religion? Yet this is the inference to be drawn from the reasoning and testimony of Dr. Lardner. And for all this, the Fathers were good, pious and religious, pure and immaculate!

Christians have no idea of the delusion they are labouring under, and the deception that is practiced upon them, and because I am labouring to undeceive them, and to show that they are the victims of fraud and imposture, they abuse me, and call me a blasphemer. They seem to be burthened with the same gratitude that the blind man was, who, when he was told that he was about to fall into a pond, turned round and abused the man who told him so, and contended that he was right. Is it not quite evident that Christians, as I said before, are altogether a spurious race of beings? Is it not quite evident that they never would have been Christians, had it not been for the spurious and fraudulent means resorted to by the Fathers, to prove the "truths of our Holy religion"? Where is there a single argument in favour of the Christian religion, that is not similar in character to those which I have exposed? You have indeed records very favourable to the Christian religion," but the misfortune is, those "records" are of your own manufacture, spurious as impostors could make them. "This paragraph (says Dr. Lardner) was not originally in Josephus. It does not come from him. But it is an interpolation inserted by some body afterwards." IS THIS YOUR "RECORD"? Only think of the mean and dirty roguery of the Fathers of the Church, forging this paragraph, sticking it into the writings of Josephus, and then referring to it in order to prove the "truths of our Holy religion "; and if our minds should be so constituted as to be unable to admit such a "favourable record" as an evidence of the "truths of our Holy religion," we are to be fined and imprisoned for blasphemy; and that too at the instigation of a Right Reverend Father in God, named Philpots! Were I in your situation, my Lord, I should be thinking of leaving the .country.

Had the Fathers depended entirely upon sound, genuine and legitimate arguments, as a means of propagating Christianity, Christianity, in my opinion, would have been unknown in the world at the present day. It drew its breath from fanaticism, and received its nourishment from imposture. What I mean is, it received its first existence from a species of insanity, and its continued existence afterwards, was sustained by imposture.

Let no man talk to me about harsh and offensive language. I contend that my language is neither more harsh nor offensive than it ought to be; if it be either the one or the other. As Dr. Lardner says, Truth must be asserted, and how can it be asserted, if we are to whisper it in under-tones, as mild as possible, listened to by no one, and regarded by as many? Not an expression of my language applies to any individual personally, but altogether and exclusively to the system to which he is connected. I hold every man to be philosophically, or naturally, irresponsible; that is to say, he is so constituted, and surrounded by the external world, that it is unjust to inflict punishment upon him for any thing that he does. His character is the result of his own particular constitution, and the objects which surround him, each operating upon the other. And to hold him responsible while this is the case, is to say to him, "you ought to have chosen a better constitution, or you ought to have organized your brain better, and surrounded yourself with better circumstances to act upon that organization, so that your character might have been better." How then can I wish offence to any man, or how can I wish to injure people's feelings ?

I am aware that, in relation to crimes under the present arrangement of society, policy renders it necessary to punish individuals, but that policy by no means establishes the justice of such punishment. This can

never be established, until man can be proved to be the former of his own character; the former of his own constitution, and the selector of the objects by which it shall be surrounded. I look upon crimes to be diseases of the social body, all of which can be removed by proper appliances, and to be similar to diseases of the human frame, all of which I have no boubt can also be removed by proper appliances. And as soon as the diseases of the human frame are removed, there is no need of medicine; and also as soon as the diseases, or crimes, of the social body shall be removed, there will be no need of responsibility, or punishment. Where there are no diseases there is no need of medicine, and where there is no crime there is no occasion for responsibility. This is my philosophy, and I hardly know whether it exactly harmonizes with Mr. Owen's or not.

My language therefore, is no other than that which I deem necessary to excite attention to that subject, or that question, for the settlement of which I have devoted the whole of my energies, and it is in perfect harmony with the sentiments I have here expressed. I wish to see truth established in the world, and if I whine and whisper all my life, and if every body else do the same, on this subject, I shall have to die, and leave the world as I found it, having passed through it, with many others, more like asses or dolts, than beings with pretentions to reason; and having suffered besides, innumerable miseries and evils, all having their origin in the delusion and error that prevailed. By the power that formed me, and with its permission, I shall use the faculties that I find myself furnished with, and tell the world what I think and feel, on all matters concerning my welfare. It is not only time to speak out, but it is beyond that time. We have been duped and cheated long enough under false pretences, and too long. Our sufferings demand that we be silent no longer, and that we whisper no longer. Let the man who enjoys every comfort and convenience, that wealth

can procure, observe silence, or whisper himself, if he pleases, but let him not impose that silence, or that whispering, upon me, or upon others differently situated. If such a man has not humanity to feel for others, others have humanity to feel for themselves.

Your lordship will very likely be wondering where I am wandering to, in entering into subjects like these. But, my Lord, this explanation I deemed to be necessary, under my circumstances; and although it may not bear directly upon the "record very favourable to the Christian religion," I have here noticed several truths of very great consequence; and as Dr. Lardner truth must be asserted. The subject of the "record," I shall resume in my next Letter; I have many more matters to relate concerning it, and matters of the greatest consequence; and begging your lordship not to forget, that that "record" was "inserted by some body afterwards," I close my ninth Letter.

I am, my Lord, respectfully,

says,

Hulme, October 16th 1840.

C. J. HASLAM.

PRINTED BY C. J. HASLAM, HULME

LETTER X.

TO THE BISHOP OF EXETER:

CONTAINING

MATERIALS FOR DECIDING THE QUESTION,

WHETHER OR NOT

THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD?

BY C. J. HASLAM.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, HULME, MANCHESTER.

Price one Penny.

MY LORD,

Our first subject, as you are aware, is the "record very favourable to the Christian religion," contained in the works of Josephus. In my last Letter I only transcribed a few of the arguments of Dr. Lardner, which induced him to believe that that "record" was a forgery, I shall therefore continue these arguments, in order that all may be satisfied that the Fathers, or their brethren, really committed this "good, pious, and religious" deed, that they forged this paragraph, stuck it into the works of Josephus, and then referred to it, as Du Pin says, to prove the "truths of our Holy religion," illustrating to a nicety, their pure and immaculate character. After what I have already quoted, Dr. Lardner proceeds to