh c/a-s-.s Agnostic writers can run so high in argu- 
 ment into the Agnostic regions of " the unknown and the nnknow 
 able," that they may not find it necessary to descend to the lower 
 plains of vulgar personalities ; but Mr. I. dee.s not belong to this high 
 class of Agnostics ; and ^[r. W. does not belong to these high 
 high Agnostics. A high class Agnostic is one who really knows some- 
 thing about !<('ii')ice, coupled with what he /niuirs about the unknowable. 
 And as neither Mr. 1. nor Mr. W. knows anything about the former, 
 all that is left to them is the latter. 
 
 Whilst the "scientific " D>nd of the past has never failed to think 
 a very great deal of himself, he, at the same time, has declared this 
 world to be altogether too insignificant, as a fractional part of the great 
 Sidereal heaventJ, to be worthy of the attentions claimed to have been 
 paid to it by its Maker. This argument, hovvevei-, derogatory as it is 
 to the glory and plenitude of the Divine perfections in ihe all-com- 
 prehensiveness of their unlimited range, having been eloquently and 
 ably dispo.sed of by l)v. Chalmers and others, there is Nothing left to 
 the poor " astronomical" Deist but to turn Atheist! For obvious 
 reasons this scientific gentleman is fond of mental and moral, as well 
 as physical independency ; and rather than have an all-seeing eye 
 spying out all his ways, he will have no providential Ruler and Gov- 
 ernor at all ! and rather than have a holy Redeemer, Saviour, and 
 Judge, ho will have no God ! Poor infatuated mortaln ! they remind 
 one uf tlie dog, equally rational, that dropped its piece of substantial 
 flesh into the river, that it might grasp at a shadow ! (.)f the Divine 
 being and substance as a tenet of their intellectual faith, they have 
 voluntarily let go their hold, and that at which they now aim, being 
 but a shadow eludes their grasp, and is but a mockery of the substan- 
 tial reality wliicli they have exchanged for a mere cliiraeiical, groundlests 
 notion, which, having no base, will just sutTice to let the poor sim- 
 pletons through into perdition ' 
 
 AVe may here state for the information of the interested reader, that 
 we have a cha]jlei' devoted exclusively to the subject of Afhei'i^iii, in 
 our manuscript reply to Col R. G. Ingersoll, which will doubtless be 
 published in diu". time. AVc may also take this opportunity of notify- 
 ing thi! public, that X C. Luse, assosiate editor with Mr. Watts, will 
 doubtlt^sv be found to be quite worthy of the distinguished honor of 
 such association ; for he discloses at once his atheistic proclivities and 
 (M'iLical '" lea.soiiing " abilities, by saying in his Noh'ti ami Gnmnu'iifs of 
 Secular Tltaii'jht : " If God has left the irnrircssion of his hand upon 
 the universe loe have not seen it, or, seeing, have nut recognized it 
 
96 SKCULAKISTM ANU SliiJULARISM. 
 
 Wliy shi»ukl we ? We luivt- iio idea of the sizo, shape, ur appearance 
 (if God'ri hand. We huvt* never seen it. How then could we expectt'j 
 recognize its inipro.^.sion ? " Tlie reader will scarcely fail to appreciate 
 this exquisite piece of simiijicity, and to hereby di.-^cern the astound- 
 ing character of thi.s rnan'.s discernment, a.« well a.s the no le.ss superior 
 character of hi.s logic ! 
 
 But the idea of n'asonintj with a creature that has no more ration- 
 ality than a human atheist, a specimen of one of which we have here 
 before us ! Such an attempt would seem to be almost if not altogeth- 
 er out of the question. " The heavens may declare the glory of God, 
 and the firmament show his handy work," as they do most lumin- 
 uously ; but these are no more to the atheist than is the orb of night 
 to the dog that sits and barks at it ! Poor senseless, undiscerning 
 creatures ! An atheist, indeed ! why an atheist, with the truth cm- 
 hlazmmui fJnivn:<i' o/(h'i?/i/, aniuiatf ami iiianiinatc, Lxdnhj held fortli 
 to his undisau-nimj vini; cannot be said to have got beyond, in this 
 respect, the rationality of his j^/7'///a/y;?7*;/r?aYo/' from whom Danciu 
 says he sprung ! David, moreover, although I-'ving long before the age of 
 scientific Darwin, tells us that the atheist is a natural " fool "—and 
 who may rca-tombJi/ question the fact? Not one. And thus impaled 
 upon the two hciis of an uncomfortably dilemma, if in his efiforts to 
 wriggle off from the uninspired horn of the former, it would only be 
 to be retained on tlie latter, and be infallibly caught upon the trip- 
 pie branches of a third —that of " n-hitaJ .sfpnh-hrr, full of all mhtlety, 
 child of the drr/l ! "—Aye, and a favorite " diild " must "that man be 
 —the very image of his " father "—who is entrusted by him with 
 the confidential and lesponsibly infernal position of editor-in-chief to 
 one of his latest and most important leagues ! It is from this con- 
 sideration alone, that we can arrive at the only clue by which the 
 atrocious course pursued by leaders of infidelity is at all explicable ! 
 The man that jumps" into the lire himself, of his own free will, may 
 justly be accounted a lunatic ; but he who clutches at another, or 
 others, as he is going, and deliberately drags them in with him taking 
 pleasure in the spiiic, is a hend ! It would be difficult indeed to say 
 anything too bad of such men. O ! but you must be charitable," 
 some will say ; " it is a mere dill'erence of opinion between you and 
 the atheist." — Mere difference of irinnion ! I cannot for a moment 
 allow it ; there is no rational ground for a difference of opinion upon 
 this subject ; and the secret of their inspiration must therefore be 
 looked for outside of rationality. Their monstrous delusive absurdities, 
 with their con.sequent infidel devices, measures, mission, and move- 
 ments, are not the result of the normal action of the human mind ; 
 but of devil-possession and inspiration. There is no sane man, in the 
 ordinary normal possession of his senses in other respects, flooded 
 as the Tniverse is with the evidences of intelligent cause, who 
 can be so mad and bereft of his reason and intelligence upon this point 
 as to become an atheist, except he is literally possessed by the devil. 
 Such men must be judicially 'Ujicen ore/'" to this utter blindness of 
 Satanic inspiration, by reason of the i)eculiar nature of their delibiu'- 
 ate rejection of Christ and His Salvation in the past.— "Because they 
 received not the love ..f the I ruth, that they might be saved ; for this 
 cause, God shall send thym strong delusion, that they shuuld believe 
 
 

 .SKOUT.AnI^^TS AMi SECULARiaM. 97 
 
 alio; that thoy all ini-htlK' .lamiiod wii.. l,oIi,.vtMl not the tmtli l.ut 
 la.l i.loasur.. in unriKlit.MM.sne.H.s." V.,u ^^v also, by tlioso ul,s..,va 
 tions, that W(! an- /lot too ivihm\ to roeo^-nize the .'xist 
 ence „f the "devil," nor (., sprak of him in tl.- relation that he 
 uustainstol.KschiMit.n, although "loarned fools" who " make, a mock at 
 sm may scorn tho i.lea nf his bein^^ their "father," their ever 
 oxistms, if not, very aniiablo, spiritual foster-father. And from 
 this nvlation we would not exeludn even such men as Pro- 
 lessor ryndal, who, wIkmi ventilating' (we quote from .SVt//a/' Thought) 
 some ot his mafrriahWir notions, said, "Let us leverently, l)ut hon- 
 <^stly, look the question in the faee"--lf he had said, "look th(« <irvi/ 
 111 th(! face, ami gather from liim his mind and will," it would, J 
 t/nnk, have been (luito as near the mark, and (luite in conformi'ty 
 with l,is haliitual "reverential" wont wlieii dilating on sueh subjects 
 'U cannot logically c/oii/ tho personality of the devil," says a writer 
 in said journal. No ; l)ut wo can "logically" «///>»,, it, becau,se tlie 
 l>ook that asserts it has l)een logically proved to be true. 
 
 The journal says also, that Secularism "relegates the unprovable to 
 the legion of the unknowable, and all that is unproved to the region 
 ot tho^unknown." This, however, cannot comprise the Divine exist- 
 ence, Christianity, or the Supernatural ; for these are all both prov- 
 able and proved, to the satisfaction of all but the morallv and spiritu- 
 ally, and (through the l)ias of natural .sympathv,) intellectuallv and 
 religiously blind. 
 
 The journal has also an article on Du(/»iafw/i, to which we briefly 
 
 reply : Christians and Christianity are "dogmatic" only on such things 
 
 as are 1)ased on incontrovertibh; and infalli])l(' proof— mark this, ye 
 
 Secular unknowables. What they assert they i)rove ; and what they 
 
 prove they know, and therefore also, have a right to dogmatize in rela'- 
 
 tion thereto— rjuite as much so as that any scientist has a right to 
 
 dogmatize, as ho does, in relation to facts of scientific discovery and 
 
 experience. And the one dogmatist is no less free or able to furnisli 
 
 argument, and rnnrJiisiv; argument, in ]woof of his assertions, than is 
 
 the other. And the man who says, tlirough said journal, that " ho 
 
 wants to help dogmatism to die," must be one of those milk-and-water 
 
 sort of negativt! " knownothings"about v.'hom and whose, morally and 
 
 religiously, theie being nothing positive, nothing certain, there is 
 
 also nothing relia])le — a more feather of doubt and uncertainty, every 
 
 varying wind that blnv.-^ whirling him around, thus making him the 
 
 uiirelia])le prey of every l)ii«.4 of circumstance that blows, and finally 
 
 drop])ir,g him into the pit which being " l)ottomless," is the only 
 
 lituing i)lace for the man that, morally, has no solid bottom or base in 
 
 himself, or for anytliing he believes or doec ! ^Forallv " free " for 
 
 anything here, the Secularist is hem-e just the kind of human material 
 
 that is (iestined to 1)e " Iviund hand and foo, 'li-reafter ! 
 
 .Another cnntributor t<> this journal pretoii.is to know somathinf 
 about th(> uiiifotniity and li\cdii(>ss of natural law, as opposed to 
 supernatural manifestation and (lie [lo.ssibility of their suspension, 
 enforcing his position by the asseilion that if a hea.vy weight were 
 Mispi'iided ill mid air in a moin, appircnily in deiiance .if the laws of 
 gravity, it would not In- ;iii evidence that giavitatioii had ceased to 
 operate, or tliat tlic [lartitular olject had heen n'lnoved from iis 
 
98 SKCUI.ARISTS ANU SBfULAHlSM. 
 
 iiiHucnce ; but that some new force, !iltI'.oii;,'h uiisim-h, uas playing- a 
 part. It (-lid not, liowi.'VtT, sccmu to occur to tiic mind of tl;;- wiitcr, 
 that this "iH5\v forca" suppost'd, represents, or may he taken us an 
 ilhistration of the an^iclic or JJivine " foicc" or power, hy which 
 results in opposition to the huvs of nature (whether hy tlieir suspen- 
 sion or not,) are brought about ; as, for example, Peter and Christ 
 walking' upon tlie sen. Now the law of <,'ravitntion, and the laws by 
 which .solids and li(|uids are j^ovenied, wert; not nece.«srtrily suspended 
 when they walked ujion the water ; out there must have been this 
 "unseen force" or power actinf,' independently of and in opposition to 
 tho.se laws, ,t<iviii,Lr evidence of wliat is usually termed a miracle, or a 
 supernatural interference and manifestation. It is evident, too, from 
 the historical narrative that Peter's faith, "a thing unseen," as a link 
 (U' thread joined him to Christ and 1 )eily,wliich constitutes the "force" 
 or power liy which he was upheld. And this power Ix'ing also 
 suiK'rior to nature and nature's laws, coidd henco as ea.sily raise the 
 dead to life, and, if l»ivine purpose or jjrovidential occasion required, 
 suspenil or annihilate, so far as its connection with any particular 
 object or body is concerned, any law of nature in existence. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 COCRTESY OK MR. 
 COMPLLMKNT.S 
 
 WATTS AND HIS 
 TO THE CLERCV; 
 PHEMY; ETC. 
 
 .TOrRNAl. 
 HIS HLAS- 
 
 HIS 
 
 Referring to an article in the Mail, the " Secular" editor tells us 
 that he doesn't like " rand " throwing under anoniiunai^ signatures. 
 Well, for my own part, the sin of anonymous writing, whether mortal 
 or venial, never rests upon my \mjov head or heart— like a good Irish- 
 man, 1 would as soon disown my country as my name. Hut when 
 said editor admits anonymous articles of " mu(l" throwing into his 
 journal, he is, 1 think, a little inconsistent in reprimanding others 
 with respect t(j the thing objecLed to; as, e. g., tlie article in his 
 columns signed " M. S." Now if a .small r had been joined to the 
 "M.," people might have ascribed tlie "mud throwing" Secular 
 article to myself ; but tin's little iiide.v being omitted, to proliably 
 ninety-nine out of a hundred of his readers (if he has as many,) tiie 
 "j\r. S." is as anonymous as though the writer had subscribed himself 
 " Man in tlie Moon," and pcrliaps a little more .so ! 
 
 This same " M. S.," however, while doing a little of the objection- 
 able himself, think, it an})oar8, that we Christians should, just like a 
 lump of dough uiuh'r the hands ot the baker, take meekly all the 
 pounding that infidels arc {.leased to giv<> us, and not oven smile hack 
 at the grotesque and absurd ligure aii<l slips the poor mistaken, 
 
SBCULAItirrs AND RKCUI,AlilSM. 99 
 
 •Stumbling, l.lu.uloring fellows make while in the act of omleavonni, 
 
 vieT": ';:... ^^if^^'^r ''^'•"^^'"'" ''''■ '''•""^'-'^' - -i"^"h^ 
 
 Home He neat h, w.th hus human agents an,l ..nussarie.i who are in 
 league with h.m--( ! well, why! it is really something horrible 
 shocking to think ot ! And although neither the .levil nor themX; 
 recognize the existence of such a thing as <'sin" ...• except as it may 
 befouml.nthebecular science catalogue of the unknown and the 
 unknowable-if ever they catch and recognize one of us in the regions 
 of die damned, they will no doubt quickly point him out to their 
 hovereign, bring against the saintly smmr the charge of a " sin" un- 
 pardonable, and counsel him to inflict the full penalty of the law 
 justly enacted for the punishment of such "sinners" against his 
 Majesty s rightful government ! Just so. But, seriously, friend which 
 IS the greater sinner, think you, the man who makes an effort to 
 joke, if you itee to so call it, and shame an eternity bound 
 fellow-creature off the road to hell, or he who jokes, and jeers, and 
 .aughs a weak one out of the road to heaven, or tries to ; and those 
 who are entering it, or would enter it, tries his best in the spirit of 
 Satan himself, to hinder ? f Jod is Judge, my friend ; and to Him vou 
 will have to give an account. Hell is a reality, and, unrepentent, ft is 
 certainly for such as you. ( ), that you might l)e led to truly consider 
 your ways, and l)e wise I 
 
 The tone of Mr. Watts' journal is, by profession, to be courteous, 
 although "Secularism,' he says, "is essentially a revolt against Chris- 
 tianity ; and superstition, under whatever guise it comes, will find in 
 Srndar Tlwwjht an unflinching foe." It is not only from what he 
 writes himself, however, but from what he inserts and admits into his 
 columns from other writers, that Ihe general tone of his journal is to 
 be judged ; and much of such, even already, is anything but courteous 
 to Cnristian opponents We, however, would like also to be as 
 respectful as circumstances and the tone and aim of inHdel writings 
 will warrant us in being ; but we have been engaged lately in reading 
 the scurrilous and abominably blasphemous writings of Tom Paine 
 and Ingt,;-sol], and knowing .Mr. Chas. AVatts to be one of the same 
 family, and that Dr. Sexton speaks of his "violent opposition to 
 religion," and says, that ho " never ceases denouncing it," the gentle- 
 man will perha{)s pardon a Christian frce-fhinkor the freedom of his 
 speech, even if it should be tinctured with a tone perhaps uncon- 
 sciously gathered from the writings of said inlidcl representatives, 
 together with the unconcealed, publicly announced positive enmity of 
 himself to our holy Christianity ! The fact is, these haters of truth 
 and righteousness are becoming very bold ; and if we Christian! 
 would effectually foil and defeat the enemy on every hand, we must 
 do the same. These men are the foes of humanity, a^id as such there 
 can be no compromise between us. In our recotrnition of this new 
 factor among us, ami in our dealings with it, we must be as loyal and 
 faithful to our King as they are to theirs ; at the same time, keeping 
 within the limits of inspired, holy example, wn must endeavor 10 bo 
 no more severe upon such characters than is our great Exemplar 
 Christ, who denounces them (certainly in no ver) measured terms ) as 
 " a generation of vipers," whoso only home, retreat, and shelter from 
 
100 HKCUl.AIIlSTS AMI SKCULAIUSM. 
 
 general, if ii'<l frtJiu imivuisul execration, is, a " irhU>'l seimlclire" ! 
 We »lo not ask your "courtesy," fjcntlemen. It is but the charming, 
 outside body .spots <'r stripcH of the venomous sorpont, the tiger, or 
 the IcoiKU'l': It is but the wagging of the tail of the lion, with the 
 head of its feeder pressed between its teeth ! 
 
 These gentlemen will, i»erha})s, scarcely perceive the appropriateneaB 
 and applicability to themselves of the terras "whited sepulchre, hypo 
 critcs," (K-c, not iliscerning that they are among us as "Satan trans- 
 formed into angels of light '."—not di.scerning that they have come 
 among u.:^ pretending to be what they are not— as angels in human 
 form, teachers of good things, moral instiu>tors, heralds of truth, 
 reformers, teachers of science, regenerators of society, the hope of the 
 world, ifcc. They are the; hope of hell ! and are destined to be the 
 companions of lieuds 1 for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 
 
 .Srciilnr Tfhiii'/hl speaks also of the cA'/-;/// as being .s})ecially in- 
 terested in perpetuating the Christian " idolatry," because their liviii'j 
 is involved in it. Now as 1 am not one of the clergy, and never was, 
 1 am in a position to speak .somewhat freely upon this point. I think, 
 then, that inlidel editors and lecturers, living upon the public, should 
 he the last men in the world to speak of that honorable and most 
 useful body of men in such connection. Aiid why 1 Why, because 
 from the uioney and living standpoint, you arc in identically the same 
 position as they ; while the point of difference between you is, that 
 whereas they are engaged in the divine work of making good citizens 
 of earth, and urging men to (piaiify for citizenship in heaven, you are 
 doing all you can to frustrate in these respects the benign purpo.'ics of 
 (lod and of all good men ! You are, in fact, daily living and acting 
 tlie part of the most coi rupt i.ud designing political partizans. You 
 would I luat the good, the honest, the true, that you your.sclves may get 
 into position and power, and the possession of tlic people's money. 
 You not only edit an inlidel pai)er for money, -ind in the interests of 
 your party, but you go around lecturing also foi a living. Vou appeal 
 to the readers uf your journal to introduce it to others and try to get 
 them to subscril)e for it, (which would, (.'f course, be right enough in 
 itself were it not for the iaiipiitous chara'jter of the enterprise ;) but 
 not content with a general appeal of this nakire, your journal in the 
 tone and spirit of the hungry, inhdel, nioiiey-graspiwg zealot, i.s already 
 made the vehicle of the primal Secular battle-cry, " Money ! money ! 
 (rive ! L'ive !" In speaking of Secular "cloiiuence," the journal says : 
 " Shall their genius be lost to Secularism for lack of a few dollars ? 
 How well" (Mark, ye reading public, the cunningness and policy of 
 this fleecing appeal !) "how well would they be recompensed in ortho- 
 dox ranks ? Wr have just what the enemy needr-brains ; thet/ 
 possess just what we want — dollars." No doubt you do. And so 
 on page t of the next week's issue, we read: " l'>erybody can 
 do .something. Don't let the lack of money keep any one from 
 helping the cause. Those who cannot afl'ord to give !$100 should 
 give $2b, and those who cannot spare S2.''i simuld contribute 
 S5 as proudly as though it were live times the amount. Above 
 all, to each Secnhni:4 I wuild say, do not give grudgingly, but 
 from the deep conviction that comes of [how high he strikes !] honest 
 purpose. If you can't organize try to pay |1 per month for yourself, 
 
SECUI,AR18TH ASM SECULARISM. 101 
 
 if not $1 [»iv year, and rnUi^et t/f hnlnncr frnvi i/tntr ui'i<jhh,>rK [thuso 
 of them that have ' brainn'] in order to assist those whd can or^aniic." 
 .Such is the consistency of this atheistic, editor un<i traducor of the 
 men whom (iod delights to honor' Look, then, fellow-Canadians, at 
 this infidel competitor for your " loaves and hsliea," and at what he 
 proposes to give you in return. Iniidpl ffrtiiren, awl. an Atheutir 
 Journal and Cliai'l^ irhich, if foil owed, will lead ijon dirn-f te hdl /-^ 
 both young men and maidens, old men and matrons, behold the man 
 as he thus stands before you, and sec if you cannot discern in hia 
 recent advent among us the murks of the cloven foot, and of the 
 equally recent vi.sit, on busine.ss, of its apolonian owner! pass your 
 verdict upon him accordingly, and give to him and his cause your 
 «up)>ort or your execration, as your respective consciences and judg- 
 ments may intelligently and honestly dictate. 
 
 And, ])y Avay (»f furtlKsr helping you a little towards a just appre- 
 ciation of what said Journal, witii its editor-in-chief, is, I will quote 
 the following from his " Notes and Comments," as found in the first 
 iiumber of his Journal. A " leading Christian paper" (name not given,) 
 gives the following excellent advice to the atlluent with regard to 
 rcmembeiing the poor and needy in the distril)ution of their Christ- 
 ma.s gifts : "To the rich and the well-|)rovided for it should be a joy 
 and a source of thankfulness to help their jioorer neighbors to a 
 l)rigliter Christmas than the unhelped will have, (live them some- 
 thing to move their gratitude to the Lord and (liver of Christmas, and 
 many weary, sad, and doubting sotds will be drawn to Cfod's altar on 
 ( 'hristnias Day to render thanks for such mercies." And hero is the 
 Secular editor'.s most in.sane and blasiihcnious comment u|)on it : "How 
 can such teachings l)e other than injurious in eliect ? What encour- 
 agement for (inc to share his pleasures with a less fortunate human 
 being, if tlu; rccijiicnt of the gift is to cari-y bis gratitude and thanks 
 to an unknown being born of bis imagination? No 1 no! Away 
 with such teaching about "gratitude to the Lord.' When .some 
 humanity-loving soul turns his attinition to those more needy than 
 himself, let liim be the sole recipient of our heartrfelt gratitude and 
 thanks. If there is a (:lod, he does not need our thanks, nor, indeed, 
 iloes ho deserve tliem.(!) Being re-j/onsible for our existence, the 
 wonder is that he withholds so much and gives so little." Verily 
 this is blasphemous and wicked enough to be so early an expression 
 "f the gt'iKual (•liaiactor of this new Journal ! How forcibly the last 
 sentences, in particular, remind one of the conversation in the (iarden 
 relative to the proscril)ed tree and the forbidden fruit, rightfully 
 reserved by the decree of Sovereign Wisdom. How close the re- 
 semblance I how exactly is the fvil spirit, its author, herein imaged 
 forth ! (3ne might almost think that he sees the very horns and tail 
 projecting from the lunnan skull and coat-tail, thus rendering him, 
 like Cain by his " mark," all the more cognizable by the artistic ad- 
 denda ! lUit how clear and demonstrable the evidence hereby afforded 
 of the continued existence of the infidel inspirer I How evident, 
 also, that lie is welcomfd to the special seat of honor in the infidel 
 .sanctum of thi.=< " Xew Venture,' as its editor terms it ! I will 
 "venture" to .say, ho ivevor, that there is no m "' of common sense, 
 liaying the loast measure of respect for his ju' ^nt, as well aa for 
 
oily-tongueil, as well us 
 iiitelloutuui elevation tiiul 
 
 102 SKCULAmST** ANI> SKCUI.ARISM. 
 
 Ilia moral stamling in society, ^vho will be found to I'mlorso tli«;rt(! 
 seutimentri of this Se(Milariat editor. .ludm; then, reaiicr, I'roni this 
 quotation, as to the mural i;hara(;ter and tone of thi« new journal, us 
 just pro,j('ct(Ml and issued l)y this glib an. 
 blasphemous iVthcist for the moral and 
 enlightenment of the people of Canada ! 
 
 The existence, chai-acter and doings of such men, like the deadly 
 vervain, the night-shade, the poisonous hellebore, the nettle, or the 
 hriony, are not only a positive bane and an over-present insult to 
 enlightened, intelligent, regenerated humanity ; but, by reaso)\ of the 
 evil propensities and tendencies of fallen human nature, they are con- 
 verted into a positive source of blight ami moral deatii to mmy of 
 tho^e who come withir the sphere of their evil intluenco ! Some from 
 inherent evil disposition will doubtless be induced to patronize the 
 projection ; and others who are more or less inclined to yield to evil 
 influence and pe.oUasion, will be drawn aside from the paths of 
 morality, righteousness, and trutli, if the evil principles of these men, 
 and their Machinations against society, and virtue, and loyalty, are 
 allowed to go unopposed, and are suffered to germinate and take root 
 
 among us. 
 
 Worldly pleasure and interest, ambition, ))ride, money, a weak fond- 
 ness for notoriety or singularity, -Vc, not to speak oi the grosser 
 passions of our fallen humanity, enter very largely into the composi- 
 tion of infidel motives to action, if, indeed, they do not constitute the 
 sum total of their "virtue." And in the infidel and Secularist they 
 are not only indigenous, l)ut are assidiously cultivated. There is witli 
 many of them especially a morbid longing for notority — at this shrine, 
 truth, and principle, and virtue, are all willingly sacrificed ! As 
 nominal Christians, possessing only their ordinary talents, they could 
 not be so singular ami not so conspicious as their excessive vanity 
 prompts them to desiie to be. They are usually, also, men of subtle 
 artifice "who lie in wait to deceive." But bad as the best of them 
 are outside, irifhin they are morally "full of dead men's bones and o* 
 all uncleanne.ss." Of >leath they do not, usually, care to think or 
 speak ; and a time for serious retrospection, they think for them there 
 is none, and madly imagine there never will be ! But the appointed 
 day is rapidly approaching them, nevertheless. And being an irresist 
 ible necessity by Divine ordination, when the appointed time comes 
 will it then be welcomed by them 'i Will it then be courted by them 
 as a pleasing inemoriter of Secular scenes and associations of by-gone 
 pleasure, of anti-religious carnival, or of gain? or will it not rather be 
 to them ;'s tlic grim demon of remorseless awakening, lashing them 
 with the sins and follies of the past 1 
 
 "Evil and oidy evil," as Holy Scripture puts it, in thought, these 
 men (I might say also, women — Mrs. IJessant is an instance,) cannot 
 but be the same in deed. The idea of living and acting from the 
 pure motive of being truly useful and honorable members of society 
 appears to be altogether foreign to the Secular mind ; and hence 
 qualification iov it, other than is quite consistent in all respects with 
 Secular "freedom,*' is not contemplated by Secular orators and leader.* 
 in the composition and delivery of their public addresses. \or do 
 any of their professional leaders, kc, require oither a diploma of 
 
 
«R< IM.AIilHTS AND HICILAHUM. 108 
 
 intnUoctiial ci»iii|H!ti'iicy, or n certilicat.- nt moial chiiructer. To logic 
 uiiil cloHo inv('stij,'atioii averse, thoy will nevertheless stick to their 
 o^inioiH as though th«y were really .lefeiiHibitj and incoiitrdvertihle 
 ruth! Close and sober inveati^'ation i» neilhei the wont of Mie 
 leaders nor those who are led hy them. I'nceitainty u.id doubt, lather 
 than thorouKh conviction, form Imth the base and the superstiuctuio 
 of the infidel edifitio. Frtrmin^' their opinionn as the result of diligent, 
 8inc»Te, and candid irKjuiry, in conformity with logically apprehende«l 
 moral and religious truth, is foreign to their general habits of thou^'ht 
 arid desire. And if they investigate at, all, historically and other- 
 wise, it is not from their love of trutli (religious), but rather from 
 their innate katred to it, and to find .something to cavil about. 
 Scientific truth (as a thing to be talked about) is their hobby ; .ral 
 and religious truth, their bane. To a god of t>cu-nrr, pure and si ,,ie, 
 they would have no particular objectiBii ; Ixfcause he is in international 
 agreement with the god of JJacchu.s, and all the rest ! an<l because 
 against such a god even high rjass Agnosticism ent< is no protest, 
 having no private reasons, or spe('ial information from "the regions of 
 the unknowable" to the contrary ! 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WHAT IS SKCULAKISM? CIIAHACTKR oK ITS AD. 
 HKKKNTS; ITS IMMORAL PKLNClPhtlS; ITS UN- 
 DYING ENMITY TO THE HoLY AND 
 THE TKITK. 
 
 Secular or atheistic infidelity, we may further observe, is sciolism 
 and absurdity monopolized by a rovolutionaay combination, ami sub- 
 ordinated to the native instincts of lawless depravity. Such men can, 
 of cour.se, see nothing in religion to elevate, nothing in it to admire ! 
 It may have been the tran.sccuulen.t theme of the wise and the virtuous 
 of (fvery age ; the glory of the good, and the hope of the just ; but to 
 grovelling inlidel (^arthline.ssand sin, it has no sftecific attra.';tion.s, and 
 affords not one desiralilc ray of heaven-born comfort or of hope ! 
 Those of tlie.m wlio arc sincere, (if there are any such,) are perhaps, 
 aiming at what tliry suppose to be the best end, <!ven though per.sonal 
 gratification, or extreme selfisluKi.ss be its name ! liut the best ends, 
 they shotdd know, can never be uttaineil thiougii tin; instrumentality 
 of the worst prinjiples, and the worst men and means. Xor can men 
 in general be reasonably supposed to bo in character and aim superior 
 to their is/n. or creed. They are much more likely to be very far 
 below it, morally, than above it. 
 
 Bfadlaugli, the {ircscut. Eugii.sh leader of the Secularists — with 
 whom, by the way, when making a short stay in Ivjudon, I had the 
 
lU'l nEt'ULABlSTli AM) i^Ri ITl.AKISM. 
 
 Iionui'iif 11 briof ili'butu, liy invituli«»ii liniii liiniMcIt, ;il I In- tlu.si' ttf oiid 
 of Ills lot'turrH ilt'livt'ifil in his "Hall n| SciciM'c," whi.h liapptMUliK 
 liom an ui>{iiiiii'iilalivt' |>iiiiit ui' vimv i<> f<ll ii|>nn liis amlit-n.-H 
 in the wionj^' 'lin-ctiou in suit him, li'-, vi-iy rnnHidemtdy, Honn 
 thniiglit it tini.- til (lost) tor th« iii^'lil Imt this Mr, riiatlhiiigh, 
 1 was jnoin^,' to say, has hcon thiiiny (Miou^i;h, it appi-ars, ti' ih'niaml 
 that tiio CluiHlian (lod, " if Huch thi-ro be," might icvoai llininelf 
 to his tlflpravcil self ami to his aiidicnci! of kiiulifil charafttT, 
 (liii'iuj,' a live minutes' truce oi i;i).ssati(»n of hostilities ^^ra(^iously 
 allowHtl Him for that purpose! 15nt why, it may be asked, did 
 not (Jod manifest Himself in some si^Mial Tiiannor duriiif.' those live 
 mimittis expiessly allotted Him for that purpose by I »ietatoi I'.iad 
 la\i<;h ? Well, my fiiend, the reply, I suppose, sho\il<l be some- 
 thinj^ like this : In the llrst place, it, miuht bi', "That I hey all may 
 be ilamneil who Itclieve not the truth, liut have pleasure in uuright- 
 euusaess." And, secondly, 1 would say, that ( lod has doubtless a minil 
 anil will ot His own, ami probably prescril)es for Himself as to His 
 own acts ; and while it pleases Him to strike down one and another 
 of Satan's servants fiom time to time, in righteous ritribution, it is 
 not His will to either annihilate the dnvil or to judicially do away 
 with all his human emissaries in any other way or at any other time than 
 His eternal and (if Secularists will allow it,) aU-ici.-<' purpose has set. 
 But irrespective of this consideration, and even supposin<,' there were 
 no God, taking you all in all, I would ask, arn't you really a beautiful 
 lot t l^ook at your deeds and doings as recounted in uoniujction with 
 some of your jjicked and leading men ! These deeds and doings, 
 however, Watts and his chief would fain have kept in the back ground 
 while they are patriotically engaged in prospecting Ameiican, and more 
 especially Canadian soil. Canada as a "strongliold" of Christianity, 
 being not yet fully i*e[tared for the "strong meat" of Secularism full 
 blown, it is, it appears, to have administeied to it at present by its 
 representative, Mr. W,, a coddle \>hich may very properly be termed. 
 Secularism Canadiani/.ed. "Spoon meat" while young, and "ignor 
 ance" of the rest, is for ns yhiewdly accounted "bliss". I'mt we <tre 
 not altogether "ignorant of their devices," and might anticipate tlum 
 in their policy of a graduated programme by giving to the reader a 
 pretty good dose of theii' "full bloom," did sjtace permit. We might 
 give it from the testimony ot those who have been physically, morally, 
 spiritually, and eternidly ruiiied by it ! We might give it from the 
 history" antl experience oi atheists and inlidels in Kngland and in 
 France. We might give it from the, history and awful end of the 
 Newburg Socitity of inlidels, thirty six in number, in America, wlio 
 even went so far with their blasi)liemy, as to burn the I'.ible, baptize 
 a cat, and iMlminister the S.iciament to a dog ! We might nlso refe!' 
 to the deadly work of an iniuU, ' Hall of Science," so called, in New 
 York, of which a father say? v'i.</ "Uie i^uuence of the doctrines t.iught 
 at that 'Hair had ruined hi< ■,.'!» •-. iuiaily of promising boys, (four in 
 nuii:ber,) and that hearts .ii?jiOst broken, and nuicii mental misery, 
 had been entailed upon th(! otiier portions of his family and relatives." 
 \Vc might, r siiy, refer nt r^anie liMigtIi to p.ue!>. esperieiiccH, \'.n\, want 
 of space forbids. But this Secularism of Mr. Watts and .Mr. Koote, 
 who was imprisoned in Kngland for his horriV»le blaspiiemies, is simply, 
 
 
HRCLM.AItMTS AN Li MlCCL'LARIHM. 105 
 
 I may May, iuliiiflity "full hlo<vn, " und Ih opiiti^etl lo uvfiythiiig that 
 is Hacrud, huly, and Dirine. Uriullim^h hiinsulf, whi', from hia «x 
 alteil position, may Ik; Httin^ly Htylcl tho "ardi (it'iul" of tlic i$iu, huH 
 hceii known to even caricature the hoity .ind iml)licly tram^ile upon 
 God'n holy Hook, thu itihhi ! Hut whiht nxch daring, infaiuoua deedn 
 as we have beei; referrin;; to are th(( natu, il and legitimate outcome of 
 Secidarism and infidelity, do they not also, we woulil ask, come as 
 near tho infernal u« even Lucifer liiiiiHelf might desire? Come now. 
 Secularist, in imitation of your "father," speak the truth for once, if 
 you fan, and honestly answer, " Yes." 
 
 Th.o following is a specimen, (as described hy iJr. Sexton,) of the 
 way in which these gentlemen renovators of society condui-t themselves 
 at their ''; dihenitive Council Co^iferonces under leader I'.radlaugh : 
 "There was" (at the Leeds Congress,) says the iJoctor, "such bick- 
 ering and ijuarieling, such bandying of personalities, such hurling of 
 olef^iiiJ invectives at each other's heads, that a regular Fiabel diu of 
 confusion was the result ; while the President attempted to keep order 
 by shouting ' liar,' and such like polite epithets, at tho top of his 
 voice," — mildly attempting to allay the tumult of rage und confusion, 
 by thus botittingly cliaracteri/ing his dear disciples ! 
 
 "Rut what," some will still be inclined to ask, "is Secularism?" 
 Ah ! that is the fiuestioii ! Do they know themselves what it really 
 is? TJi«y do not. Kven all the leader's are in disagreement about it. 
 But the blame is chargeable to their I'riuce — "the prince of this 
 world " — for while it is clear that he inspires them, and thoroughly 
 imbu«8 them with his sjurit and aim, he has not left them u book of 
 laws, and they are at their wits' «nd on account of it — one orator of 
 the cwnspiracy declaiming after this manner, and another after that, 
 causing thereby a Babtl of confusion ! However, they are all agreed 
 in thi», that it is a very desirable and accommodating system of " fm- 
 thinking"; that is to say, "/>"" from the very inconvenient restraints 
 of dnrp thinking — free frwm the unpkasant necessity of selecting jnst 
 premises to reason from ; aiid_/"/v" from the straight-laced retiuirements 
 of logic ; which demand that rational deductions l)e drawn from sound 
 ba.ses and reasonably established premises— ;^v'c to allow tlie mind to 
 run in one direction only, and examine no other evidence of tho truth 
 or falsity of a matter than such as is presented, e. g., in that scurril- 
 ous piece of rant written by Tom Paine, or those equally baseless and 
 hlTsphemous compositions written by his virtuous American coadjutor, 
 Ingersoll— yVi*'' to close his eyes to the validity and justness of all 
 reliable evidence by which important dactrines and matter-ef-fact 
 truths are de monstrated ; and hence //v« to ignore and i;eglect such 
 candid, ingenuous, and nitioiml emiuiry and exu nination as is neces- 
 sary to arrive at tho truth with ruspect to the question of a Divine 
 revelation -/re<; indeed, from all such logical, puritanical, historical, 
 mattei of-fact, and such like superstitious -restrain Is ! i'?r^, also, to 
 think it right, if you idqase, to let loose the reins of lustful deaire, 
 passion, and appetite, and practice all manner of iniquity as a moral 
 duty in the pursuit of " Secular" happiness ! 
 
 Siiich i.s a pliase or two of Secularism, as practically exemplified, 
 litank ittiijalio/i as a tenet, and //w- " thoughts of evil," are all that is 
 distinctively its own. Hut to give it something like a semblanct of 
 
 >, 
 
iOC sEl'l'l-AKlSTs. ANLi aiCULAIUSM. 
 
 respectability, it lias purloined from the Bibls, and adopted froiu 
 Christianity, certain positive and practically antagonistic principles of 
 morality. They have, however, adopted a very appropriate subsidiary 
 name for themselves, AgnuHtic, which means, as we have said, "a 
 knoif-Tiothin<j." And a very apt and significant concentration of the 
 theological and other knowledge of these Agnostic knoic-nothings may 
 be found in the following lines by the poet Grey — 
 
 " Where ignorance is bliss, 
 'Tis folly to ba wise." 
 
 It is hence not surprising, that its entire history proves its utter in- 
 competency to achieve any good mor"' results ; or, indeed, any one 
 good result oi any kind ti'.at I am aware of. And even if it could 
 put its finger upon one, it would only be like letting loose a wolf to 
 kill a dog that had got among your sheep; it might kill the dog, but the 
 havoc it would also make among the sheep, by allowing him his liberty, 
 would show you to be about as wise as the wolf was voracious, blood- 
 thirsty, and destructive. And so is it with Secularism — the contrary 
 to the aecoraplishttent of good has been its marked and unvarying 
 characteristic everywhere and all the way through from its first intro- 
 duction as a negation of moral and religious truth to the present. And 
 all the (juod (which, in truth, is literally a burlesque on the name) that 
 it even, by hollow-hearted professioii to suit the times, proposes to 
 accomplish, is actually being accomplished, and much more effectually 
 than is possible in any other way, by the means employed in connec- 
 tion with Christianity. And their assumed, osteniible, time-serving 
 motives for the observance of their adopted moral code, falls also 
 infinitely short of the motives already in active and practical operation 
 throughout the Christian world. To expect any real good to ariie 
 from the clashing principles of Secularism, is the same as to expect 
 fire, whose effects are completely neutralized by water, to warm your 
 person or cook your food ! It professes attachment to certain phases 
 of Christian morality, but the sacredness and authoritatively binding 
 element must be wanting ; because it might be very inconvenient for 
 very many of their duly recognized moral adherents to be thus 
 authoritatively hedged in ! — theirs is a catholic morality ! a latitudin 
 arian morality ! a morality that shall be acquiesced in and subscribed 
 to alike by the most pious or saintly Secularist, p.nd the most infernal! 
 a moral fence erected around virtue's shvine, with lots of holes in it 
 for all classes of good Secularists to slip in and out through, at their 
 pleasure! just a little moral H7t;7(^H'a,s7( to brush themselves up with 
 once in a while, when they would appear in Christian society ! 
 
 You might about as well, however, hunt through a hay-rick for a 
 sewing needle that was never there, as hope to ascertain what their 
 principles altogether really are by the perusal of their chameleon, 
 heterogeneous, disagreeing productions — and this as to their veiy 
 fundamentals, or what each of their leaders, Holyoak, Bradlaugh, 
 Watts, and Foote, would professedly and variously have to be funda- 
 mentals. Peihaps this will be an inducement to some sensible man 
 or woman to quit the highway of established Christian truth, that 
 they may be thus mired in the stagnant, Uial<iriui bogs uf an itifidel 
 Secularism — the vocative profession of intellectual dudes ! 
 
 In general terms, however, Seculaiism, as at present developed, and 
 
 
SaCULARISTS AND SECULARISM. |07 
 
 a. expressed by Mr. Bradlaush, its present English expounder and 
 president, .s atheistically opposed to all the theologicaUeach hgs of 
 the world i^nd Mr. Watts coincides in this particular with his chief 
 as w« find from his journa^, as »vell as from the public expression o 
 
 Hnn/r.^ir 'k ^^'t '■ " ^"'''^^ ^« 8^ °"* i"'« the public'streete? we 
 hndthat the churches stop the way. We can't iRuore them kit 
 having strength and heart we will fi'ght them, and will never ^ 
 nghting til they or we are extinct." This he said in London ; and 
 heting failed to utterly extinguish the churches there, this moral 
 incendiary, in accordance with the terms of his resolution, to preserve 
 himself from b-'.ming "extinct," has come here,with the Approbation! 
 no doubt, of .us facion to try his hand upon the stately temples of 
 our Canadian Christianity ! Hi, name shall rot ! or be no better 
 than -a by-word and a hissing "to all generations! And when he 
 and his Secularism are extinct, the churches shall ring the sad fun.ral 
 knell of another immortal soul, with the product of his madness, gone 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 SECULARISM ANI> ITS UTILITARIAN MORALITY AS 
 COMPARED WITH CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Th« cai-dinal doctrines of Christianity," says Mr. AVatts, "are 
 morally degrading"! Taking the word in the sense of "morally" 
 rf^baung, we might ask, How comes it to pass, then, that amonc all 
 the different sections of the church there is a perfect unanimity of 
 opinion and belief to the contrary, inasmuch as, that instead of making 
 moral degradation cr debasement a condition of membership ihev 
 make it, (as contradistinguished from Secularism,) a ground of expul- 
 sion? But the t-ath is that moral degradation and debasement are 
 antagonistic to Christianity and its doctrinal truths ; while fche only 
 or at least one of the most fertile soils in which they take root and 
 unrestricted grow, is in the unreclaimed and unreclaimable miasmatic 
 swamps of Srfularhm /—the lovely, atheistic, sin-polluted ism of 
 corrupt, degenerate human nature ! When a certain Secularist at a 
 Secular Conference held in Leeds, said, " he would not take advice no 
 not from God Almighty Himself," he gave expression to the language 
 of his fallen depraved nature, and but echoed the universal rebellious 
 root principle of the ism. Marvelous infatuation in an originally 
 created rational intelligence ! and yet it is no more marvelous than is 
 the tenacity with which Satan, also, adheres to and pursues his wonted 
 course ! 
 
 Of the heavnly, Secularism and Sccuiansls know nothing, and do 
 not care to know ; and being "of the earth earthy," they would Con- 
 ine themselves exclusively to the concerns r»f thi.«< life, were it not for 
 
iQg rtECULARWTS AND SECULARISM. 
 
 , • • „* th,, h'fr thfil tiixii i-t as well as oi li.'-it wnicn is lo 
 
 ::^ '"^.rr^y et :;;% Ihe hi,;..t a. .en as U. omy sen^lble 
 
 T ^r'%oouhiists '- bein.' so constituted by Divme appointment 
 
 order of Z^^^^^^;. J^' , ')' °, ,1,0, by virtue of tho same right of 
 
 exponents of corrupt human nature are, of course, etiernaiiy 
 
 '"^The most positive, if not the only positive ^./«<;y'/' connected with 
 the i4 that ?s uni -ersally and persistently operative among them, is 
 
 he inher nt\uul outwardly expressed depravity of its adherents ; and 
 hen e its Te-n imate claim to just one positive principle of action- 
 
 hTof an luu yinc^ malignant opposition to the holy principles and 
 n^-fcUce amr nallv unchanging doctrinal positiveness of our holy 
 SuttT.\r Thei. general ntral code, if such they may be said to 
 SvfbradUo", i^ merely n..nml ; and hence theu morality is as 
 Si IS the vind and as shifting as the sand! IJut the Secularist s 
 ^il mo a y, at its very best, is .V//.7,-morally ngnt in any given 
 case of^ood or bad procedure, because it is temporarily useiul or 
 
 profitable for them to practice It ! u tnii nc; tint thev 
 
 The best of these men, as, e. g., Mi. Holyoak tel u. that they 
 
 derive thr moral code and inciten^ents to -o-^^ y ^^^ -r^to 
 nd common sense, and also from science -^ . "f -"j^ ^fj^;, : ^j 
 
 ,'on^rienrp their leaders, not without reason, tell us it is a thing 01 
 ration and may therefore be as likely to be ^^o^^^^^i;;^: 
 
 as right ; and hence but a poor guide either as to the format on ot a 
 
 moral code or as to the individual practj#« of morality^ Ai 
 
 "°^^^r^'8exton, 1..P, I, L. 1',^;-^-- "L^^^ ^ i 
 
 And as to 
 
 Science, etc., 
 
 Sr;ce-Sn;;:;n;.rin -entuirb^^^ays'that t^^ is not a 
 
 tcnZl amon. them who has made s.ien^ "^^ ^r^^^ 
 of unfolding and applying its principles ; also ha ^ ^^^/y ^^,^^^^^^ 
 one thin'^ that is never taught in their .so-called iialls ot bcie.ice. 
 \nd as rational, intelligent, sentient beings educing their mom 
 cocfe ron the ,..m/.7,/ of inanimate nature, the toUowing may be 
 •vken a an illustration : A farmer ploughs and manures his land, 
 ahd sow his «ed with the hope and expectation of realising a crop 
 of Vood -rain. The grain immediately springs up and grow , and 
 prosplti^dy promiseAiim a fair and reasonable leturn for his labor. 
 Ssho tlyacropof intruding thi.stles spring.s up among the gran, 
 ^nopo lizes the .soil, makes the weaker and tenderer grain »tand aside, 
 ^ffinally chokes and destroys the whole or a very large part of it.- 
 Scrular moralitu, as gleaned and copied irom "nature . 
 
 A biV ee en' a vigorous sapling of the forest turns out to be 
 narurallY strcniger and more thrifty than its neighbor, and, m conse- 
 nrnce sends out its moral feelers aiound the roots of its innocent 
 S^:.T^.s. neighbor, generously robs iL ^^^ts .jui^o share 
 of sap and thus cither make, it u ^^!:'ve enugina at its feet or else 
 d sZ eCs it entirely of lif« and tak.-s entire possession of its donrain. 
 -ff ;r,m%v of 'seruJari.t^, de.luced from their avorite held 
 Nature! Another illustration of the adopted morality of thebs 
 
 X 
 
X 
 
 f 
 
 SECTI-ARISTS AND SnCULARISM. 109 
 
 children of nature may be taken from the tender but heartless vin« 
 that clinil)s even the j^'iant tree, twisting around, serpent-like, 
 upon its trunk, striking its tendrils into its sides and limbs, p.nd 
 drawing thence its vital current, its life blood, until it dies ! 
 Sfcalnr inoraliti/, as copied from this natural murderess ! The 
 Ijoisonous plant, too, or hsh, or other animal, by causing, in the 
 act or through the, functions of self-preservation, death and 
 dismay all around them, may be cited as instances of the peculiar 
 morality which the "common sense" of Secularists enables them to 
 see nnd prompts them to adopt from those " moral " teachers and 
 morally irresponsible iigencies of nature ! Hence the moral pollution, 
 devastation, and death, that attend them wherever they go, and in 
 whatever ''fastnesses" those sensibly chosen and deliberately incor- 
 porated characteristics of unintelligent "nature" may prompt them to 
 plant themselves ■ 1 don't know that the present president of the 
 ism in England is a murderer, but by his own acknowledgment the 
 following is expressive of the very highest point of morality to which 
 he aspires : 
 
 "To love thy wife, all those of thy dour uiind. 
 
 To praise thy fiioiul, h»lp him who iielps thee most; 
 These am the Ijeggar- virtues of mankind; 
 These are the virtues of the Secular miMil, 
 
 Which even the lowest savages can boast." 
 
 That is Secular UtiUtcuianUin, which is simply "morality" sub- 
 ordinated to iii'lfl<hwf"i. But the utilitarian morality that would 
 prompt to the securement of happiness, the enjoyment of pleasure, or 
 the i)ersonal possession of anijfhinn except as c">nnected with what is 
 right and true and just, is not the morality which is in itself and 
 throughout the Universe of intelligent being essentially and eternally 
 good ; but is a mere temporizing, spurious morality that is Ht only for 
 adoption by S'-cx/arixf-'^, and as a conscience-regulator for such like 
 //lisinn-li/isip combinations. A pleasure unselHshly derived from 
 making others happy, and the morality which leads its ])oaKessor to not 
 only do good to his enemy, Init to take a real pleasure in doing it, and 
 wishes those poor, mistaken souls well and happy who l^te, backbite, 
 orotherwise evil entreat us, is foreign to the moral philosophy of Secu- 
 larists, (if they have any,) and is practically unknown to one and all of 
 them. Their highest standard of morality is measured by its adapt- 
 ability to allbnl thorn individually the greatest degree of pleasure or 
 happiness ; and as wiiat is pleasure or hapi)iness to one man is often 
 not to another, but tht; rc^vorse, every Secularist is at liberty to make 
 his own natural, inilividual inclinations, however base and depraved 
 they may be, the standard of his morality ; and every man among 
 them is "thus to find his happiness by yielding to the peculiar bias and 
 natural promptings of his desires, be they in themselves right or 
 wrong, good or bad I To him it is a moral act thus to do ! It is the 
 Secularist's morality upon purely utilitarian princij^es ! They are 
 thus not only a school of fi-p<-thinkir-<, but of Secularly trained fvfip- 
 acters ! It is a good t'..ing, however, that* our "Secular" laws are 
 calculated to trammel and restrain them u little •jthorwi:,e, vvno to 
 the weak, the pious, the good, and the indefensible of all classes of 
 society ! Were Secularism to have its way unbridled and unchecked, 
 
110 SECULARISTS AND SICULARIIM. 
 
 we should soon hj>ve a hell upon earth ! But, thank God, both the 
 deTiUnd his Secular emiawiiies are chained ; and they have all got to 
 Ret together in their final home before such license can be allowed. 
 They will there perhaps, so far as their changed circumstancea will 
 permit, have the pleasure of seeking their happiness in accordance 
 with the principles of Secularism ! 
 
 It Ib often expedient, perhaps generally so, for these carnal, law- 
 igBoring philosophizers, who teach that every man should do "what is 
 right IB his own eyes," to outwardly observe the letter of the law 
 to save theii own necks, and otherwise preserve to themselves the 
 delicious " freedom" of the free-thinker; but utiliiy and expediency, 
 as confined to this world, weighed in the balance of ci\il 
 consequences to-day, have, upon such Secular principles, to be 
 re- weighed in connection with the chances of escape, or of the 
 pleasure or interest of outweighing gratification or profit to-mor- 
 row. The Secular pursuit of personal happiness as the sole 
 end of life, is, further, utterly at variance with restrictive law* 
 enacted on the principle of the greatest happiness to the greatest 
 number. Happiness, or personal gratification, being the Secular end 
 of the individual life pursuit, it cannot, upon Secular principles, be 
 consistently checked or interfered with for the general or public good; 
 and their peculiar private morality cannot consistently recognise the 
 existence of such a thing as a rtsirictrve public morality, regulated 
 by legislative enactments. The law may compel them to it, but their 
 principles will not urge them to it. , 
 
 When a man not only knows, but loves and desires to do what is 
 right, because it is right and rightly required of him, he will be 
 likely to do it. But the Utilitarian Secularist, as such, knows 
 nothing of this pure and God-like principle ; to him the love of right, 
 the pure, the just, and the true, is lost in the !\ll-ab8orbing desire for 
 personal pleasure or advantage, which is the sole object that Secular- 
 ism holds up before him as the goal of happiness towards which he is 
 to ceaseleshly run! 
 
 Secularists are, furthermore, according to their own teaching, rabid 
 neeemhinam—Yil&cing unconscious matter, which has in itself no free- 
 dom, on a level as to responsibility for its motions, with a conscious, 
 free, intelligent, sentient being ! and mea versa— Man whe is capable 
 of self-education and training, and is free to urge himself to or 
 restrain himself from a course of action by reason and moral motives, 
 is, nevertheless, in their estimation, as physicially, intellectually, and 
 mor.illy irresponsible for his actions of body or mind, as is a falling 
 stone, the rising tide, or a rolling sphere ! Such necessitarians, how- 
 ever, can be regarded as such only on the ground that they are 
 as personally and individually mad as is their scheme of moral and 
 mental irrespensibility. Whatever they do there can be nothing 
 wrong about it, since whatever is, is right ; that is to say, it is, in 
 their view, the legitimate and necessarily undeviating and unalter- 
 able result of the natural laws of their being under which they were 
 primarily placed and must continue to live ! An underlying principle 
 o£ SecuiHifidui is thus, that man not being mentally and mora^.y .ree, 
 he cannot be accountable either to man or God, and he hence cannot 
 sin. Such is Mr. Bradlaugh's teaching, who is followed in this 
 
 
T 
 
 8ICXn.AmSTb ANU mCULARllM. Ill 
 
 particular, 1 beiieT#, by Mr. Watta. The underlying principle of all 
 true morality and religion, however, ia the reverae of all thia — which, 
 reader, in your judgment, ia right 1 What verdict upon this question 
 should reasonable intelligence givel What verdict does commou 
 sense give T What verdict do all the judicial and criminal codes of 
 man, as well as those of God, give Y Answer, and answer truly, ye 
 blinking, blinded, blundering Secularists, if ye can ! But narrow- 
 minded and morally deluded bigota, as you all are — your madness 
 quite surpassing that of all ordinary mad mortals — if ntcetnarily ao, 
 we must try to forgive you, and content ourselves with casting a 
 pitying eye upon you in your helpleasly forlorn and eternally hapless 
 and hopeless condition ! Kecesaitarians by profession, neceasitaiians 
 you muat,I suppose, necessarily remain ! Ai $ueh I have no hope of re- 
 claiming j/ttt; but sanity may not be wholly wanting in your children, 
 nor are they, it is to be hoped, wholly destitute of a moral sense, and if I 
 can hereby help them and at the aame time throw an impregnable 
 bulwark around the children of the wise, the intelligent, and the good 
 of our country, our time, and labor, and money, will not have been 
 expended in vain. 
 
 Secularism, in fine, being "evil and only evil," it hasn't a re- 
 deeming feature about it — nothing whatever to recommend it 
 to the acceptance of an intelligent community, except its intelli- 
 gence is wholly corrupted and helplessly sunk in the mire of sensual- 
 ity and sin ! while Christianity, on the other hand, is wanting in 
 nothing that is good, and holy, and pure, and just, and true, and 
 morally and intellectually elevating ! It has, in short, everything to 
 recommend itaelf to an intelligent humanity as a Heaven-devised, 
 redemptive, practical scheme for ail the ills to which iesh and spirit 
 are heir ! ^fake your choice, then, reader, as a rational aa well as a 
 moral and morally accountable being, between the carnal delusions 
 and sin of an upstart, mentally and morally enalaving Secularism, and 
 the fullness, the freeness, the blessedness, the innocency, the security, 
 and the perennial and eternally undying glory of Christianity ! And 
 as is your choice, so, beyond the shadow of a doubt, will be your 
 unending destiny ! 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ATHEISM. 
 
 Just a few observations in conclusion by way of exposing the folly 
 of those who, denying or questioning the existence of the Almighty as 
 an intelligent, living, personal Being, exalt inanimate nature and clothe 
 it with the attributes which can belong aione to intelligent Deity 
 To those of my readers, especially the young, who may be thrown 
 into (be company of such as are of Atheistic principles, and who ma} 
 
112 SECLM.ARISTS ANU SBCULARISM. 
 
 be in danger of being contaminated by theui, I would say, that while 
 the eternal existence of the Supreme Being, as the infinite, uncreated 
 source of all else that exists, is a revealed fact that must ever remain 
 an incomprehensible mystery to finite ])eings— on the Atheistic 
 hypothesis that tlicre is no such eternal, uncreated, intelligent First 
 Cause, the mystery of existence is not removed, nor in the least degree 
 lessened ; for, on the supposition that there is no CJod, this mystery of 
 finite existence, animate and inanimate, intelligent and unintelligent, 
 is but transferred from a .supreme intelligent Ca\ise to blind forces 
 existing in connection with what we call " nature," which leaves the 
 question. Whence originated this " nature T still unanswered and un- 
 answerable. Instead of removing the mystery, it really increases it by 
 making it two-fold— first, the inexplicable mystery as to the origin of 
 nature, and next the mystery as to how this thing called "nature," to 
 which intelligence, wisdom, and power, in their individual distinctive- 
 ness.are not attachable as attributes, could have originated thinking, in- 
 telligent being:?. The diversity of being, the continued existence and 
 harmonious working of natural law throughout the univer.se, are quite 
 explicable on the admis.«ion that there is an infinite Being upholding, 
 sustaining, and regulating the laws of natural existence, which His 
 omniscience and omnipotence had primarily originated ; but discard 
 the idea of an intelligent Creator and Preserver, and the diversified 
 phenomena, the changeless beauty, and continued order of nature, 
 become at once an inexplicable riddle— a mystery that is second only 
 to its primary origin ; dIius giving rise to a mystery in duplicate, one 
 of which is quite equal to the mystery of the Divine existence, and 
 the other scarcely second to it in its mysterious unintelligently, yet 
 orderly and systematically controlled operations and developments. 
 But the language of reason no iess than of revelation, in reference to 
 the origin, continued i)rescrvation, and order of nature, is, '• Thou, 
 even Thou art Lord Alone ; Thou has made heaven, the heaven of 
 heavens, with all their host, the eart' and all things that are therein, 
 the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all," Nehc- 
 miah 9 ; <>. 
 
 Natural law, although operating throughout the universe, is in itself 
 but an inanimate, involuntary thing. It cannot comprehend itself, 
 nor any of the results of its action. It acts by a perpetual constraint ; 
 nor can it of itseli ever vary its action or cease to act. Such i* 
 natural la\T, to which, in connection with inanimate matter, as the 
 ultimatum or final cause, the Atheist would trace all animate and 
 intelligent existence ; which is simply to make a lifeless, involuntary, 
 unintelligent thing originate a something incomparably superior to 
 itself— a living, intelligent being, capable of thought, feeling, in- 
 definite knowledge and voluntary action ! 
 
 The palpable manifestations of design in the mechanism of the 
 universe, and the beautiful and exact adaptation of one part to the 
 other exemplified in the mechanism and arrangement of all the varied 
 works of nature, together with the unvarying order and harmonious 
 working of the laws which ojjcrate tliroughout the entire system of 
 univtnsal nature, necessarily bespeak for it an intelligent and Divine 
 Original. It is a principle, which to a rational being can never be 
 other than twciomatic, that every effect in nature must U'cossarily be 
 
\rf. 
 
 HE0ULABT9TS AND SKlTLAKISM. 113 
 
 traced to an adequate emieu ; and that Cause, in relation to the com- 
 bined and complicated eli'uctb ut nature — evincing' ae they do indubi- 
 lable marks of the most {.icrfcct contrivance and design — must ne- 
 ceesarily be intelligent. 
 
 Whatever may be the theory adopted as to tue diversified evolu- 
 tions of nature's forces, so exactly are means and ends made to corre«- 
 pond, and so marvelously well connected is the entire system of 
 natuie — bo unmistakable are the indications, everywhere apparent, 
 of intelligent design, that to every mind not totally blinded by preju- 
 dice and the influence of sin, they must afToul demonstrative evidence 
 of an intelligent, omniscient, ami almighty Creator- -all subsequent 
 evolutions and developments of nature being but the necessaiy result 
 of an intelligently constituted order of things, traceable p-iraaiily to 
 the great Originatoi, (!otl. 
 
 As in the case of the various- classes of artisans who have been 
 
 reprasented n» saying, "There is nothing like ," the thing peculiar to 
 
 their craft, whatevar it may be ; so wilfc the scientist, there appears 
 to be nothing like — Science. A clipping then from his own domain. 
 Man exists. Geology proves that there was a time when he did not 
 exist*. He must, therefore, have had an origin ; and the evidences 
 of contrivance in the machanism of his Ijodily frame, ss well as in the 
 constitution of its associate, the mind, prove that his being must have 
 originated with a pre-existem intelligent Cause. And .xo it may be 
 predicated of all the other works of creation. This pre existent 
 intelligent Being, iSource and universal Cause of all, is CJod — the 
 anly God, and before Whom therefore all men should most reverently 
 bow. As saitn the prophet, lie is "the high and lofty < )ne that in- 
 habiteth «*ernity" — and the Psalmist : " Kven from everlasting to 
 everlastin, :,hou art God." "Lot all the earth," then, "fear the 
 Lord; \( .1 the inhabitants <A the world .stand in awe of Him. For 
 by the word of the Lord were the lioavcis made ; ami all the host of 
 them by the breath of His mouth. For He spake and it was done," 
 I'salra 33. "In Him," also, th(> Apostle i^ays!, "we live, move, and 
 have our being. For of Hiui, ami through Him, and to Him, are all 
 things : to Whom be glory for ever. Amen." Kom. 9: 36. 
 
 Just as an appearance of any kind invariably implies a thing 
 causing the appearance ; just as a thing seen implies sight ; a thing 
 heard, hearing ; a thing felt, feeling : a thing known, the mind's 
 capability of knowing ; an act of adoration ami worship, the soul's 
 capability of adoring and worshipping ; .>^o every effect produced of 
 which we are cognizant, and, by a parity of reasoning, every eflect in 
 the universe implies and must noces.'^arily have a producing cause ; 
 and the combined real eifects produceJ throughout universal nature 
 with their secondary causes by the s^amc process of rational induction, 
 implies a first or tinal Cau.^e of all such secondary causes and effects. 
 Universal creation is an fffoct which, according to our established laws 
 of ratiocination, contirmcd by all sciemx' and universal experience, 
 must haye a cause— from tin invariable relation kr.own to e.\ist be- 
 tween cause and effect e.reation ami ere'ition'.s laws must necessarily 
 
 Norcfin it 1)P made to aptumr from (;<■!' "■'•iciil ii'so.-irch and discovorj thai i«aM 
 hab II liighsr imtiiiuity tliuii tiOOO years. Sev I'hf Truth of the bible," by the Utj, 
 fi, W. aaville, M. A., Curat* of Cumbp, l)iuL''?-)c of Kxoter 
 
U4 ISKtTl.ARlSTt) ANl. sMCLl.AKrSM. 
 
 be tiaceiiUe to a Supreme Creator md Lawgiver. " His eternal 
 power unti (Judhead are clearly seen by the tilings which are made." 
 This is true philosophy as well as theology— the visible effect* lead 
 tbe mind direct to tho contemplation c£ their groat Cauae, who may 
 be thus, through His works, certainly kn(jwn, and measurably 
 comprehended. 
 
 Allow me to vary the expression of this argument. The exiatenc* 
 of the Deity is apparent, not only ftom the existence of the material 
 creation as a whole, but from the intelligent dasign which is seen in 
 the nice adjustment of all the laws of nature, so as to prevent, for 
 instance, a disastrous clashing' of tl>« spheres, and also in the adapta- 
 tion and harmonious cooperation of separate and distinct physical 
 causes to proiluce a given cud ; as, for example, in the construction of 
 the human frame there is ;i divei-nity of physical causes at work pro- 
 ducing separate physical etl'ects, all which are made to harmoniously 
 combine in producing the end datigned— a perfect physical frame. 
 That cause ami etiect in relation to all with which we are acquainted 
 in the natural world, are inseparable, the observation aud experience 
 of not only the learned world but of all ages of the world, demon- 
 strate. And from the inseparableness of these secondary or natural 
 causes from their effects, the mind is inevitably led to the conclusion 
 that there must have been a cause of nature itself— one leading, all- 
 controlling Cause, giving rise to and keeping in operation all the 
 secondary ones. This much we can comprehend. We see that cause 
 and effect are inseparable in nature ; we see that nature itself haa 
 been contrived and produced, and that therefore it ma-^t have had a 
 Contriver and Producer. Hut with the existence of this great oon- 
 tiiving and producing Power the sphere of our vision terminates. W» 
 cannot go beyond the /ad of His existence ; the mystery of i* is 
 impenetrable. " The question as to the "/•/<//« of the originating Power 
 of this svstera of manifest contrivance, is wholly beyond the domain 
 of our reason ; and therefore we are, and must expect to be, utterly 
 lost in an abyss of bewilderment of unfathomable depth, if we 
 attempt to reason upon it. 
 
 But some men, as we have senn— men of extraordinary intellectual 
 compass, no doubt- have attempted to form for themselves a god out 
 of nature ; and although they have not yet ^uite discovered the clue, 
 to it, they appear to think the construction of worlds a very simple 
 process. Even a happy chance may be <x sufccient cause to start a 
 world into existesce, and send it spinning upon its axis ! They, of 
 •ourse, leave it for less profound thinktr.s to discover that .•Atf««'e,which 
 is but the absence of order and system, could not originate and sustain 
 a universe whose distinguished characteristic is system and order. A 
 substance scientifically called "star dust," it appears, is the basis on 
 which this marvellous thing called rhunce is supposed to act, when 
 contemplating the construction of a world— we do not say a syttmi of 
 worlds, for chance action and systematic action would appear to the 
 inhabitants of oui mundane sphere (except, we Might say, to a very 
 distinguished few,) as diametrically opposite. Such philosophers as 
 Mr. J. Stewart Mill, wli.. "ventures to think that a religion without 
 a God, may be, even to Christians, an instiuctive and protitabU object 
 of contemplation"! »»il who ventures to suggest thai ''tliete may be 
 
 til 
 
th 
 
 «ECULAKIS'W AMI SKCL'I.AHIHM. 115 
 
 worlds in which there may be effijcts witkout a cause "! — such pliiloso- 
 pher« will, of courae, exi)erienr.e no difticulty here. But these, jou 
 know, are the exception : the most oi us cannot attain unto them. 
 This rhancf origin of our world, the ntarry heavens, and the entire 
 8y«tem of nature, may Vie readily comprehended by these chance 
 gentlemen of the "star dust " order ; but all who cannot claim kin 
 with this high order of exceptional intelligences, must remain content 
 with such views of the system and origin of nature, as are within the 
 compass of man's abilities as a rule. 
 
 Suffice it, however, for the intelligent satisfaction of the wise and 
 the good, that God has been pleased to plainly and unmistahably 
 reveal Himself to all (except to the wilfully and criminally blind,) 
 both through Hia Works and through His Word. What further or 
 better evidence, moreover, need we in proof of the existence of God 
 than the performance of wiracle, manifesting, as it does, a Power 
 superior to nature and to natural law ? To the rationally candid, 
 miracle is no longer even open to question — it is a settled and • 
 logically incontrovertible fact. Not now to speak of the undoubted 
 performance of many modern miracles of healing and of providence, 
 i-f it be proved that real miracles were performed in connection with 
 the introduction and procliimatioii of what professes to hi God's 
 revealed truth, we thereby prove also the existence of God — prove 
 most conclusively not only that the revehtion and doctrinal teachings 
 of Scriptwre are true, but that the Being Who has revealed Himaelf 
 as its Author, and by Whom the confirmatory miracles were wrought 
 must of course exist. And as this has been conclusively proved by 
 the most reliable of historical testimony, (see my reply to Ingersoll 
 upon this point,) it but addn to the already superabounding weight of 
 evidence for the existence of a personal, intelligent, almighty Being, 
 afforded by the infinitely diversified, manifestly designed, and intelli- 
 gently contrived works of illimitable Creation. 
 
 We read that "the natural man is enmity against God " — hence hia 
 blindness, liis ignorance, and his atheism. But although thua ignor 
 ant of and at f^nmity with the great, infinite, intelligent Sourc© of all, 
 he if, nevertheless, man still, and in possession of all his 'primarily 
 created, natural faculties. The principles, passions, appetites, and 
 general affections of human nature, were disordered, deranged and 
 perverted, but not utterly destroyed by the Fall. And hence it is 
 that the exercise of the very same constituent faculties and 
 affections which in an unfallen state constituted virtue , by 
 their different combinations and transferrence to wrong objects, 
 effected through the Fall, thenceforth became vice. Hence also 
 it is, that true religion has for its end th« restoration of 
 these dioordered affections to their original order, harmony, 
 and purity of purpose, action and object. Hence, moreover, 
 it is that Mr. Watts, being at present in a state of unreclaimed 
 nature, he is out of sympathy with the Divine objects contemplated 
 by true religion, and opposes to the full extent of his degenerate 
 faculties and powers, the restoration of man to his original state of 
 moral purity and perfection. 
 
 The mass of infidel sinners tliiuk, moreover, that the virtue and 
 religion of the < Gospels have too many trials and pains and deprivt- 
 
||g »,B(,'U1,AUIsrs ANIt RKC.X-t.AHlHM. 
 
 tions an.l sc.riM.ws, -.> ,siii( thorn : >)lin.l of «;our«e, as ever, to tho fact 
 that ilio^"- adiuiUiii).' tlmni tn necessarily exist in connection with 
 the roli"i..n of Uic Cross in n faUen \vicke.l world- -ur«, neverthelesB, 
 on the" other haiKl, inmiensurably overbalanced by the trials, the 
 sorrows, the pa'ns, the miseries, and the sufferings of like! as witnees 
 tlic .laily record of the sad and universal experiences ol vice and sin 
 as Dublished in newspapers and journals throughout the world ! a« 
 well as very much also of pain, heartach. , an.l suflering in the uni- 
 versal individual experience, as the lesidt of vice and sin, that i« 
 nevor'pul.lished openly to the world '. And thei., what of the end 
 the dncl c(.nsecpiences, whereby alone the ixw. balance car. be taken? 
 Truly the intidel makes but a pool, pitiable accountant! 
 
 Insanely denyiii- and i^norin^' (io.l, as A>'attH and all other Atheists 
 do they madly ignore the lumntain of t>urily, of ,jo<>dn»4<^, and of 
 AaWm'-'-^-characteristics of the Deity .vhich should not only inspire 
 and prompt man to adore and love, b-il winch it is his highest 
 interests :dso to emulate and copy, both a^ it respects the life that now 
 is as well as of that which is to come. 
 
 Atheistic 'hiltixhnc^n, then, or wilful stupidity, as engendered and 
 ' fostered by their native depravity, is to the truly discerning, most 
 obvious W.> would not deny, however, t,hat there may be some good 
 qualities observable even in an Atheist. Kven a bear loves its cubs . 
 and a cur will not only i»ouuce upon the innocent, but will also 
 whine for its food, bark at its bcteers, and run from danger. 
 Thus ends our dissertation on Secularists and Secularism. 
 And I here call upon fellow C;nadian.^ and all honest, upright 
 men, to take thoughtful nu.l inteUigent note of what is herein 
 laid before tlumi ; and if they do, and are wise, they will 
 henceforth trust neither body, soul, n-ind, nor estate, to the keep- 
 ing of those irresponsible creatuies usually recognized as men, but 
 who known by the name and principles of SccxdaruU and Hcndar- 
 /.sv»,' should neither be eligible \u -arliumentary or other j)ublic honors 
 and responsibilities of a Christian country, nor to the ordinary friend- 
 ships and courtesies ol Christian and respectable society. They 
 sustain the same relation to a Christian community and government, 
 that brigands and banditti do to the laws, institutions, and ruling 
 
 powers of a State. 
 
 And now allow me bo say, by way of enlisting the necessary to- 
 operation of "Cod's elect," in order to a successful issue of our work, 
 that if the Church and good men and women generally, really sypa- 
 thize with me in these my literary and patriotically designed onslaught 
 upon the works and powers of darkness, and would have me succeed 
 in the holy enterprise, they must back me up in it in every lawful way 
 that they can ; otherwise the author with his works will be like a 
 military chieftain left singlehanded before a fortress, surrounded by 
 his heavy ordnance and military equipments, but utterly incapable «f 
 successfully storming the f^ntress from the want of the necessary 
 human help I If, theref<iic, you can s[iare a little of the "needful 
 from your many other calls, money as well as active sympathy, for the 
 sake of bf)th " your children and Uie world, i)lease put the t-ame 
 into practical and effectively helpful shape by both purchasing and 
 everywhere recommending his works, as the author is not a man of 
 
 x^^ 
 
SlirrT,ARIST5 AND aKOUMIUHM. HT 
 
 means, earns hi^ bicad by his daily labors, and by practicinR the 
 strictest economy, whether you will believe it or not, has, fMy 
 for till sakr nf th< imrhl anr/ Ihr Chitrrh, put, lie might say, his 
 necessary livittij into the enterprise. 
 
 f'V 
 
 Ti»e following " Notices" of the forthcoming work referred to upon 
 
 the title page of our "Reply to the Agr nf Ri-nxen" we insert hero that 
 
 the public may have an idea of its general character, and, if so disposed, 
 
 may order copies bbfore the book is published. Thi.s they can do by 
 
 sending to the Author's address, " f'orest Home, Molesworth, Ontario," 
 
 - -price, paper covers, postpaid, 30 cents. If bound also in cloth, the 
 
 price will be from 5.*) to 75 cents, according to size type, and quality 
 
 of paper and binding. The general title of the work is : 
 
 " INFIDELITY DISARMED, 
 
 Im a Riplv to Lecturer ht Coi. R. G. Inobrsoll, 
 
 The Liading Infipel Oratoh ok Ameaica." 
 
 i"o which is added 
 "A Dissertation on American Mormonism, from a Social, Political 
 
 and Christian Standpoint." 
 
 FAVORABLE NOTICES <»F THE WORK. 
 
 Ft affords the author much satisfaction to be able to state that, with 
 but one exception, every one of the gentlemen to whom the manu- 
 script of thit) work was submitteil fur examination has sent bin: a favor- 
 able and kindly notice of it — the reason given in the one only excep- 
 tion being absence from home and the want of time to examine it "for 
 some months to come." This, in view of the fact that they are not 
 only men of distinguished ability, but whose hands are also very full 
 of work, is perhaps unprecedented. And the writer hereby accords to 
 them his sincere and heartfelt gratitude for their kindness. 
 
 Had time and circumstances permitted we might have submitted 
 the work in MS. to other distinguished ministers and journalists ; but 
 the well-known names of distinguished gentlemen and ssholars append- 
 ed will doubtless suffice as a guarantee to the reading public that the 
 work is not only readable and entertaining, but has in it the elements 
 of general and permanent usefulness. 
 
 To journalists and others who will have an opportunity of reading 
 and reviewing the work in its printed form we would .say : The "Reply" 
 might have been much and easily eidarged ; but the extent of its 
 circulatiun, iuul the consequent good effected by it, would doubtless 
 have been thereby much circuni.-^cribed. But while thus concise rather 
 than weariKomely and expensivfly (elaborate, ombracing, as it does, 
 many topics, it will nevertheless, we think, be found to afford ample 
 space to each, The general stylo in which it is written will also doubt- 
 
llg rtECUI.AHI«T.> AM» ^KtUIAnif^M. 
 
 K,s„ rnn.l.uit. ;iii otfectivi- Christian offnet to th« profano witicistni in- 
 .luk'.Ml in hy many inti<l.>l writ«rs, .inclmlinK the gentleman to whoM 
 i' tun,.H thf. work is a reply, And wcro the wo.k to be .ncouraKtnKly 
 i„tnH),..-.l to Iho scri-.UH attention an.l -■areful peniaal of th« youn^ 
 pcopl." of both «.xes Konm-ally, and placed in th. hands e.peoially of 
 he votinK men of CoUbkcs, Young Men'« Christian ARHOcations, Me^ 
 .hanica' InHtitutes, .Vc, it w.uld doubtless piove to them a general 
 moral safeguard, a wholesome stimuluH to the fearlesj. maintenance of 
 Christian truth, and an effective count,nactive to the prevailing infl- 
 dclitv of the, times. 
 
 Tlie foregoing observations premiaed, the reader will now be pre- 
 pared for the " ravorable Notices of the Work." 
 
 .loHN DouoAM., K«w., "Jtht Montrral Wihv,,, the only Jourvaltrt 
 t.. Nvhom it WHH submitted in MS., by way of a mulhrn »« pmrvo refer- 
 ence to llu.. work as au «/"-■//>' auxiitn tn Ih^ wrilino$ oj Ingrrioll, says: 
 " U /.s (I brill iant ami htiworou'* r'ply:' And the 
 
 Kkv .1 Mahtin, Cumrr^ational Minister, Hamilton, having hastily 
 Ulanced through th. work on his return from hia Summer holiday tour, 
 gays • " 1 have found it racy, pitUy anJ to llw pouiL You handle In- 
 gersoU with ungloved hands, and appear to take pleasure in shaking 
 hira uiiceremonio\*8ly." 
 
 ThoKEV. .Jami*8 MlKwk.m, liartid Mk^ifUr, HranlforrI, ^».p '^ 1 
 have iust examined in manuscript form a new work by h. btephenb, 
 in reply to Ingersoll. This work is written in a free and interostmg 
 stvl/ Its arguments are clearly and strongly put and are unanswer- 
 able' Mr. Stephens is already known as an author by such publica- 
 tions as "Modern Intidelity Disarmed," "'L'rtith Kliclted, Ac, and we 
 welcmue with joy this fresh contribution to truth m opposition to the 
 vulgar scepticism of the day." And 
 
 The Kkv W. CncimAKM, 1).1»., Aullmr nj ^^ F,U,>r>- Pani^kmeut," 
 nn,l Pador ui Ziuu rrr.buh'rian Chtnrh, Bravtfor.l, in a brief notice 
 .,f the woik,"say5;, that "in view of the iini)ortant chai-acter of the 
 subject discussed and the poi.ular style in which it is written, it will 
 serve a good puri)ose with a large class of readers ; and, I trust, he 
 adds, that "when published it may have a large circulation. 
 
 From the Kkv. .Ioiin A. Williams, US). General i^permt^idtfU 
 nfth^' Mrlhndid Church m Canada. "In these days of blatant mS- 
 delity and vaunting unbelief we welcome every effort to silence the 
 one and shame the other ; and this work of Mr. Stephens -which I 
 have had the privilege to i-cruse i» manuscript, and have read witli a 
 yood deal of inter«8t-is well calculated to do both. It is written 
 with great fairness-the style is easy and frec-the arguments rele- 
 vant and conclusive, often trenchant and destructive-ana will riclily 
 compensate a careful perusal. ^^ If published, we shall expect to h«ir 
 that it has a wide circulation." 
 
 Frmn Kkv. A. Carman, D.l)., Astor.iale Gemral Huper%ntenae,A of 
 ihP M^llmdfst Chnrh in Canada. " As my time have allowed I h»v« 
 looked over Stephon.s' "Reply to Ingersoll," and hnd tiialit is charac- 
 terized bv a great deal of patience, labor, earnestness, honesty ana 
 force ^ir Stephens follows Mr. Ingeriioll likje a ferret through every 
 
 '* 
 
4^ 
 
 BKl'l'f.ARllTri AS'U MlJUL LAKIMM. 1 I 9 
 
 holti and ditch tli« iiitidel tukeo, iiuil Hcwiurt tn^u on tliu |irinciplt< fliat 
 Ingersoll id hnneat, ha.s road Ihu Bible, uiul has some ruMpt'ct for cuiii- 
 luuu aenae and cummon duceticy. Mis 'irrai^'tiiiiciit of tiii' ititidul in 
 the Court ul 8cript\tre, cuuitutui seiiHe, llustortc fact, Scieiititac accur- 
 acy, aud (general inforuiation, la sharp, clt>ar, and unanswerable. Many 
 ffill read it with protit." 
 
 from Rmv. VV. Mi-Lahrn, i).l)., Pro/esHor «/ Sijxtftnatir Thpoloyy, 
 Kn*x Coihgt, Toronto. "Another anawer to Ingcrsoll may seem super- 
 fluouB. That flippant skeptic has received more attention than he de- 
 serrea. But each reply Ufimlly has its own excellencies, and secures a 
 circle of readorn for itself. J have fxumined this iin«wer.,a.-^ ful.'y aa 
 my time would admit with much .satisfaction. It is interesting and 
 racy. It is from the pen of a layman who i.s already known for his 
 vigorous contributions to tlie Inlidel and the Koraish cuntroverriieii. 
 He writes witli strong conviction aud .speaks with much decision ar.d 
 pungency. With a good jj[rasp of lii.s .subject, lie presentH his argu- 
 ment with much vigor. His work is specially tiited for the large class 
 of non-professional readers who will appreciate the strong common 
 sense with which he demolishes the sophistries and exposes the caviis 
 of the skeptic. The plainness with which Mr. Stephens denounces 
 what deserve.s to be denounced is, in these days of hwnied compliments 
 to unbelief, cjuite refreshing. It is like a moral tonic. He deems it 
 expedieni and right to vary hi.^ wtyle to the style and char.icter of his 
 opponent, and in handling Ingeraoll he certainly uses great plainness 
 of speech ; but when he answer.s a fool according to his folly, he has 
 high authority for his (lourse. ♦ * * We regard the work as a 
 vigorous polenuc against infidelity, and litted to benefit ii wide circle 
 of readers. We wish it a wide circulation." 
 
 From Kkv. I). C M»Dowbi.(,, 'v-Pri'ivh-nt nf f/it (luelph Methu 
 dint Conftieuff, Onfonio. "I have examined the advance skeets of a 
 new work, by Mr. K. Stephens, containing a review of the illogieal, 
 impure and blasphemous lectures of the athiest, Ingersoll. The argu- 
 ments contained in this work ari' in(;i.«iv«, lucid, logical and overwhelm 
 ingly conclusive, in defence of Christianity, the P)ible, its doctrines 
 and miracles. This work defies the artillery of its foes ; and is an un- 
 answerable refutation of the choicest arguments of Infidelity ami Athe- 
 ism in general. It is comprehensive in its scope ; t^uiiched and but- 
 tressed by copious extracts from works of rare excellence, by the eaily 
 Fathers of the Church, rendering it a great boon to private persons, 
 and fanulies not possessed of large librmies. It will prove a valuable 
 companion for young men ; should lie found in the home of every 
 family, and the Lilirary of every Sunday School. It will be welcomed 
 by the public, as a iwiok specially)' adapted to the times; instructive 
 and highly interesting. It is siu" to have a large sale and a wide 
 circulation." 
 
 From The Bishoi- ok 11u«on, Lonifoii, Onfairio. .Since arranging 
 and preparing the foregoing for the press, we have received the fol- 
 lowing from tlie Bishop of Huron. His I.onhhip, the Bishop, had Itut 
 just returned from I'lngland when the manuscript was submitted to 
 b.im fo!' exdmiuation. He therefore s.ays, that lie " h.^s boen too umch 
 pressed for time since his return from Europe to look over it care- 
 
120 SEOULAHISTS AN'D SKOULARISW. 
 
 iuUy ;" but has kindly ex|)iesse<l }us " best wishes for the success of 
 the work," and "trusts that (Jod will bless us in this our effort to 
 advance the cause ol Christ." 
 
 At the close of these " Favorable Notices" of the work, we would 
 observe that since the MS. was submitted to the Rev. Reviewers, ft 
 chapter on the " Origin, Character, and Spread of Mohammedanism, 
 as Compared with that of Giiristianity," has been adJfd to it. Aho, 
 the "Dissertation on American Mornionisni." 
 
 CONTENTS OF REPLY TO INGERSOLL. 
 Chaptbk. Page. 
 
 1. lutroductory 
 
 2. The Gospels — A Review of I ngersoU's Objections to them 
 
 3. Historical Testimony to the Genuineness and Authen- 
 
 ticity of the four Gospels 
 
 4. Atheism 
 
 6. Moral and Physical Kvil 
 
 6. The Devil, and Something Concerning His Children and 
 
 God's Children 
 
 7. Are we Responsible for our Relief 1 
 
 8. Is Salvation by Works, or by Faith, or Both 1 
 
 9. The Clergy 
 
 10. Science and Religion 
 
 11. The Church.. 
 
 12. Miracles 
 
 13. The Resurrection 
 
 14. The Ascension 
 
 15. The Judgment 
 
 16. Hell and Future Punislimeut .• 
 
 17. Orthodox Religion 
 
 18. Infidels and Inlidelity 
 
 19. The Origin, Charactei, and Spread of Mohammedanism, 
 
 as Compared with that of Christianity 
 
 20. Supplementary Reply to Miscellaneous (.Quotations 
 
 21. A Disgerti. ion on American Mormonism 
 
 I 
 
 ll 
 
 Contents of " Chiust axu His Apostix^ on Goou Wohk.s, with 
 Pra('ti<,ai, Ohservations uy I'liK Way." 
 
 1. Good Works Essential to Salvation. 
 •2 Tlie Miiser in his Relation to the Church and Religion. 
 ;i. Property Trust — Christian Bcnctioonco a Scriptural Ri'ijuirement, 
 Duty, and Privilege. 
 
 4. Systematic Giving— Illustrative Examples of 
 
 5. The Unprincipled Insolvent. 
 
 0. Works with Faith —Continued. 
 
 7. Appendix. — Avarice, Notorious Examples of 
 
 PKIUK, las CiiXTa, PutiTi^Ui^. 
 
V 
 
 i 
 
 if 
 
 'v. 
 
 OOlsTTHN-rrS OB' 
 
 'J«8DBM SDPBMJITOimL PJiBJlOJBBJiJI.' 
 
 -:o:- 
 
 VCLUME I. 
 Chaptbr. 
 
 I. Introductory ; ..... 
 
 II. Reuiarkahle Cases o! Conversiou 
 
 III. Observrttioiw Connected with the Subject of the Preceding] 
 Chapter 
 
 IV. Sapernatural Impressions 
 
 y. Supenutturai Couimunicatiuns through Dreams and Visions .... 
 
 VOLUME II. 
 
 I. Power of Divine Truth Evinced by itsTraiisformiii;,' KflFects.... 
 || II. Reumrkiible Answers to Prayer in the Supply of Toujporul and] 
 
 Spiritual Wants 
 
 I] III. The Supernatural Evinced Uy Beumrkublu Interp(>sition3 of! 
 Providence 
 
 I 
 
 IV. Physical Healing, Resultin;^ fr )hi Faith in the Word of Gud.... 
 V. Healing and other Piiyaical Etfccts resulting from Faith in t'le 
 Word of God . 
 
 VI. Retribution — Divine Judgnjentt'.. 
 
 VII. Peaceful and Triuniphunt 'Duuths, Attestativo of the Presence 
 
 and Power of Deity 
 
 VOLUME III. 
 
 I. Introduction 
 
 II. The Atonement. 
 
 III. The Supernatural, or "Finger of Go»l," displayed in the SanctiB- 
 
 cafcion of Believers 
 
 IV. Experiences in the Higher Christian Life ...- 
 
 V. Observations connected with the Leading Subject of the Pix'ced- 
 
 ing Ciiapters ■ 
 
 Vi. Miscellaneous Anecd »te8 in Further Confirmation of the Super 
 natural 
 
 VII. Hidl and Future Punishment 
 
 Concluding Observations •■ 
 
 • This worV has been well recommonded as an interesting, reada>>l 
 "book for the times," by clergymen in connection with the Methodist, 
 the Congregational, the Presbyterian, and the Episcopalian Churches. 
 
 PRICE, TWENTY-FIVE CENTS PER VOLUME, POSTPAID, 
 Or the Three Volumes for 60 cents. 
 
 [f jj^i;f^r|;niuiJiiiiuiniuuiimwuuuu^u^^ wmUij « 
 
Contents of tl^is Volume. 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 ' A Brief Anecdotal Sketch of the Author's Life — 
 
 1. Tntroductovy Sketch- of Paino'd Life 3 
 
 2. Pfoliniinaiy Observations; with Remarks Touching the Possi- 
 
 bility of a Writien "Word of God." 5 
 
 3. Paine'.s Tlieolo.uy ; or, the "Word of God" in Creation 10 
 
 4. Some of Tom's Proverbs. Truisms, and other Wise Sayings — 
 
 with Replies 15 
 
 5. Tho Cliari;e of Inhuman ty against Moses, and other Distin- 
 
 gui.slied Servants of God..... 26 
 
 6. Are our Books of Scripture Genuine? Are they Authentic ? 36 
 
 7. ^lystery and Miracle. ■' 48 
 
 8. Prophecy •• 57 
 
 9. Tom, witlj more of his Mistake.^ and his Scripture Contradic- 
 
 tions Considered '-• 68 
 
 ttJiCULAKlSTS AND SECULARISM. 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 1. Mr. C. Watts and the Bib' ; as a Text Book for Schools; 
 
 with other Important Matters 88 
 
 2. The Atheism, &c., of Watts, Ingvrsoll, and Luse, with Refer- 
 
 ences to "5ertt/ar 'Tliorir/ht" and its Contents 93 
 
 3. Courtesy of Mr. Walts and his Journal ; his Compliments to 
 
 the Clergy ; liis Blasphemy, &c 
 
 4. What is Secidarism ? Character of its Adherents ; its Im- 
 
 moral Principles ; its Undying Enmity to tliC Holy 
 andtheTrue 
 
 5. Secularism and its Utilitarian Morality as Compared with 
 
 Christianity 107 
 
 6. Atheism..... : HI 
 
 98 
 
 103