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on the score of literature, as he does, when he insinuates they are acquainted with little more than a b ab, e b eb, and hic, hæc, hoc. Where does he find, in any period or country of the world, men of more deep, various, and extensive learning, than are large numbers of the Clergy, among the several denominations of Christians? Abundance of names are to be found, with whom he is no more fit to be com→ pared, than a dwarf with a giant. One does not wonder, indeed, to hear him explode an acquaintance with languages, when, according to his own confession, he is a stranger to all but the English. To see such an Ignoramus prate about the science of astronomy, and the properties of triangles, is enough to sicken any man, who has even a smattering of knowledge. Let this empty and vain-glorious boaster call to mind a small number even of Priests, who have been an honour to human nature, in point of mathematical, philosophical, and literary attainments, at least ;-and then let him blush, if he is capable of blushing, at his own vile perversions of Scripture, and misrepresentations of the characters of the friends of Religion. Whatever faults some of the Clergy may have been guilty of, or whatever defects there may be in the Ec clesiastical constitution of this, or any other country, a large number of clerical names will be handed down with honour, as the benefactors of mankind, while his shall be damned to fame, as a base calumniator of the Sacred Writings, and the characters of men much better than himself. What shall we say, when such scholars as BARROW, CUDWORTH, WILKINS, PEARSON, DERHAM, FLAMSTEED, HALES, BENTLEY, BOCHART, DESAGULIERS, MEDE, BAXter, ChilLINGWORTH, CLARKE, BERKLEY, BUTLER, Warburton, WATTS, DODDRIDGE, LOWMAN, JORTIN, Lardner, WITHERSPOON, ROBERTSON, and a thousand others, both living and dead, are involved in the censure of this scurrilous Sciolist?It is true, the church has had a very long, and dark eclipse. Priests have been highly to blame on many occasions. But no age can be produced when they have not been, at least, as learned and religious as any other body of men. There was a time, indeed, when VIGILIUS was, condemned to be burnt for asserting the existence of the Antipodes; and, even so late as the beginning of the seventeenth century, GALLILEO, who discovered and introduced the use of telescopes, instead of being rewarded for his pains, was

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imprisoned, and compelled to renounce his opinions resulting from such discoveries, as dammable heresies. These are lamentable facts, and the Priests, concerned in the persecution, deserved to be hanged. But I will take upon me to aver, that even in this enlightened, literary, and philosophical age, at the very close of the eighteenth century, THOMAS PAINE himself hath submitted to the view of the world a number of as palpable instances of ignorance, or malicious ness, or both, as ever an insulted public was cursed with in any one person, who pretended to write for the improvement of mankind. The Age of Reason, as applied to this vain man's pamphlets, is a burlesque; it is an insult upon common sense; it ought rather to be called, The Age of Falsehood The Age of Infidelity The Age of Ignorance The Age of Calumny The Age of Manianism-or, in short, The Age of any Thing, but that of Reason.

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I will give the reader a few specimens, and leave him to judge..

1. Mr. PAINE alledges, that Moses could not be the author of the five books, which go under his name, because they are frequently written in the third person.

XENOPHON and CESAR will answer this difficulty.

2. Mr. PAINE confounds mathematical with historical evidence,

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Any novice in science, however, knows the difference.

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3. Mr. PAINE confounds also a book that is genuine with one that is authentic. ~/

He ought to have known that the difference is extreinely great and important.

4. He declares that the prodigies recorded by Livy and TACITUS are attended with as good evidence as the miracles of CHRIST.

No man of any information can justify such an assertion.
5. He asserts, that miracles admit not of proof.

Let the reader turn to CAMPBELL on the subject and judge. The testimony of 500, or 50, or even 10 credible persons is sufficient to establish the validity of any of the scriptural miracles, where there is no counter evidence.

6. Mr. PAINE assures us, there is no affirmative evidence that Moses is the author of the Pentateuch.

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No books in the world ever had more affirmative ́ évidence, Bishop WATSON has brought it into one view.→

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Abundance of the most respectable authors, who have written since the time of Moses, give their testimony to his writings. The books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and most of those which follow, all bear witness to them, besides several of the Heathen.

7. He asserts, that the genealogy from ADAM to SAUL takes up the first nine chapters of the first book of Chronicles.

Now any man may see, that the descendants of DAVID to four generations after ZERUBBABEL are found in the third chapter; and the succession of the high priests till the captivity, in the sixth chapter, with various other similar

matters,

8. Mr. PAINE considers the books of Chronicles as a repetition of the two books of Kings.

It is easy to be convinced, however, that this is a very erroneous representation. The first book of Kings contains an account of the old age and death of DAVID, with the succession and reign of SOLOMON; the history of REнOBOAM, and division of the kingdom; JEREBOAM's reign, and several of his successors in the kingdom of Israel till the death of AHAB. It contains, moreover, some account of ASA, JEHOSAPHAT, and other kings of Judah, so far as connected with the contemporary kings of Israel. The history of ELIJAH is also interwoven in the same book pretty much at length, with some notice of ELISHA..

The second book of Kings finishes the history of Elijah, and carries forward the history of ELISHA to some extent, with a kind of joint history of the kings of Israel and Judah, and those with whom they had war, till the captivity of the king of Israel by SHALMANESER, and of the king of Judah by NEBUCHADNEZZAR.

Let us now examine the contents of the two books, of Chronicles.

The first book contains the genealogies before mentioned, and the history of DAVID, with the settlement of the temple service.

The second book of Chronicles contains the history of SOLOMON, REHOBOAM, ABIJAH, and all the succeeding kings of Judah, pretty much at large, till the Babylonish captivity.

From this short review of these four books, it appears, that

the reigns of SOLOMON and REHOBOAM, with some small variations, are common to the books of Kings and Chronicles; but that, in most other respects, they are entirely different.

9. Mr. PAINE says, the book of Ezra was written immediately after the Jews returned from Babylon.

He should have known, however, that it was near fourscore years after.

10. Mr. PAINE says, EZRA and NEHEMIAH wrote an account of the same affairs in the return of the Jews from captivity.

He is as much mistaken here as he was concerning the four books of Kings and Chronicles; for NEHEMIAH relates few or none of the same events with EZRA.

11. He says, Satan is no where mentioned in the Old Testa ment but in Job,

Let any man consult 2 Sam. xix. 22; 1 Kings, v. 4; 2 Chron. xxi. 1; Psalm. cix. 6; Zech. iii. 1: and other places, and say what dependance can be placed on this mistaken man's assertions.

12. He pretends to prove that the book of Job is the work of some Heathen writer, from the words Pleiades, Orion, and Arcturus, which are found in our translation. See chap. ix. 9; xxxviii. 31, 32.

In the original Hebrew, however, the words are Hus, Chesil, and Kima. Where then is his argument?

13. He says, the Heathens were a just, moral people, not addicted to cruelty and revenge, neither were they worshippers of images.

This assertion is in direct opposition, not only to the Bible, but to the general strain of universal history.

14. Mr. PAINE makes himself merry with supposing that we Priests are of opinion all the Psalms were written by DAVID, and that he must therefore have composed some of them after his death,

But, where does he find any man of character, that asserts they were all written by DAVID? The titles to the Psalms might convince him to the contrary.

15. He says, Priests reject reason.

As a universal proposition, this is utterly false. There are none more reasonable men upon earth, than many of the Christian priests.

16. He says, " almost the only parts in the book called the Bible, that convey to us any idea of GOD, are some chapters in Job, and the 19th Psalm. I recollect no

other."

Very possibly. But then, is he not a very fit man to write against the Bible? What thinks he of the 8th psalm, the 18th. the 24th. the 29th. the 33rd. the 34th. the 36th, the 46th. the 47th. the 50th. the 65th. the 93rd. the 96th. the 98th. the 103rd. the 104th, the 107th. the 139th. the 145th. and a vast variety of other passages, which speak more or less of the existence, perfections, and government of the DIVINE BEING?

17. He says, "some chapters in Job and the 19th psalmare true deistical compositions, for they treat of the DEITY, through his works. They take the book of creation as the word of GOD; they refer to no other book; and all the inferences they make are drawn from that volume."

This declaration is so far from being true, that one half of the 19th psalm itself is occupied in celebrating the perfection of the Law of MOSES!

18. He says, the Jews never prayed but when in trouble.

That this is a vile slander, see 1 Kings iii. 6—9; 1 Kings viii. 23—53; and a variety of the psalms, which were composed upon joyful ooccasions.

The man who can thus wickedly slander a whole nation, is admirably well suited to declaim against the iniquity of priests and prophets! BOLINGBROKE and VOLTAIRE were tolerably expert in perversion and defamation, but THOMAS PAINE, I think, excels them both in these estimable qualifications !

19. He says, king АHAZ was defeated and destroyed by PEKAH.

This is utterly false; he was defeated, but not destroyed. He died a natural death; and the promise of the prophet ISAIAH was literally fulfilled.

20. He says, the book of ISAIAH is "bombastical rant, extravagant metaphor, such stuff as a school-boy would have been scarcely excusable for writing."

Better judges than THOMAS PAINE are of a very different opinion. And to go no farther, I challenge him, and all his friends, to produce, from any book, ancient or

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