Liberties taken with the word of God, 50. Ditto, 52. The history of the alleged correspondence between the Prince of the Edessens and Jesus Christ, 65. The Forgeries committed by the Fathers, 77. The Sibyls, Forgeries committed by the Fathers, 87. The alleged letter of Pilate to Tiberius, 88. Its forgery declared by The Acts of Pontius Pilate, 98. The Sibylline Ora- cles, 99. The use made of them by the Fathers, 100. Continuation of Dr. Lardner upon the paragraph in Josephus, 110. He declares that a professed Christian must have forged it, 111. He endeavours to account for The Fathers excused for citing forgeries by Du Pin, The Philosophy of Oracles, 138. Declared to be The edict of Constantine, 146. His prodigious vil- The trial of Mr. Hetherington, 157. Monstrous cha- cacter of the Deity, 158. Contradictions in the Bible, 160. The Epistle of St. Jude became the word of The trial of Mr. Hetherington continued, 169. Ob- servations upon the speech of the Attorney-General, 169. His estimate of the intellect of the working clas- The religious tenets of Cerinthus, 183. The book of Revelation, 185. Rejected by the ancients as spurious, 187. Declared to be canonical in 633, 187. Several The Bible a nose of wax, 194. Corruptions in the The authority of the Church, 206. St. John went The testimony of Tacitus, 218. Robert Taylor, 219. Vicious character of the first Christians, 221. Eat- A table of the Jewish sects in the time of Christ, with the tenets of each, 231. An account of the Chris- A catalogue of the whole of the books that have ever been ascribed to the Deity by Jews and Chris- The character of Jesus Christ as exhibited in the The position that man cannot believe as he pleases, and therefore he cannot be held responsible for his be- The argument continued, 277. Authorities cited in To the Right Reverend Father in God, MY LORD, LORD BISHOP OF EXETER. I have just learned that Mr. John Cleave, a bookseller of London, has been arrested, and is now under bail to appear at the Sessions, on a charge of publishing a "scandalous libel on that part of the bible called the Old Testament, which libel I understand is contained in a publication entitled LETTERS TO THE CLERGY OF ALL DENOMINATIONS, showing the errors, absurdities and irrationalities of their doctrines. Being, my Lord, the author of that publication, I deem it my business on the present occasion, to address you on this most extraordinary proceeding: first, because I believe this prosecution to have originated in your recent proceedings in the House of Lords, and second, because you are an individual whose business it is, to preach that book to be the word of God which it is here declared I have libelled. In the first place, my Lord, I beg to inform you, that I deem this prosecution to be a most irrational proceeding, and that it strongly illustrates not only the irrational character of the present government, but also the irrational character of all who approve of such a proceeding. You, my Lord, not only approve of this proceeding, but you have been one of the most active agents in advising and inciting the government to take this step. I leave it therefore for others to determine, whether or not you partake of the character I have here described. I wish not, my Lord. to deal in empty declamation, I wish to assert nothing for which I cannot advance sound and substantial reasons. In my previous writings I have endavoured to adhere to this rule, and in my future ones I hope to do the same. Before therefore I proceed any further, let me demonstrate to you the truth of the assertion I have here made, that the prosecution of Mr. Cleave is a most irrational proceeding, and that all who approve of it are guilty of the same irrationality. The charge against Mr. Cleave is, that he has published a scandalous libel on that part of the bible called the Old Testament. The question, my Lord, at issue is, Is the bible the word of God or is it not? for if the bible is not the word of God, there can be no scandalous libel against it, unless we can commit a scandalous libel against falsehood. And since this question is unsettled, you are beginning at the wrong end of the business, and consequently guilty of irrationality. Your first business, my Lord, is to prove the bible to be the word of God, for until this be done, it is most ridiculous to talk about a scandalous libel against it. It supposes the possibility of a scandalous libel against falsehood. Suppose a Jury were to bring in a verdict of guilty, that is to say, suppose Mr. Cleave were convicted of the charge against him, of scandalous libel; and suppose, a few years afterwards, we all became convinced that the bible was not what it was pretended to be, that it was nothing more than the composition of men at various times, and called the word of God for some peculiar purposes, what would be the position of the Jury who convicted Mr. Cleave? Would they not have declared that he had committed a scandalous libel against falsehood? Would they themselves not be the libellers, and not Mr. Cleave? And, my Lord, it is not for us to say that this will not take place. Various and strange have been the changes which the human mind has undergone since its first existence; and that too, on this very subject. At one time your Lordship will be |