down from heaven, and miraculously accommodated to human service and capacity.

But

It is no otherwise in the grammatical art of characters, and painted speech, than in the art of painting itself. I have seen, in certain Christian churches, an ancient piece or two, affirmed, on the solemn faith of priestly tradition, to have been angelically and divinely wrought by a supernatural hand, and sacred pencil. Had the piece happened to be of a hand like Raphael's, I could have found nothing certain to oppose to this tradition. having observed the whole style and manner of the pretended heavenly workmanship, to be so indifferent as to vary in many particulars from the truth of art, I presumed within myself to beg pardon of the tradition, and assert confidently, that if the pencil had been heaven guided, it could never have been so lame in its performance; it being a mere contradiction to all divine and moral truth, that celestial hand, submitting itself to the rudiments of a human art, should sin against the art itself, and express falsehood and error, instead of justness and proportion.

It would, indeed, ill become any pretender to divine writing, to publish his work under a character of divinity: if, after all his endeavours, he came short of a consummate and just performance. In this respect the Cumean Sybil was not so indiscreet or frantic, as she might appear, perhaps, by writing her prophetic warnings and pretended inspirations upon joint-leaves; which, immediately after their elaborate superscription, were torn in pieces, and scattered by the wind..

Insanam vatem aspicies; quæ rupe subimâ
Fata canit, foliisque notas et nomina mandat.
Quæcunque in foliis descripsit carmina virgo,
Digerit in numerum, atque antro seclusa relinquit.
Illa manent immota locis, neque ab ordine cedunt.
Verum eadem, verso tenuis cum cardine ventus
Impulit, et teneras turbavit janua frondes:
Nunquam deinde cavo volitantia preudere saxo,
Nec revocare situs, aut jungere carmina curat.
Inconsulti abeunt, sedemque odere Sibyllæ.

It was impossible to disprove the divinity of such writings, whilst they could be perused only in fragments. Had the sister priestess of Delphos, who delivered herself in audible plain metre, been found at any time to have transgressed the rule of verse, it would have been difficult in those days to father the lame poetry upon Apollo himself. But where the invention of the leaves prevented the reading of a single line entire; whatever interpretations might have been made of this fragil and volatile scripture, no imperfection could be charged on the original text itself.

What those volumes may have been, which the disdainful sybil or prophetess committed to the flames; or what the remainder was, which the Roman prince received and consecrated; I will not pretend to judge. Though it has been admitted for truth by the ancient Christian fathers, that these writings were so far

sacred and divine, as to have prophesied of the birth of our religious founder, and bore testimony to that holy writ which has preserved his memory, and is justly held, in the highest degree, sacred among Christians,

The policy, however, of Old Rome was such, as not absolutely to rest the authority of their religion on any composition of literature. The sybilline volumes we kept safely locked, and inspected only by such as were ordained, or deputed for that purpose. And in this policy the new Rome has followed their example; in scrupling to annex the supreme authority and sacred character of infallibility to scripture itself; and in refusing to submit that scripture to public judgment, or to any eye or ear but what they qualify for the inspection of such sacred mysteries.

The mahometan clergy seem to have a different policy. They boldly rest the foundation of their religion on a book: such a one as (according to their pretensions) is not only perfect, but inimitable. Were a real man of letters, and a just critic permitted to examine this scripture by the known rules of art; he would soon perhaps, refute this plea. But so barbarous is the accompanying policy and temper of these eastern religionists, that they discourage, and in effect extinguish all true learning, science, and the politer arts, in company with the ancient authors and languages, which they set aside; and by this infallible method, leave their sacred writ the sole standard of literate performance. For being compared to nothing besides itself, or what is of an inferior kind, it must undoubtedly be thought incomparable.

Even in the sixth century, the famed Gregorius, bishop of Rome, who is so highly celebrated for having planted the Christian religion, by his missionary monks, in our English nation of heathen Saxons, was so far from being a cultivator or supporter of arts or letters, that he carried on a kind of general massacre upon every product of human wit. His own words in a letter to one of the French bishops, a man of the highest consideration and merit, (as a noted modern critic, and satirical genius of that nation acknowledges) are as follows. "Pervenit ad nos quod sine verecundiâ memorare non possumus, fraternitatem tuam grammaticam quibusdam exponere. Quam rem ita moleste suscepimus, ac sumus vehementiùs aspernati, ut ea quæ prius dicta fuerunt, in gemitum et tristitiam verteremus, quia in uno se ore cum Jovis laudibus Christi laudes non capiunt. * * * * * Unde si post hoc evidenter ea quæ ad nos prelata sunt, falsa esse claruerint, nec vos nugis et secularibus literis studere contigerit, deo nostro gratias agimus, qui cor vestrum maculari blasphemis nefandorum laudibus non permisit."-Gregorii opera, Epist. 48. lib. ix., Paris, ann. 1533.

(To be continued.)

Printed and Published by RICHARD CARLILE, 62, Fleet-street, where all Communications, post paid, or free of expence, are requested to be left

The Lion.

No. 14. VOL. 4.] LONDON, Friday, Oct. 2, 1829. [PRICE 6d.

London, Sept. 30, 1829,

A LETTER from a friend at Huddersfield of the date of the 23rd instant, has the following remark:-" Your visit has taken effect with a vengeance here. They cannot get done with it. The parsons were all alive and kicking, last Sunday. Infidelity en grosses the whole conversation. The Lion' has been in great demand by all parties."

We want nothing but standing room and a fair hearing, or the press and a fair reading, either will do, to overthrow the Christian religion in the mind of every honest and well-disposed person. Honesty and a moderate share of talent cannot bear up against the assaults of Infidelity. Faith cannot be defended before reason, fact, date, and demonstration. Religion is an error, vicious in its origin, viciously instituted and viciously supported. Its allegories, however simple or pretty at first, have all been grossly corrupted, and, by religious people, are now wholly misunderstood. All the dates assigned to the Christian incarnation of deity can be shown to be false. All the Indian, or Pagan, or Christian pretensions to the inearnation of deity are most certainly fabulous. The oldest tales of the kind are found in India. Such tales have been, unt happily, a matter of commerce, of loss and gain, among mankind; and the intercourse of nations has led to the spreading of this moral plague, as it has, in other instances, led to the spreading of a physical plague. Alexandria, or Egypt generally, the empo rium of Indian produce, imported the Indian allegory of triune and incarnate deity, successfully planted the fabulous exotic in the desolated region of Judea, and succeeded in spreading the mental poison throughout all contiguous nations; while the Saracenic destruction of its famous library, though contrarily in

Printed and Published by R. Carlile, 62, Fleet Street. No. 14.-Vol. 4. 2 E

tended, sealed the cheat, by cutting off from historical research the precise progress of the fable.

The first stage of the human mind is idolatrous, religious, imaginative, and generally so weak as to encourage imposture. The second stage is that which attempts vainly to reconcile the imposture with reason, as indicated in the character of the modern Unitarian, and is less morally defensible than any other. The third, or highest stage of the human mind, rejects the whole imposture of religion, declares no knowledge of deity, or supreme superintending power, beyond physical powers, and reasons not from fable; but from things or powers known to exist, that are tangible, measurable, admitting of analysis, or visible and comprehensible.

It is madness, that admits incomprehensibility, and then prescribes attributes and inferences to such an admission. Yet such is the character of the religious man, and the first stage of mind.

It is grave imposture, that attempts to make that madness appear reasonable; and such is the character of the Unitarian or reasoning religious man.

But it is sanity and wisdom, that confines a man to reason from what he knows, and to suspend from his judgment, as doubtful or fabulous, that, though told before and of old, which he does not know and cannot comprehend.

Such were the texts on which we descanted in Huddersfield, and in other places, where we could obtain an audience, and very general conviction of the strength of Infidelity was the effect among the lovers of truth who heard of us.

I mentioned last week, that we had an audience in Huddersfield, on the Friday evening, Sept. 11, a few hours after entering the town. Mr. Taylor entered on his usual train of discourse, as to the defects of the external or historical evidences of the Christian religion, with his proofs both a priori and a posteriori, both as to alibi and anachronism. Our first opponents were thorough ruffians, of the tribe of Ranters, or primitive Methodists, who, to their religious assurance, added all the vulgarity of their rude locality or provincialism, such as we had not before met in any other part of the country. By one of them, in particular, a tall, strong, ruffian-looking fellow, we were astounded with the words:-" Yor'e a liar," and before explanation could be entered into, a demand was made, with stentorian voice:-" You shall acknowledge that yor'e a liar," and "will you acknowledge that yor'e a liar." All this arose from some trifling observation, which this vulgar Christian had misapprehended. The effect was such as better behaved people would expect; the extreme of good manners and good temper on the side of Infidelity, and of bad manners and bad temper on the side of the Christians, formed the most powerful argument we had used against them,

and they began to reprove one another as bad defenders of their cause. The next day, we heard of a council being held and of a very solemn rebuke given to the ruffian who had so behaved himself, and a rebuke with effect, for he was silent at all our further proceedings, notwithstanding his conduct was defended and attempted to be softened by Mr. Thomas Shepherd. Throughout our Huddersfield discussions, we had advantages that were not needed, in the tricks, silliness, and bad manners of the Christians. Sometimes, a dirty sot, such as Henry Sunderland, the son and brother of a clergyman, would insult us, in defence of the Christian religion, until he was turned out by his own party. They were all ashamed of one another. Not one of them behaved well, and every one had something to condemn in every other one. A young man, of the name of Hill, or Hield, who had more ambition and conceit, than knowledge, judgment, and good manners, was quite uproarious at the conclusion of every meeting we had in public, and studiously produced confusion, after every advantage we had exhibited over other opponents. This young mạn was not only incapable of an argument on his own part, but he was incapable of understanding one when put forth by another; for after very pompously announcing a string of half-a-dozen questions upon something he supposed he had heard, we found that he had totally misrepresented what he heard, and had framed questions upon what he had not heard. Furious ingesticulation, personally vituperative, and sillily complimentary to his gospel consolations and conjectures, he floundered through his noisy harangues, raising clamour by clamour, and delighting in the confusion which his own noisy confusion had raised. This was victory. To produce an uproar that put a stop to attention was called Christian victory. The merits of the Christian religion were by the Christians supposed to be triable by the power of the lungs and the extent of bad manners. When they had not an argument to use, they could cry:- "We have beaten you," and thus riot joyously on a momentary consolation, that the noise was on their side. The more sober moments of those who are capable of thought must leave them convinced, that, before our dates and arguments, the Christian religion is meritless.

MR. THOMAS SHEPHERD

of Huddersfield, is a gentleman who is not deficient in the propensity for theological sparring, and held out a promise, which he has made good, that I should make no public appearance in Huddersfield, without an opponent. I shook hands with him, at a short visit which I made to Huddersfield, on a Sunday in June, and pledged a theological battle. Passing by Huddersfield at that time, to go to Manchester, in consequence of the disappointment in a public room in Halifax, and not being sure that one could be obtained in Huddersfield, induced great exultation in Mr.