,transcribed from the #ahbh ,t4 ,tippell edition by ,david ,price1 email ccx#jgdpglaf4org ,picture3 ,public domain book cover ,,the ,,self-,,plumed ,,bishop ,,unplumed4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,reply ,,to ,,the ,,profound ,,erudition ,,of ,,the ,,self-,,named ,,hugh ,,latimer1 ,,in ,,his ,,doctrine ,,of ,,endless ,,punishment ,,asserted1 ,,by ,t4 ,,latham1 ,,minister ,,at ,,bramfield1 ,,suffolk4 99 99 99 99 99 8,let us candidly admit where we cannot refute1 calmly reply where we cannot admit1 and leave anger to the vanquished1 and imputation of bad motives to those who are deficient in good argument40 ,,rev4 ,w4 ,j4 ,,fox4 8,illi sviant in vos1 qui nesciunt quo cum labore verum inveniatur1 et quam difficile caveantur errores4 ,illi in vos sviant1 qui nesciunt quam rarum et arduum sit1 carnalia phantasmata pi mentis serenitate superare4 ,illi in vos sviant1 qui nesciunt quantis gemitibus et suspiriis fiat1 ut quantulacunque parte possit intelligi ,deus4 ,postremo1 illi in vos sviant1 qui nullo tali errore decepti sunt1 quali vos deceptos vident40 ,,st4 ,,augustine4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,halesworth3 ,,printed ,,and ,,sold ,,by ,t4 ,,tippell2 ,,sold ,,also ,,by ,,messrs4 ,,teulon ,,and ,,fox1 #fg1 ,,white-,,chapel4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,price ,,sixpence4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,reply1 c4 ,,in the various tracts that ,i have presented to the public1 as well as at the conclusion of my lectures and appendix1 ,i have earnestly requested any one who deemed himself competent to the task1 to refute and expose my errors publicly from the press4 ,w4 ,w4 ,horne was the first who made an attempt to prop up the tottering cause of orthodoxy1 and re-build the ,idol ,temple2 and how much this attempt met the approbation of the orthodox1 may be gathered from the fact1 that they would not permit his performance to see daylight in these parts666 ,the person more immediately concerned to reply to my lectures and appendix1 has contented himself1 and satisfied his friends1 with warning young people to be upon their guard against that bare-faced infidelity that dares to shew its hateful crest in open daylight2 and by assuring them in one concise sentence1 8that if they are saved it will be for ever and ever1 and if they are lost it will be for ever and ever2 and if they depend on having been sincere and morally honest1 or on repentance and reformation of conduct1 7though both he says are necessary71 their hopes will prove totally fallacious and groundless1 and will deceive their souls in the end1 and they must sink into the frightful regions of despair1 and become companions of those who must for ever weep1 wail1 and gnash their teeth1 without any diminution of their sufferings or deliverance from them40 ,this is doing business with dispatch4 ,yet1 ,i have never imagined1 that any one would suppose that a note in a funeral sermon was a proper reply to my book1 and therefore ,i have been waiting in expectation of hearing from some other quarter1 so that ,i am neither surprised nor disappointed at being attacked by some one under the nom de guerre #c of ,hugh ,latimer3 nor am ,i at all surprised that the old bishop's ghost1 which has been conjured up on the occasion1 should act so perfectly in esprit de corps1 #d;a or so directly contra bonos mores2 #d;b for this has ever been the spirit and temper of the whole body1 that what they were deficient in truth and sober argument1 they have abundantly made up by scurrility and vituperation4 ,but since ,hugh ,latimer1 who stalks forth incognito1 #d;c whoever he is in propria persona1 #d;d whether ,english1 ,irish1 ,scotch1 or ,welch1 is to me a matter of small importance4 ,i have nothing to do with the man1 but with his evangelical matter3 yet1 ,i may be curious to ask1 why such homo multarum literarum1 #d;e as he affects to be1 should be ashamed of his own name2 especially to such a chef d'uvre #d;f as his performance appears to be4 ,probably1 in the course of his extensive research into antiquity1 he has discovered a striking similarity between the coarse sternness of the old bishop's spirit and language and his own1 and may think himself qualified for such an office2 and he may perhaps have learned that as ,king ,harry obtained from the ,pope the title of ,defender of the ,faith1 for writing in defence of popery1 so ,horsley1 ,magee1 and others have been rewarded with mitres for writing against ,socinians and ,infidels2 and1 like the supplanter of old1 he may wish to obtain the blessing1 and rear his mitred front in parliament by wrapping himself in another person's coat4 ,yet1 blind as we are1 we can discover1 that although the voice is ,jacob's voice1 the hands and the heart are those of ,esau4 ,but ,i shall leave all gens de l'eglise #d;g to scramble for bishoprics and mitres as they please1 and attend to the author who styles himself ,hugh ,latimer1 and who deigns to bestow his favors upon me4 ,in the first instance1 he condescends to give me what he deems a severe castigation for my dulness2 and1 having laid on me forty stripes1 save one1 he feels some relentings1 and kindly proposes to pity my ignorance and become my instructor1 7p4 #aa47 ,i ought to thank him for his good will2 but1 before ,i become his elev1 #d;h ,i ought to be satisfied that he is quite competent to the task of a tutor2 and1 as ,i have my doubts on this head1 7after all his pretensions to be savant1 #e;a7 this point must be settled entre nous #e;b before we proceed any further4 ,my tutor1 as he pretends to be1 on page #aa says1 8,i have yet got to learn ,english40 ,some would have chosen to say1 in correct ,english1 that ,i had yet to learn ,english2 but this was perhaps a lapsus lingu4 #e;c ,but my soi disant #e;d tutor1 without shewing me wherein ,i am deficient1 whether in orthography1 etymology1 syntax1 or prosody1 or even without enquiring whether ,i had learned the ,english alphabet1 begins to treat me1 as a judicious tutor ought to treat a pupil1 by an attempt to teach me ,greek and ,latin1 although he knew ,i had 8got to learn ,english40 ,this surely was doing the thing comme il faut1 #e;e and ,i shall here pay some attention to his learned lectures4 ,in the first place1 ,i am smartly reproved for writing ,greek words in ,english characters--a fault which every author besides me has been guilty of1 authors of ,dictionaries and ,concordances not excepted2 but then1 while ,i ought to have known that ,greek words cannot be properly expressed in ,english letters1 my tutor says1 ,i should at least have written them in those ,english letters which would have expressed them properly3 thus my modern task-master requires me to make bricks without straw4 ,but ,i am next reproved for blundering in ,greek orthography1 because in one word1 either ,i or the printer1 have put a u1 instead of an o--an unpardonable blunder in me2 however it happened1 and bonne bouche #e;f for a word catcher4 ,for1 as ,bentley remarks1 8a sophist abhors mediocrity2 he must always say the greatest thing1 and make a tide and a flood1 though it be but a basin of water40 ,but ,i have also blundered on the unlucky words aion1 aionian1 oletheron1 and kolassis1 and have given them an unfortunate signification--a signification most unfortunate for his system of infinite and endless torment3 since1 in spite of all his criticisms1 the true sense of the terms completely overthrows his blazing creed2 at which he rages like a fury1 and exhausts all his ample stores of skill in criticism on the original languages2 yes1 and pities and deplores my ignorance in these matters4 ,it is not1 however1 worth my while to waste much time in debating whether he who 7is at least capable of consulting a ,greek lexicon7 is possessed of more profound erudition on such points than ,i1 who have 8got to learn ,english yet20 the point may be satisfactorily settled by determining at once1 whether of us has given the true and proper meaning of the words in question4 ,i have said aion and aionian never mean unlimited duration1 except when connected with the existence of ,god1 or the future happiness of good men4 ,in every other case they have only a limited signification4 ,many proofs of this ,i have produced from the scriptures in my lectures3 not one of which has been corrected nor even noticed by my tutor4 ,he asserts1 that words are to be always taken in their literal and primary sense1 unless there be something in the nature of the subject which requires them to be differently understood4 ,this is first objecting to what ,i have said and then saying the very same thing himself1 and accusing me of blundering1 when he has made the very same blunder2 but the fact is1 ,i have stated the real truth as to the application of the terms1 and he1 nolens volens1 #f is compelled to admit the same1 which he does twice over 7page #i1 #aj74 ,i had said1 the true and primary sense of aion1 is age1 a limited period4 ,for this ,i have given the authority of ,doctor ,doddridge1 the ,bishop of ,london1 ,dr4 ,hammond1 and the ,critical ,review2 7see ,lectures1 page #ah1 #ai71 to which ,i might add the authority of every person who pretends to be at all acquainted with ,greek3 yet my tutor1 for the sake of exposing my ignorance1 as he pretends1 will thus expose his own1 and fly in the face of all this host1 even among the orthodox1 who have had sense and honesty enough to admit the true meaning of the terms4 ,he says 7page #aa7 aion1 is more expressive of proper eternity than the ,bramfield scholar has any conception of1 being derived from two words which signify 8ever being40 ,let us allow him this1 and also what he claims before1 that words are always to be taken in their literal signification4 ,how will it sound in ,matt4 xxiv4 #c1 to read 8,what shall be the signs of thy coming1 and the end of this everbeing40 ,rom4 xii4 #b1 8,be not conformed to this everbeing40 #a ,cor4 x4 #aa1 8,upon whom the ends of the everbeing are come40 ,eph4 ii4 #b1 8,according to the course of this everbeing40 ,verse #g1 8,that in the everbeings to come40 ,heb4 ix4 #bf1 8,but now in the end of the everbeing hath he appeared40 ,matt xii4 #cb1 8,shall not be forgiven neither in this everbeing1 nor in the everbeing which is to come40 ,tit4 i4 #b1 8,before the everbeing begun40 ,exod4 xv4 #ah1 8,from everbeing to everbeing and farther40 ,dan4 xii4 #c1 8,through the everbeing and further40 ,mich4 iv4 #e1 8,through the everbeing and beyond it40 ,thus my learned tutor by his wonderful skill in criticism1 may if he please1 burlesque the scriptures1 and make them speak his ridiculous nonsense and ,greek-,english gibberish from beginning to end4 #g;a ,yet after all the rebuffs and blows1 the pity and kind instructions which my tutor has bestowed upon me1 such is my lamentable dulness1 that ,i cannot yet perceive that aion is expressive of everbeing1 eternity1 or unlimited duration2 and ,i am still ignorant enough to think1 as the ,critical ,reviewers do1 its true meaning is an age or limited period all through the scriptures1 without a single exception1 and until ,i am better taught menomen hosper osmen4 #g;b ,my tutor next charges me with reiterating my blunders as to the meaning of aionian1 which he asserts is 8everlasting40 ,aion is singular1 aionian is its plural1 and so must1 according to my tutor1 mean everlastings1 everbeings1 eternities4 ,this may be good ,greek2 but ,i1 8who have got to learn ,english10 venture to pronounce it no ,english1 but sheer nonsense4 ,but my tutor informs me1 8that it is an established canon of criticism1 that an author is the best commentator on his own words2 and that because in ,matt4 xxv4 #df1 the word aionian is connected both with future punishment and future happiness1 it must have the same unlimited signification in both cases1 and denote equal periods of time40 ,this is the same weighty argument that good ,mr4 ,dennant1 as my tutor styles him1 brought forward in his funeral sermon1 and for ought ,i know1 may have been borrowed from the same source4 ,but let my tutor try his artillery upon a text in ,hab4 iii4 #f1 where the word aionian is in the same manner used to denote the existence of ,god and the duration of the material hills4 ,let him here but keep the antithesis unbroken1 and maintain that in both cases it must mean equal duration1 and then the material hills will be as eternal as ,god2 and thus my tutor1 by overcharging his own cannon and firing at random1 has not only blown up his own fortifications1 but also demolished the strong hold of good ,mr4 ,d4 with the same explosion4 ,my tutor next takes me to a lexicon to learn from it that the terms which ,i have said signify corrective punishment1 signify nothing short of perdition1 ruin1 destruction4 ,admit all this3 yet this does not express eternal misery2 for a being destroyed or blotted out of existence cannot suffer any more1 much less suffer eternal misery4 ,i have shewn in my lectures1 that the terms used in the original to express future punishment are all of a limited duration2 this ,i have proved upon the authority of those who wrote and spoke ,greek as their own vernacular tongue4 ,but1 as my tutor did not choose to come in contact with such authorities1 he has prudently passed the whole without note or comment3 for1 as the ,irishman said1 the easiest way to climb over a high stile1 is to creep under it2 so he has found that the easiest way to get over a difficulty is to avoid it wholly2 and upon this prudential maxim1 he has uniformly acted4 ,my tutor at length wearied out with ennui #h;a of leading me through l'empire des lettres #h;b and teaching me ,greek1 quite looses his temper1 and in angry mood turns me back to a task in ,english and ,latin etymology4 ,short-sighted mortal he exclaims6 hadst thou not wit enough to see that the ,english word eternity was derived from the ,latin ternus1 which is a contraction for viternus1 or1 age-lasting4 ,yes1 my good tutor1 short-sighted as ,i am1 and whether ,i can see by my wit or not ,i had seen by my eyesight1 and that too1 independent of supposed influence1 or special inspiration1 long before you revealed the secret1 that eternity ,,is 7not was7 derived from the ,latin1 and is a contraction ,,of 7not for7 the ,latin word1 which means age-lasting2 and ,i had seen you try to turn the term age-lasting1 when used by me1 to ridicule1 and ,i now see you use the same ridiculous expression as very proper1 when used by idoneus homa4 #i;a ,i had often seen the same words used in a limited sense1 and applied to things of limited duration3 to mountains crowned with eternal snows2 to trees robed in eternal verdure2 yes1 sir1 and to the eternal brawlings of an angry and contentious man or woman2 and ,i had both seen and understood1 that as a derived word can mean no more than the original from which it is derived1 and as that1 in the present case1 is age-lasting and limited1 ,i had seen that the ,english word eternity1 like all others1 can only express unlimited duration1 when it derives that sense from the subject with which it is connected1 and that is only when applied to the existence of ,god and future happiness2 for tell me1 sir1 if you can1 what else is properly eternal8 ,and although you have charged me with it1 yet ,i never said or thought that a scripture word of equal import would be conclusive2 nor have you1 nor can you show the page on which ,i have hinted at it4 ,and ,i can also assure my tutor1 that ,i am so well satisfied with the old morals1 religion1 and ,god of the ,bible1 that ,i covet none of those new ones1 which were intruded upon the world four hundred years after ,christ1 by a set of ,pagans calling themselves ,christians2 but can contentedly leave him and all his fraternity to share the paganized religion together1 and to worship the tria juncta in uno1 #i;b--the new ,god set up by ,constantine and his council in the fourth century4 ,now1 at the denouement #i;c of his learned lectures1 my tutor1 having arrived at the height of his choler1 throws his last bolt1 by scornfully asking1 8,and1 where ,master ,latham1 didst thou find the malaka topon in thy epistle to good ,mr4 ,dennant40 ,if ,i had not perceived from what follows1 that his lexicon1 7that fruitful source of his wisdom7 has furnished him with the meaning 7at least7 of the words after which he enquires1 ,i would have advised him to read the ,new ,testament1 and if he keep his eyes open1 he will sooner discover those words there1 than either ,trinity1 ,triune-,deity1 ,god-,man1 ,vicarious ,satisfaction1 or that long catalogue of mots d'usage #aj;a which he and his orthodox brethren pretend by 8superior influence0 to discover there1 while those who make 8their mind and reason their guide10 cannot find a single word which either in sense or sound bears the shadow of a resemblance to their shibboleth4 ,by this time it will be seen quo warranto1 #aj;b my tutor has undertaken to correct my blunders1 when out of twenty1 and many others1 with which he has charged me in the gross1 on his #aath page1 he himself has reduced them all to blunders of his own making2 nor can ,i be surprised that my tutor1 to keep up his own dignity1 should pour contempt upon my illiterature1 when the tutor of a ,scotish seat of science 7,dr4 ,wardlaw71 has had the audacity to accuse both ,grotius1 ,clarke1 and ,pierce1 with being ignorant of the ,greek language2 nay1 this minister of ,albion-,street ,chapel1 ,glasgow1 accuses ,origen and ,eusebius with the same ignorance1 although ,greek was their native tongue1 and the ,scotch ,doctor's reflections turn only to his own disgrace4 ,but quo animo #aj;c are such charges made1 except it be ad captandum vulgus #aj;d and keep them still in ignorance3 looking up to them as the only men of understanding1 and implicitly receiving all they please to say as if it was uttered by the oracle of heaven4 ,since my tutor has succeeded so poorly in teaching me ,greek and ,latin1 cui malo1 #aj;e if1 according to lex talionis1 #aj;f ,i1 in my turn1 give my tutor a short lesson or two in plain ,english2 for although he thinks ,i have 8yet got to learn ,english10 ,i am vain enough to think his ,english may be improved4 ,my lessons shall be short1 easy to be understood1 and adapted to instruct my own tutor3 and1 in the first place1 who that knows the meaning of ,socinian and ,infidel1 would confound the two words as synonymous4 ,an ,infidel is a denier of revelation1 but a ,socinian believes in and receives revelation2 if not1 can my tutor tell how it has happened1 that the most and the best of the works written in defence of revelation against ,infidels1 have been written by ,socinians1 or those who have the misnomer8 ,again1 who that knows the meaning of sceptic1 a doubter of the truth1 or some parts of the truth of revelation1 7except such a linguist as my tutor17 would confound this term with ,socinian and ,infidel1 and use it as designative of the same person8 ,once more3 who that knows the use of ,english words would expose himself by printing on a title page 8,socinian ,infidelity80 for these words are as incompatible as light and darkness1 and a man can no more be a ,socinian and an ,infidel1 than he can be a man and an angel2 and this compound anomaly1 this incongruous combination1 7,socinian infidelity71 which shames his title page1 and was derived from good ,mr4 ,dennant's vocabulary and funeral sermon1 is just as good ,english as the ,irishman's crooked straight1 as dark lightness1 and black whiteness4 ,again1 8to have lounged and slipped10 as he says on page #b1 conveys excellent sense to an ,english reader4 ,to lounge1 is to live idle1 or lazy2 to slip from the foundation is1 in his sense1 to deny the truth2 and these two words combined make a very intelligible sentence--nearly as intelligible as when the ,welch curate1 having to say the lamb1 said the little mutton1 and left the people to guess at the meaning4 ,but1 had ,i lounged and1 like the orthodox in general1 been too lazy to examine into sentiments1 and willing to take opinions upon trust1 ,i should not have had the mishap to slip from their foundation2 but1 like them1 should have remained stationary there1 lounging in ignorance and error2 but1 by being active and industrious in proving all things1 ,i have slipped from their foundation1 or rather extricated myself from their quagmire system1 and settled on the immoveable rock of truth4 ,on the #aath page1 my tutor raps my knuckles for blundering and writing o1 instead of oh1 although on page #i he has set me the example in writing oh1 instead of ,o1 twice over2 but he wants the qualification of a master who cannot find fault4 ,on the same page1 my tutor knits his brows1 and with a learned frown exclaims1 8,greek1 indeed6 ,why1 the man has yet got to learn ,english40 ,this sentence1 in excellence of spirit and diction1 matches well with the following3 8so we will give the devil battle1 we will beat the devil to40 #aa ,i shall not waste time to correct my tutor for writing was1 where it should be is1 and for1 where it should be of1 c4 c4 least my readers should be led to think ,i have learned from my tutor to be as expert in word catching as himself1 and should be tempted to say of us1 tel maitre1 tel valet4 #ab;a ,but1 as ,i promised that my lessons should be short1 ,i leave him to study the following concise one3 ergo docens alium tipsum non doces4 #ab;b ,i have now to attend on my tutor while he gives me his most instructive lectures in theology2 and it will be a pity indeed if my unaccountable dulness should prevent me from profiting by the wondrous wisdom which he has displayed1 and by those floods of eloquence which flow from his silver tongue4 ,however1 ,i will do the best ,i can1 by using such powers as ,i possess2 and if ,i am denied the gift of 8superior influence10 the fault is no more mine than it would be a fault in him not to see the daylight1 had he been denied the gift of eyesight4 ,yet1 mirabile dictum1 #ab;c the first sine qua non1 #ab;d that my tutor requires in his pupil is1 that ,i should lay aside the reason ,i have or what is the same thing1 8not suffer my mind to be its own guide40 ,but were ,i to shut1 or put out my eyes1 in order to behold a beautiful object1 would he not be tempted to call me a fool8 ,were ,i to discard reason in the common concerns of life1 would he not call me irrational8 ,and if ,i take his advice in respect to religion1 shall ,i not act the part of one insane8 ,has he laid aside reason in writing his squib8 ,how1 then1 can he expect reasonable men to read1 or me to profit by the irrational ravings of a mere maniac2 but a man is never against reason in religion1 but when reason is against his religion--and here my tutor feels the shoe pinch his corns4 ,nothing1 however1 he says1 is too irrational to be believed by those who will not 7as he directs7 become irrational in religion1 but will make the mind its own guide4 ,he is therefore for doing the business by the aid of 8superior influence20 and not to say1 that in his performance he has given mathematical demonstration1 that pretensions to 8superior influence0 have produced the effect of the most irrational belief1 let others of the same school prove the fact4 8,a christian10 says ,lord ,bacon1 8believes three to be one1 and one to be three3 a ,father1 not to be older than the ,son2 a ,son1 to be equal with his ,father2 and one proceedings from both1 to be equal with both4 ,he believes three persons in one nature1 and two natures in one person3 a virgin to be the mother of a son1 and that very son of hers to be her ,maker4 ,he believes him to have been shut up in a narrow room1 whom heaven and earth could not contain2 him to have been born in time1 who was and is born from everlasting2 him to be a weak child carried in arms1 who is the ,almighty2 and him to have died1 who only has life and immortality3 and the more absurd and incredible any mystery is1 the greater honour we do to ,god in believing it1 and so much the more noble the victory of faith40 ,the same lesson ,bishop ,beveridge learnt in the same school3 8,the mysteries1 7says he7 which ,i am least able to conceive1 ,i think myself the more obliged to believe4 ,that ,god the ,father should be one perfect ,god of himself2 ,god the ,son one perfect ,god of himself2 and ,god the ,holy ,ghost one perfect ,god of himself3 and yet that these three should be but one perfect ,god of himself1 so that one should be perfectly three1 and three perfectly one2 three and yet but one1 but one and yet three4 ,o heart-amazing1 thought-devouring1 inconceivable mystery6 ,who cannot believe it to be true of the glorious ,deity80 ,from the above confessions of the orthodox faith1 and hundreds more that might be added1 equally clear and decisive1 let my tutor now say what system produces the most irrational belief--his which enables him to give a reason of the hope that is in him1 or his which prevents him from giving any reason at all why he believes such monstrous absurdities4 ,and who acts the most like a rational being--he who knows what and why he believes1 or he who1 laying aside reason1 believes the wildest contradictions1 under pretence of believing mysteries1 which is a thing just as possible as believing in the existence of non-entities1 or seeing invisibilities1 or possessing non-existences4 ,but if ,i had the superior light with which my tutor is blessed1 ,i might learn from him that ,socinianism is scepticism and infidelity2 for he has made it include this triad of irreconcilables in the compass of three lines2 and then he says1 it is a virtual rejection of apostolic doctrine1 requiring no more than what reason can apprehend4 ,the apostolic doctrine requires us to give a reason of our hope1 to prove all things1 to judge of ourselves what is right2 and when ,paul reasoned with the ,jews and required them to judge what he said1 he surely did not wish them to lay aside reason and believe mysteries which neither preacher nor hearers could comprehend4 ,but a ,senator in parliament1 he says1 described ,socinianism as a species of ,mahometanism4 ,well1 if senators turn preachers1 and my tutor writes them into notice1 woe be to his own craft4 ,such men as he will soon be easily spared2 but if any one will turn to the newspaper which contains the senator's orthodox sermon1 they will see by the rejoinder there made1 that the preaching senator made as good a figure among his brother senators as my tutor and his performance is destined to make among readers who use reason and common sense when they read4 ,on page #c1 my tutor has summed up the articles of my disbelief1 and he has done it honestly and accurately2 and ,i am free to speak le verite sans peur1 #ad;a and to acknowledge sans mauvaise honte1 #ad;b that ,i do deny and disbelieve the whole catalogue of absurdities which he has enumerated in toto2 and ,i assert1 that it is out of my tutor's power to prove1 that in so doing ,i have denied one truth revealed in the ,bible1 or that ,i disbelieve one iota of the faith originally delivered to saints by ,jesus and his inspired apostles2 nor can he prove1 that in denying every one of those points1 which are essentials in his creed1 ,i have done any more than what every christian ought to do--that is1 deny the faith of heathen philosophers1 and reject the vain traditions of ignorant fallible men4 ,my tutor1 however1 allows that ,i am not destitute of all faith1 although ,i reject his faith2 for he says1 ,i believe with the ,grand ,turk in one ,god and one prophet4 ,this piece of wisdom he seems to have borrowed from the senator mentioned above2 still ,i can shew my tutor1 that my ,mahomedan faith is more scriptural1 rational1 just1 and pure1 than either his or that of the orthodox senator4 ,i believe in one ,god2 and will my tutor say he believes in more ,gods than one8 ,no1 although ,bishop ,beveridge has made three--each perfectly ,god of himself2 and although my tutor's faith is just the same1 yet1 of the two evils1 rather than be thought to be a tritheist1 a plain pagan1 a believer in many ,gods1 he will come over to ,socinians1 and subscribe the faith of one ,god2 he will not pretend to deny that this part of my faith is scriptural1 since scripture compels him to confess it2 and if my faith in one prophet1 be not scriptural1 let him say what the following scriptures can mean3 ,deut4 xviii4 #ae1 the ,lord thy ,god will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee1 of thy brethren like unto me1 unto him ye shall hearken4 ,in verses #ah1 #ai1 the same title1 a prophet1 is given to the same person1 and that this person here spoken of1 and styled by ,jehovah1 his prophet1 is ,jesus ,christ1 let the ,new ,testament determine2 ,acts1 vii4 #cg1 ,stephen applies it to ,jesus2 ,acts1 iii4 #bb1 ,peter applies it to him2 and in the following texts he is styled a prophet1 ,luke1 vii4 #af4--xx4 #f4--,mark1 xi4 #cb4--,luke1 xxiv4 #ai4--;,john iv4 #ai4--;ix4 #ag4 and he styles himself a prophet ,matt4 xiii4 #eg4--,luke1 iv4 #bd4--xiii4 #cc4 ,and if ,i believe either in him1 or in the scriptures1 ,i must believe in one ,god1 and in ,jesus as his prophet4 ,and whether this be a more scriptural faith than my tutor's1 who believes in ,jesus as both ,god and his own prophet1 ,i leave the reader to determine2 and whether this faith in one ,god1 and one prophet1 be believing too little1 ,i leave ,christ to determine1 who has said1 8,this is life eternal to know the ,father the only true ,god1 and ,jesus to be the ,christ the anointed prophet whom he has sent40 ,and ,paul has reduced the articles of saving faith to a short compass1 when he says1 8,if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the ,lord ,jesus1 and shall believe in thine heart that ,god hath raised him from the dead1 thou shalt be saved40 ,now1 if this belief in one ,god and one prophet ,jesus1 be believing enough1 that surely is believing too much1 as my tutor does1 when he embraces a creed made up of heathen reveries--not one sentence of which is taught in or required by the ,bible4 ,if to call my faith 8christianity10 be a misnomer1 what must it be to call his christianity8--not one article of which is taught in1 but condemned in toto by the christian scriptures4 ,my tutor says1 he did not think it worth while to attempt to disprove my doctrines2 no1 nor even attempt to establish his own1 which he styles the articles of the christian faith4 ,and he had two very cogent reasons for this3 first1 he knew that to assert was far more easy than either to disprove or establish2 and then he had given previous notice on his title page2 that he meant only to assert1 not to prove any thing1 and this pledge he has honourably redeemed through his whole performance4 ,it is worth my while1 however1 to remark in passing1 that my tutor has encroached upon the science of the wandering gypsy1 and affects to turn fortune-teller2 he predicts the good news1 that ,i am on the way to preferment1 and stand a fair chance of becoming caliph of ,constantinople4 ,i can tell him honestly ,i have no such ambition2 and was there even a chance of a mitre in the church of ,england1 nolo episcopari1 #af;a upon the usual conditions of assenting and consenting to all that is contained in an ,english version of the ,latin ,mass-,book4 ,on the foot of his #crd page1 my tutor applies himself to his task in good earnest1 7at least pretends to do so71 and begins to refute and expose my theological blunders2 but he quickly lugs in the coup de main1 #af;b and lays down the onus probandi #af;c after a very short and feeble display of his reasoning powers4 ,he has attempted1 it is true1 on his #c1 #d1 #e1 and #fth pages1 to prove the infinite evil and demerit of sin4 ,had he succeeded in proving these1 he must have established1 also1 that every sin1 because committed against an infinite being1 must be infinite in turpitude and demerit2 then1 where is the difference between his fifty and my five hundred pence debt8 ,between his ten and my ten thousand talents8 ,mine are infinite1 and his1 by his own confession1 are no less4 ,if every sin be infinite1 how does the aggregate of infinites swell1 when we calculate the almost infinite number of sinners1 and the infinite number of sins committed by each8 ,and if each of these infinite sins require an infinite atonement1 where is such an one to be found8 ,according to my tutor1 page #d1 it was found 8in the vicarious sufferings of the ,son of ,god30 but1 when he has proved from the scriptures that the sufferings of ,christ were such1 which he neither has nor can do2 and even one of his own school has confessed1 8it is an unaccountable1 irrational doctrine1 destroying every natural idea we have of divine justice1 and laying aside the evidence of scripture 7which is none at all7 it is so far from being true that it is ridiculous40 #af;d ,i have still to ask him1 did the son of ,god suffer as ,god1 in his supposed divine nature8 ,if he be as flagrant as the poets are1 to speak of a dying ,god1 no man of sound mind will believe him4 ,should he admit1 as truth will compel him to admit1 that ,christ suffered only as a man1 then he has to explain the mystery how the sacrifice of a human victim could make1 by finite sufferings1 an infinite satisfaction4 ,in describing what he judges proofs1 that sin is an infinite evil1 he musters together many things which without proof he assumes as points granted2 and then1 from the heat of this great burning1 which his fiery temperament and frightened imagination has kindled1 he infers1 that finite men can perform those infinite acts which can subvert the order and council of heaven1 annihilate all virtue and happiness in the universe1 and shake the throne of the eternal3--thus he makes man and sin almighty1 and the almighty ,god1 weak1 impotent1 and subject to the caprice of his own creatures4 ,nay1 more1 he asserts1 but does not prove it1 that men and sin have changed the unchangeable deity2 having 8extinguished the paternal goodness of the creator10 and in his opinion converted the ,god of love into a merciless being like himself4 ,god1 he tells us1 is the source of all excellence4 ,this we know1 and rejoice in the truth2 but can fury1 anger1 indignation1 wrath1 and vindictive cruelty1 such as he represents ,god manifesting towards his offspring1 be reckoned among the moral excellencies of the divine character8 ,strange if they can6 ,my tutor thinks these perfections belong to his ,god1 the ,god of ,calvinism2 and so they may1 but not to the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ4 ,to overthrow what ,i said1 that if sin be infinite in demerit1 because committed against an infinite ,god1 obedience must be infinite in merit1 as obedience to the same infinite ,god4 ,my tutor tells me1 the case is just the reverse1 and that as sin rises in turpitude1 merit sinks in the same proportion4 ,he who can reason with the same logical precision1 may possibly arrive at the same conclusion1 which is this3 that the more virtuous a man is1 the less is he entitled to the rewards of virtue2 and1 therefore1 the more ,paul pressed forward to the prize of his high calling1 just in proportion was he further from the object of his pursuit4 ,well may the man that advocates such sentiments brand the opinions of others with immoral tendency6 ,my tutor asks1 page #f1 whoever thought of good accruing to the chief magistrate of a country1 or to the criminal himself1 from the infliction of capital punishment8 ,this is merely evading what ,i have said on the subject in my lectures2 but ,i ask1 what is the chief end aimed at in inflicting any punishments at all8 ,is it a vindictive disposition in the judge towards some1 or is it not with a view to the good of the whole8 ,and why are any capital punishments inflicted8 ,is it not because the ends of human justice cannot be attained without them8 ,had men the power to prevent the evil by any other means1 would a wise and virtuous government make useless waste of human life1 and take it wantonly away when it might be spared8 ,and shall a ,god of infinite wisdom and almighty power1 admit into the moral government of the universe an evil which he can never remedy2 but which shall eternally cause his soul to burn with vindictive rage and fury against those puny ants which he called from nothing at first1 and which in an instant he could crush to nothing as easily as a moth8 ,shall finite evil overcome infinite good8 ,my tutor says1 for any thing we know1 the good of the universe may require the perpetuation of punishment1 rather than the termination of sin4 ,he does not know this3 ,why assert what he does not know8 #ah ,but we know the contrary1 and my tutor needs not remain in ignorance on this point if he will read his ,bible--that will inform him1 that ,god has exalted that same ,jesus1 who was crucified1 to reign as his anointed king in ,zion2 and that he must reign till all rule1 authority1 and power is put down2 till the last enemy death is destroyed and swallowed up in victory2 till there shall be no more death1 nor pain1 nor sorrow1 nor crying4 ,but if death and sin must reign eternally and be perpetuated to an interminable duration1 when will the end come for ,christ to deliver up the kingdom to ,god1 even the ,father1 and ,god be all in all8 ,my tutor has been in too much haste to answer this1 or any one of the many arguments which ,i have advanced on this head in my #fth lecture4 ,with a view to expose the ignorance of those who1 like my tutor1 represent ,god as burning in an unquenchable fire1 and roasting on eternal gridirons the bodies and souls of men1 ,i have said in my lectures1 the nature of man is incapable of eternal combustion2 the body must quickly be consumed by fire2 and material fire cannot act on the immaterial spirit1 as they suppose the soul of man to be4 ,to this last remark he has said nothing2 to the former1 he has pretended to reply1 by asking me to inform him1 how the nature of man can for an instant or for ages of ages endure future punishment8 ,i tell him1 that the future punishment of the wicked will be in nature suited to the nature of man2 but ,god will have other means of punishing than roasting men in fire1 as ,calvin roasted ,servetus4 ,he says1 ,socinianism affords no answer to the question1 how they can endure the fire that never shall be quenched for a single instant and not be consumed8 ,it does not belong to ,socinians to answer this1 but to him who ignorantly thinks ,god will roast them in eternal fire4 ,to say not only how they can endure it for an instant1 but how they can burn eternally without being consumed2 and if denying that they can1 is denying future punishment1 then by argumentum ad ignorantiam #ai my tutor has denied it most positively2 and if ,i am going on to perfection1 as he says ,i am1 his stationary creed seems to be following me in that way4 ,i have stated in my lectures1 that eternal misery is irreconcileable with the character and perfections of ,god4 ,at this my tutor nibbles in his usual way2 and although he has denied in the last paragraph that men are capable of burning for ever1 yet here he charges me with being mistaken in thinking sin does not call for the vengeance of eternal fire4 ,when will he attain perfection whose faith thus reels to and fro and staggers like a drunken man8 ,because ,i cannot receive his vengeance-teeming system1 and believe that ,god who is love will pour tempestuous indignation upon his own offspring1 and swallow them up in his wrath1 ,i am charged1 page #h1 with not knowing how to deal with the fact1 that ,god has admitted both moral and physical evil to have place in the universe4 ,but ,i tell my tutor1 these things are admitted not for their own sakes1 but because infinite wisdom1 power1 and goodness both can and will and always has overruled them for the promotion of the greater sum of good4 ,will my tutor pretend that the sufferings of those millions of innocent and virtuous people1 7whom he has found among a race who he says are totally depraved without a single exception17 or the death of infants1 are examples and proofs of ,god's vindictive ire and fiery indignation against them2 if not1 why has he referred to them as such8 ,and why 8not wiser he1 in his just scale of sense1 weigh his opinions against providence10 and compare one part of his system with another1 and observe how one part proclaims war against the other8 ,my tutor has admitted1 that 8,god is love2 that his various perfections are only modifications of his love2 that he delights in diffusing happiness2 that his tender mercies are over all his works2 that he does not willingly afflict nor grieve the children of men2 nor take pleasure in the death of a sinner40 ,yet he has made it out1 that the ,god of love pursues some with eternal hatred2 that his love is modified into inexorable justice1 his mercy into vindictive cruelty1 his compassion into unrelenting severity2 that he delights to diffuse happiness and to perpetuate eternal misery2 that his tender mercies are over all his works1 while he inflicts upon the great majority the unmitigated vengeance of eternal fire2 that he does not afflict willingly1 but takes pleasure in punishing eternally2 that he does not take pleasure in the death of a sinner1 yet makes the eternal ruin and interminable misery of such the ultimate end of his moral government--all this my tutor has proved in his pages4 ,he asks1 is ,god required to seek the good of his creatures irrespective of their characters and deserts8 ,no3 the ,bible teaches1 8he will render unto every man according to his deeds20 but my tutor teaches1 that ,god might have made all men to be damned1 and he might or might not have saved any2 and1 that those few who will be saved1 will be saved irrespective of their own deserts1 by the merits and sufferings of another4 ,yet such men who speak of ,god as neither wise nor good1 except he be and act as they dictate1 are not1 he says1 to be reasoned with1 but reproved2 and who is less capable of being reasoned with1 and who more deserving of reproof than my tutor8 ,for his ,god must be a cruel1 vindictive1 wrathful being1 and with unrelenting fury pursue his creatures with devouring flames and eternal indignation1 or my tutor cannot avouch him for his ,god4 ,i have now attended my theological instructor so far as his lucubrations are connected with my lectures4 ,he has not dispatched business indeed so quickly as he by whom he has been appointed to act as locum tenens1 #ba;a but he has managed in #ab pages1 to answer all ,i have said in #bbh pages--at least he has offered this scrap for an answer1 and ,i have no doubt but it will be received by many as full to the purpose4 ,but before any one comes to such a conclusion1 he ought to read what ,i have written in my lectures1 and then he will perhaps have reason to conclude1 that all that my tutor has said is merely gratis dictum2 #ba;b for having left nearly every argument of mine untouched1 and those which he has touched still unanswered1 and having in profound silence passed over the whole task ,i have set him in the close of my sixth lecture2 not daring to offer a single word in reply to any one of the twenty-two points that he and every advocate of eternal torments ought to disprove if they would establish their system2 he takes his leave of me and my lectures1 and finishes his performance by bringing forward a few stale arguments which were reiterated over and over again by ,andrew ,fuller1 until he was ashamed to push them upon the public any longer4 ,instead1 therefore1 of following him and wasting time to answer what has been answered times without number1 ,i might here conclude2 however1 ,i will give him a short specimen of the way in which all his arguments may be disposed of4 ,he says in his first1 on page #ab1 my sentiments have some appearance of good will about them4 ,this is confessing ,i approach near in this virtue to ,god1 to ,christ1 and the true spirit of the gospel1 which is 8glory to ,god in the highest1 and good will to men40 ,does his vindictive system breathe this spirit8 ,he had expected1 it seems1 to have found devils included in my scheme of benevolence2 and had ,i believed in the existence of such beings1 ,i should have included them2 and can he tell me why not8 ,if such there be1 are they not the creatures of a ,god who hates nothing that he has made2 and when he made them1 if ever he did1 he made them either to be happy or miserable1 unless their fate was left wholly to chance8 ,and is it very likely1 that the ,god of boundless benevolence1 whose tender mercies are over all his works1 should create them for eternal misery8 ,he says1 they have for ages been suffering the vengeance of eternal fire4 ,but this proves he knows no more of the meaning of that text1 than when a school-boy he read it for his task4 ,let him contradict what ,i have said on it in my lectures4 ,to use my tutor's own polite words1 on page #ab1 ,i might say1 8short-sighted mortal6 ,hadst thou not wit enough to see10 that by shutting the door of mercy against devils1 thou hast shut it against thyself6 ,surely thy critical skill in ,greek ought to have taught thee1 that every calumniator1 false accuser1 traducer1 and slanderer1 is1 according to the true import of the word1 a diabolos1 a devil2 and that thou art such1 is proved on thy title page1 as well as in many other parts of thy book1 which breathes calumny and slander throughout4 ,but my tutor wonders if my doctrine be true1 why ,christ and his apostles never plainly taught it4 ,i wonder how he reads the ,bible1 and how he has read my lectures1 in which ,i have shewn the doctrine taught through the whole1 from the first promise in ,genesis to ,revelations1 agreeable to the text which tells him1 ,god has taught it by all the prophets since the world began4 ,but he has been so long accustomed to gaze at the unquenchable fire1 and to look at every object through clouds of smoke issuing from the bottomless pit of ,heathen and ,popish error1 that he can form no distinct and proper notion of any text in the ,bible2 no1 nor of the character of the ,god it reveals2 and besides1 this is one of ,andrew ,fuller's arguments1 who had never read my book--my tutor should have recollected this4 ,he requires to know1 page #ac1 8if future punishment be only corrective1 what reason for the threatening in the ,bible against impenitants can be given80 ,the answer is1 ,god is not1 cannot be1 a vindictive ,god2 he cannot punish with eternal vindictiveness3 and never a threatening in all the ,bible contains either a threatening of vindictive or eternal punishment2 they are all to warn men to ensure a part1 by repentance and obedience1 in the first resurrection1 and escape from the punishments which constitute the second death2 and when he attributes eternal vindictiveness to ,god1 he libels the ,divine ,being1 and levels him with a ,nero1 a ,moloch1 or with the ,devil of his own blind creed4 ,he asks1 how the mere infliction of pain is to purify sinners8 ,i answer1 it is for him1 and those who like him1 blindly imagine1 that ,god has no other means to apply than the pains of eternal fire1 to determine this2 but those who believe1 that ,god has both wisdom1 power1 and goodness sufficient to reconcile all things to himself1 and to adapt the means to the end1 both in the present and future state1 can leave it with him whose counsel shall stand1 and who will do all his pleasure to accomplish in his own way that purpose by which he has purposed to gather together all things1 and to reconcile all things to himself2 whether things in earth1 or in heaven1 or under the earth1 without judging it a thing impossible with ,god4 ,on page #ad1 he asks1 if the wicked in hell be in a state of probation1 what is the propriety and advantages of the present means of grace8 ,i do not1 like him1 teach1 that men are sent to hell as soon as they die1 but with the scripture1 8that the unjust are reserved unto the day of judgment to be punished40 ,but1 were ,i a believer in a local hell1 7still1 if a ,calvinist can talk of this life being a state of probation1 while the elect are chosen to life1 and the reprobates appointed to wrath and ruin1 and of the free agency of man1 when all is to be done by the agency of the spirit71 ,i might surely think of hell being a state of probation2 and that ,god can use means to reclaim sinners there1 without destroying their free agency1 as well as he does1 according to ,calvinism1 by fixing the elect in a state of unfrustrable salvation1 and the reprobate in final perdition1 without leaving the chance of either to free agency4 ,he tells me1 ,christ said the night cometh when no man can work2 and ,solomon says1 nothing can be done in the grave4 ,true2 but he should know1 that the present means of grace are what ,god has wisely adapted to men in the present life1 and what they are to improve in this life to gain the first resurrection and shun the second death2 and when the night of death comes1 no man can work this work1 or improve these means any longer4 ,but this does not prove there will be no further means afforded2 nor does ,solomon's saying1 nothing can be done in the grave1 prove that nothing can and that nothing will be done in the state beyond the grave2 for ,god is able to accomplish his own pleasure1 and he will have all men to be saved3 he will make all things new2 every knee shall bow to his authority4 ,a ,socinian or ,infidel can believe all this1 although such tutors as mine1 though ,christians1 cannot believe these parts of the ,bible4 ,on page #ae1 he has become ,socinian1 and for fourteen lines together1 he has made as good a confession of the ,socinian faith as any ,socinian can do4 ,he confesses1 that on earth at least ,god afflicts as a father1 with designs of mercy1 and in every affliction he sends1 mixes the whole with mercy4 ,but1 in the next sentence1 he shews the unchangeable changed2 and he who punished in time1 in measure1 and in mercy1 punishing in eternity with pure unmixed vindictiveness and eternal fury4 ,to establish his system1 he has quoted scripture again1 which has nothing to do with the subject1 and serves only to shew how little he understands the ,bible2 but such quotations and such comments as his1 answer the purpose of representing the ,father of all ,mercies1 us one of the most merciless beings in the universe4 ,all that he advances in the remaining arguments1 proceed upon the same false principle and groundless supposition1 that ,god is bound to treat men in a future state1 just as he has treated them in this2 and1 that since the means adapted to this state1 have not accomplished ,god's end1 in the present salvation and blessing of all of human kind1 that therefore infinite wisdom and goodness will be at an eternal loss to devise and apply any other adequate means2 and that1 consequently1 he that does what he will in the armies of heaven1 and among the inhabitants of the earth1 must have his hand stayed1 his sovereign will crossed1 his purposes frustrated1 his expectations cut off1 his eternal plans deranged1 and the disappointed ,deity be compelled to submit to be baffled by these insuperable difficulties in his way1 which omniscience could not foresee1 or which omnipotence itself cannot surmount4 ,when he is wiser than ,god1 let him presume to give him counsel1 and dictate to him what line of conduct he is bound to pursue with his creatures2 or rather1 let him acknowledge that the judge of all the earth can and will do right2 and that it is right for him to fulfil his promise to accomplish his gracious purpose1 in sending ,christ to be the saviour and restorer of the whole world2 and this will answer every argument and every objection that he can urge against limited punishment1 or in favour of vindictive and eternal misery1 inflicted by a ,god of mercy1 kindness1 compassion1 and love4 ,he has referred to and quoted almost every text in favour of his vindictive scheme1 that ,i have quoted and explained in my lectures1 in support of final restoration2 but he has not so much as attempted to shew that any one of my explanations are wrong2 nor has he taken any pains to shew that his own are right4 ,he knew he could do neither2 and1 therefore1 he has barely quoted them as common-place expressions1 and asserted what he has no ability to prove--this was easy1 as ,andrew ,fuller had done it ready to his hand4 ,i will now draw to an end by first pourtraying his vindictive system2 and1 secondly1 noticing how he manages to support such a system4 ,first1 ,i shall briefly sketch out his vindictive system1 and it may be described as follows3 ,the ,god of his system is1 according to his representation1 a ,god without goodness1 a ,father without compassion2 vindictive1 malevolent1 indignant1 wrathful1 tyrannical1 cruel1 unrelenting1 furious1 and fierce2 breathing out threatenings and slaughter2 inflicting punishment and perpetuating sin and misery to eternal ages2 he is a ,creator who has given existence to countless millions of rational beings whose final end he foresaw would be infinite and unmixed misery without respite or termination2 a ,creator who gave them existence without any assignable reason1 but that it was his arbitrary will to confer existence upon them1 that he might have the pleasure of making that being an eternal curse4 ,this system further represents the ,god of it1 as a partial1 capricious being1 arbitrarily appointing most men to endless ruin1 while he appoints a few favorites to free unmerited favour and everlasting life4 ,but still it represents him so sanguinary and unjust1 that he punishes1 in the most vindictive manner1 one that did no sin1 and extorts from him a full and rigid satisfaction in sufferings1 groans1 and blood1 before even his own favorites shall taste his mercy or possess eternal life4 ,this system represents the ,god of it1 as possessing the propensities of the alligators of the ,ohio1 which bring forth such multitudes of young ones at every hatching1 that the whole country would soon be desolated by them1 did not the tender-hearted old ones prevent the evil by devouring and feeding deliciously upon their own young ones1 and thus destroying their own progeny1 as long as they have the power to destroy them4 ,let my tutor now draw near and behold this great sight3 let him in fixed amaze1 stand still and gaze and try to contemplate this monstrous ,god of ,calvinism--a being shrouded in eternal frowns1 clothed in eternal vengeance1 and armed with eternal and vindictive fury2 with eyes darting flames of devouring fire1 with hands hurling the thunderbolts of eternal destruction1 and breathing from his nostrils streams of fire and brimstone1 8to blast a helpless worm and beat upon his naked soul in one eternal storm40 ,and let him tell us1 if this horrifying spectacle1 created in his own distorted and horror-brooding fancy1 can be the ,god and ,father of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 whose name is love1 and whose nature is merciful1 gracious1 long-suffering1 full of compassion1 and ready to forgive4 ,let him say if the ,god of his sanguinary system possess any of those amiable perfections which can render him an object of love1 confidence1 and sacred veneration4 ,let him say if he can love the ,god of his system toto corde1 #bf or pay to such a being a rational service2 or whether the homage offered to such a being1 must not spring from the same slavish principle as the worship of the benighted savages1 when they worship an imaginary being1 called by many enlightened christians a devil4 ,an orthodox missionary records among other wonders in his journal1 that when he had been describing to an ,indian the infinite evil of sin1 and the infinite and eternal punishment which ,god will inflict upon sinners in the next world2 he asked the ,indian if he should not like to go to heaven4 ,to which he replied1 no2 if your ,god be such a dreadful being1 ,i do not wish to be so near him4 ,this was given as a proof of the man's ignorance1 but it proved him wiser than his teacher4 ,but ,i promised1 in the second place1 to shew the manner in which my tutor has attempted to support his preposterous system4 ,he has not attempted it by shewing that ,i have given a wrong explanation of any of the numerous texts of scripture which ,i have quoted on the subject of future punishment1 nor has he so much as attempted to prove1 that the texts he has quoted have any reference to the subject2 but like a salamander bred in fire1 and breathing sulphur as his native element1 he has piled together a few texts1 in which the words wrath1 vengeance1 indignation1 fire1 fury1 and the like occur2 and although he knows1 and even allows1 that this is figurative language1 he applies it literally1 as if ,god was really the subject of the vilest passions that disgrace humanity4 ,i have said in my ,lectures1 that the strongest figures and language used in the ,bible1 will not support eternal punishments2 ,i have produced the strongest1 and shewn that they will not do it2 and why has he not shewn me to be in error8 ,not in one single instance--for this plain reason1 because it was not in his power to do so4 ,and ,i now defy him1 and every man in existence to prove1 that any one of those texts which he has referred to1 will either prove eternal punishment1 or that they have any thing to do with the subject4 ,this shews his skill in the language of scripture1 and how far his bare assertion is to be taken1 when he says1 8that if words have any meaning1 the texts he has quoted prove future punishments eternal and vindictive40 ,he may assert the doctrine of endless punishment--but assertions are not proof2 he may reproach those who cannot breathe in his sulphurous atmosphere1 as ,socinians1 ,sceptics1 and ,infidels2 but veritas vincit1 #bg and the doctrine ,i have advocated and the arguments by which ,i have maintained it1 are still invulnerable to all the shafts of ignorance and bigotry which this pretender to wisdom can hurl against them4 ,it is pleasing1 however1 to see how deeply he feels interested at the close for the cause of virtue and good morals1 and it reminds me of the fable in which 8,a grave skilful mason gave in his opinion1 ,that nothing but stone could defend the dominion2 ,a carpenter said1 though that was well spoke1 ,it was better by far to defend it with oak2 ,a currier1 wiser than both these together1 ,said1 try what you please1 there is nothing like leather40 ,so my tutor seems to think1 that if men are not frightened into virtue and morality1 by the senseless cry of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire1 and by being threatened with being devoted as a prey to the fiery tusks and burning talons of the devil1 that this imaginary fiction of heathen divinity will succeed in sapping the foundation of all virtue1 8and bring dishonour upon ,god1 and ruin upon a sinful world30--that is to say1 bring ruin upon a world which my tutor asserts to be already in a state of universal ruin4 ,but1 if my tutor is really desirous to become custos morum1 #bh;a let him adopt a system more to the purpose than ,calvinism1 which damns all reprobates1 let them be as virtuous as angels1 and provides a substitute for all the elect1 and saves them independent of any duties or virtues of their own2 and let him adopt a system producing better moral effects than ,calvinism did1 when it committed ,servetus to the flames1 kindled by the wrath of ,calvin1 in hopes too of precipitating the heretic into the flames that he thought never would be quenched4 ,o the tender mercies of ,calvin and ,calvinism6 ,surely those who do not wilfully shut their eyes may see veluti in speculum1 #bh;b the transcendent glories of that immaculate system1 which has ,john ,calvin for its author1 heathen errors for its subject-matter1 and eternal ruin1 pain1 and misery for its end4 ,in my ,lectures ,i have referred to every unquenchable fire mentioned in the scriptures1 and have proved that1 they are all long since extinguished1 and none of them reserved for burning sinners eternally4 ,my tutor has not disproved this2 nor so much as noticed the subject in any part of his tract4 ,and1 although he has done his best to blow the extinguished embers into sparks and flames of his own kindling1 and says1 ah6 ah6 ,i have seen the fire2 yet it sleeps harmless in his own pages1 without burning even the paper2 and all the effect it is destined to produce1 is the burning of his own cheeks with blushes for his own ignorance4 ,but1 since my tutor seems to be affected with a cacoethis scribendi1 #bh;c he had best go to work again2 for1 as succedaneum #bh;d for others1 he ought to plead the cause of all his employers4 ,he has indeed shewn so much sympathy with ,mr4 ,dennant1 that he has once mentioned the good man's name2 but1 he has not offered a single word in defence of his system of dreams1 sleep-walking1 ghosts1 and witchcraft4 ,why this profound silence8 ,was the case past all cure1 and such as admits of no alleviation8 ,or was it because he has committed the same faults on his #aeth page8 ,i have said in my ,lectures1 that kolasis intends corrective punishment2 such as1 according to ,paulus1 produces amendment2 according to ,plato1 such as makes wiser2 and according to ,plutarch1 promotes healing3 and ,i have said1 such punishments cannot be eternal4 ,will my tutor pretend to know the meaning of the ,greek word1 better than those who constantly spoke and wrote ,greek as their native language8 ,if so1 what an oracle of wisdom is this learned word-catcher6 ,as all those who differ from my tutor in sentiment are ,socinians1 ,sceptics1 ,infidels1 ,saducees1 and ,apostates1 he has prudently passed1 without notice1 the sentiments of ,bishop ,newton1 quoted in my ,lectures1 page #aae-af--sentiments in perfect unison with mine1 and utterly destructive of the scheme of endless torments2 but1 had he noticed this1 he must have condemned the ,bishop among his motley group of heretics1 and detected the ruinous contagion in the ,church of ,england1 advocated there by one of her brightest ornaments4 ,and1 if he can prove his good advocate for sleep-walking and witchcraft1 to be right in his opinion1 as to natural immortality1 he will prove that the pulpit in ,halesworth church has been polluted by a poisonous error1 and prove ,bishop ,law to have been a filthy heretic4 ,but ,i suppose it was ad honores #bi;a that he passed by these things in silence2 and he may learn from ,watson1 ,bishop of ,landaff1 8that though he was no ,socinian himself1 he was willing to believe ,socinians to be christians40 ,my tutor might then without mauvaise hont1 #bi;b keep silent1 and forbear from branding others with every reproachful epithet that calumny can supply1 and such as he knows are wilful slander when he uses them4 ,since my tutor has given me a lesson in poetry1 which he thinks suits his scheme1 but which ,i am sure suits mine much better1 ,i will return him the favour from the same source3 8,yet gav'st roe1 in this dark estate1 ,to know the good from ill1 ,and binding nature fast in fate1 ,left free the human will4 8,what conscience dictates to be done1 ,or warns me not to do1 ,this teach me more than hell to shun1 ,that more that heav'n pursue40 ,now1 if my tutor admits the above1 he must overthrow his own system altogether2 if he rejects it1 he must condemn his own favourite author among those ,socinian1 ,sceptical1 and ,infidel heretics2 who1 among other errors1 8independent of superior influence10 make their mind and conscience their guide2 and1 having thrown himself on the two horns of this dilemma1 he is at liberty to get off as well as he can without being gored2 and his good friend1 who has hung some time in the same predicament1 may perhaps lend him some assistance1 or advise him1 like himself1 to be content in every situation1 and struggle no longer in the mud1 lest he sink deeper in the mire4 ,if ,hugh ,latimer will do his work worthy of a bishop1 let him employ his pen again1 pro bono publico2 #cj;a or1 if he prefers it1 let him come forth from his sculking place1 and meet me tete a tete1 #cj;b and ,i will canvass any one1 or all of the favourite sentiments1 belonging to his favourite system1 with him viva voce2 #cj;c and1 if ,i do not prove his opinions unscriptural and irrational errors1 ,i will require nothing for my trouble2 nor will ,i either menace him with a prosecution1 nor prevent his books from being sold1 as the good men at ,halesworth have served me4 ,but1 if it be true1 as my tutor asserts1 page #b1 that my book carries its own antidote along with it1 why has so much alarm been taken at it8 ,why such active endeavours to prevent its circulation8 7but all in vain7 ,and why has ,hugh ,latimer wasted his time1 spent his money1 and exposed his own folly1 to remedy an evil which required no remedy1 but to be left to work its own cure according to his opinion8 ,various pretexts may be set up for such inconsistency2 but the true reason may be given in these words3 8if we let this man alone1 4 4 4 the ,romans will come and take away our place and nation40 ,yes1 craft--your craft1 good ,bishop1 is in danger2 and how can such a man as you sleep at your post in a time of threatening danger8 ,you must be patching the old garment1 if you only make the rent worse4 ,you have said1 page #c1 that 8,i deny the existence and agency of the ,holy ,spirit1 the necessity of regeneration1 justification by faith1 the immateriality and immortality of the soul40 ,i deny them all in the orthodox sense4 ,i deny the existence of the ,holy ,spirit1 as a third personal ,god2 but1 ,i believe the existence of one ,god1 who is a spirit4 ,i admit the divine agency1 called the ,holy ,spirit1 at the first promulgation of the gospel2 but1 ,i deny such supernatural agency now1 as the orthodox pretend to4 ,i deny regeneration to be what they make it2 but1 ,i hold the necessity of a change of mind and conduct1 whereby sinners must turn themselves from all their transgressions and save their souls alive4 ,i deny justification by faith in the popular sense of believing in the merits and righteousness of another1 which is a most flagrant error2 but1 ,i admit both ,jews and ,gentiles were justified by believing and obeying the gospel1 without being tied to the ceremonial law1 which was superceded by the gospel4 ,this is the faith of the gospel1 the faith at first delivered to the saints2 and1 to believe otherwise1 is to believe a lie1 and to believe what ,god has not required4 ,i deny the immateriality and natural immortality of the soul2 but1 ,i firmly believe what the scriptures teach1 that at the resurrection1 that which is mortal1 shall put on immortality4 ,these remarks will serve to explain how ,i wished to be understood1 when ,i said in page #ad1 that you had stated my disbelief honestly and accurately--that is1 according to orthodox sentiments1 ,i disbelieve all you have stated4 ,had ,hugh ,latimer contented himself with singling me out as an individual1 and with exposing 7as he is pleased to call it71 my ignorance1 errors1 and blunders alone1 all the answer his tract would have merited1 and all it would probably have received from me1 would have been a silent contempt of such a paltry performance2 but1 when1 instead of meeting my arguments fairly1 and refuting my sentiments scripturally and rationally1 he has declined do so1 and has condescended to calumniate and wilfully misrepresent ,unitarians in general1 and condemn their sentiments in the gross1 as disguised infidelity1 c4 ,i felt myself compelled by a sense of duty to offer a short reply to his slanders4 ,for it is a well-known fact1 that bare assertions such as his1 will pass with too many for argument1 and the truth of his statements will be concluded1 by such1 from his positivity and confidence in making them2 and if nothing was said1 in answer to such writers1 too many would conclude they cannot be answered4 ,and as he has given another proof1 that the orthodox are never tired of reiterating those arguments which have been answered and refuted an hundred times twice told1 we heretics must not tire of refuting them over again4 ,but we have the disadvantage1 that so many are willing to take any thing and every thing upon trust1 that comes from an orthodox pen1 while few1 very few1 will so much as look at what is written by a reputed heretic2 and the number is fewer still1 who will impartially examine both sides1 and candidly acknowledge1 7even when convinced71 that truth is on the side opposite to their own4 ,bishop ,watson says1 he knew a divine of great eminence1 who declared1 8that he never read dissenting divinity40 #cb;a ,another divine was once asked how he approved of ,mr4 ,locke's ,reasonableness of ,christianity3 he replied1 8very well2 but1 said he1 if ,i should be known to think well of it1 ,i should have my lawn torn from my shoulders40 #cb;b ,a divine who has read my ,lectures1 being asked his opinion of them1 said1 8,if ,i were to give my candid opinion on them1 ,i should be styled a ,unitarian too40 ,another1 who approved of them1 being asked why such doctrine was never taught in the place where he preached1 said1 8,when a boy is bound apprentice1 he must obey his master's rules40 ,thus some from interest1 others from indolence1 and the many from ignorance and bigotry1 never take trouble to examine and compare the different opinions proposed to them1 and so remain in darkness and confusion all their days4 ,and as it was well said1 long ago1 8,as people in general1 for one reason or another1 like short objections 7and bare assertions7 better than long answers 7and sound reasons71 the odds must ever be against us2 and we must be content with those for our friends1 who have honesty and erudition1 candour and patience1 to study both sides40 #cc ,it is to be lamented1 that readers of the last description are very rare in these parts1 yet there is here and there one2 and ,i had much rather my books should be consulted1 read1 and examined by a dozen such men as these1 than ,i would have the stare and gape of hundreds listening to an harangue1 five sentences of which they did not understand4 ,that this is the general run of hearers hereabouts1 no one can deny2 and this sufficiently accounts for the spread of mysticism and enthusiasm1 and the tardy progress of pure scriptural and rational truth2 to say nothing of the salvo which orthodoxy affords1 to those who can fancy themselves entitled to an interest in its inexhaustible and unconditional stores2--pardon1 righteousness1 and heaven1 and all procured by the merits and sufferings of another1 on the very easy terms of 8only believe and be saved40 99 99 99 99 99 ,i shall here attempt to obviate the objection so generally laid against me1 that ,i am inimical and hostile to the ,bible ,society4 ,i speak the truth when ,i say--first1 that ,i esteem the ,bible as the choicest gift of ,god1 save that of his own ,son1 the restorer1 the light and saviour of the world--,secondly1 that ,i esteem and cordially approve the universal spread of the ,bible among all nations1 and in every language2 believing1 as ,i firmly do1 in the sufficiency of the ,scriptures to make all men 7who use them properly7 wise unto salvation1 since all scripture 7which is7 given by the inspiration of ,god1 is profitable for doctrine1 for reproof1 for correction1 for instruction in righteousness1 that the man of ,god may be perfect1 thoroughly furnished to all good works4 ,convinced as ,i am1 that the ,scriptures contain a full1 clear1 and plain revelation of every thing that is essential for mankind to know1 believe1 and practice2 of all that ,god requires from them1 or gives them ground to expect from him1 in order to promote their virtue and peace on earth1 and final happiness in heaven4 ,i approve of the principle on which protestantism is founded1 that the ,bible alone contains the religion of protestants2 ,i consequently fall in most heartily with the circulation of the ,scriptures without note or comment2 leaving every man at full liberty of conscience1 and the use of his own reason and judgment in interpreting and understanding the word of ,god4 ,i have attended ,bible ,societies from their first formation2 ,i have contributed to them in several parts of the kingdom1 and at ,halesworth too1 without sounding a trumpet2 ,i have recommended them constantly on the principles stated above2 and1 if ,i have not been a public advocate on the platform1 the reason has invariably been1 because the advocates have universally treated me1 even when on the platform among them1 with silent contempt and cold disdain4 ,it is not the ,bible ,society ,i object to2 but1 the way in which its professed advocates expose the cause and themselves1 by bringing forward in their speeches subjects calculated only 7in some instances7 to insult a rational understanding1 and impose on and deceive the vulgar2 and the effect produced has been to lead numbers to imagine1 that if they give a trifle1 or obtain a ,bible1 it will go well nigh to secure their salvation4 ,hence it happens1 that in every village ,i can find a ,bible or two in almost every house2 in many of which they are never read1 because not one in the family can read them4 ,can it be otherwise in other countries8 ,and yet what romantic tales we often hear of the wonderful conversions effected by the ,bible6 just as if the ,bible could produce any good effect1 but where it is read1 understood1 and its precepts reduced to practice4 ,let the professed advocates lay aside those arts and tricks which alone become mountebanks and quacks1 and let them plead the cause of the ,bible as becomes the dignity and grandeur of the subject1 and ,i will wish them ,god speed in spreading the ,bible to the remotest habitation of human beings2 and1 let those who cannot treat the subject as becomes truth and holiness1 keep silent4 ,religion and the ,bible require not the aid of enthusiasm1 ribaldry1 and buffoonery2 nor of tales and anecdotes on a par with ,mother ,goose's ,fables4 ,in addition to those tales which ,i have advanced on former occasions1 and numbers that ,i could still advance1 ,i will only select the following4 ,i once heard a preacher at a meeting in ,wellingborough church recommend the ,bible1 as a quack recommends his pills and balsams--a cure for every malady1 8,do you know 7said he71 a drunkard1 a swearer1 a liar1 give him a ,bible2 do you know an adulterer1 sabbath-breaker1 or covetous miser1 give him a ,bible2 do you know a bad husband1 a bad father1 a bad wife1 or a bad mother1 give them each a ,bible2 do you know a bad master1 of mistress1 or a bad servant or apprentice1 give them a ,bible2 do you know a bad neighbour1 a slanderer1 backbiter1 or busybody1 give them a ,bible40 ,thus he ran on through the whole catalogue of vices1 and recommended1 as a cure for them all1 the gift of a ,bible4 ,i need not remind my readers of what has been stated in the ,ipswich ,chronicle twice over1 on the application of the funds of the ,bible ,society2 but ,i remember a speaker said at the conclusion of a meeting at ,halesworth1 three years back1 8that in answer to the question1 what becomes of the money given at these meetings1 he would assure them1 on the word of a dying man1 speaking as to dying men1 in the presence of ,god1 before whom all must appear in judgment1 that not a single penny of their money was applied to any other purpose than that for which they gave it1 7namely71 for printing and circulation of the scriptures40 ,it belongs not to me to reconcile this with the statements in the ,ipswich and ,london papers4 ,since those persons who have enjoyed the advantage of travel are allowed to enliven your meetings by anecdote1 ,i will give a specimen or two of their manner and matter4 ,at a meeting held at ,leeds1 some months past1 ,dr4 ,patterson stated1 that in his travels he had found a set of men making an attempt to supplant the ,bible by substituting in its place a ,socinian ,bible1 full of errors1 and void of every essential doctrine2 that he had procured the suppression of it and of another as bad1 and hoped the whole was rotten or rotting in a fort to which they were consigned2 that a professor in a university1 the author of the above1 had been turned out of his professorship4 ,all this and much more was stated and printed in the ,leeds paper1 but no name of the book1 place1 or professor was mentioned4 ,the whole was a fabrication to suit a purpose1 and has been well exposed by ,dr4 ,hutton1 ,unitarian minister1 at ,leeds4 ,at a meeting in the ,city-,road ,chapel1 ,london1 last ,may1 ,lord ,mountcassel proved1 that the age of miracles was returned in ,ireland2 he could vouch1 he said1 as a missionary was preaching in a village1 a ,catholic priest interrupted him3 the day following the priest pointing out the place to a friend1 said1 there is the spot where that cursed pharisee preached to the people2--he was struck with paralysis1 his arm fell powerless1 his mouth was distorted1 he fell back1 and was taken home senseless4 ,another priest1 a great opponent of ,bibles1 was struck in a meeting with a paralytic shock and never spoke afterwards4 ,these were the visitations of ,god1 and are recorded as such in the ,evangelical ,magazine4 ,while such men as doctors of divinity and titled noblemen can thus1 with devotion's visage and pious actions1 sugar over the devil himself1 we may expect that other pigmies1 in a petty way1 will ape and mimic their example2 but if the ,bible which they circulate teaches others no better morals than theirs1 the gift will be of little use to those who obtain it4 ,i wish such advocates as the above to recollect1 that we are forbidden by the ,bible 8to do evil that good may come10 or to propagate 8cunningly devised fables40 99 99 99 99 99 ,lately ,published1 ,price #ds4 ,,six ,,lectures ,,on ,,the ,non-eternity of ,future ,punishment1 and on the final ,restoration of all ,mankind to ,purity and ,happiness1 ,,by ,t4 ,,latham4 ,sold by the ,author at ,bramfield2 also by ,teulon and ,fox1 ,whitechapel1 ,london2 and all other ,booksellers4 ,,tippell1 ,,printer1 ,,halesworth4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,footnotes4 #c ,assumed name4 #d;a ,the spirit of the party4 #d;b ,against good manners4 #d;c ,disguised4 #d;d ,in person4 #d;e ,a man of various learning4 #d;f ,masterpiece4 #d;g ,churchmen4 #d;h ,pupil4 #e;a ,a learned man4 #e;b ,between ourselves4 #e;c ,slip of the tongue4 #e;d ,pretended4 #e;e ,as it should be4 #e;f ,a nice morsel #f ,willing or not4 #g;a ,i have read of a bishop who1 on coming to his bishopric1 ordered a ,greek inscription to be written over his palace gate4 ,it was meant to say1 8,gate be thou ever open to1 and never shut against a good man40 ,but when finished1 it said1 8,gate be thou always shut against1 and never open to a good man40 ,and as the bishop was so well versed in ,greek1 that he could not find out the blunder1 he was for his learning deposed4 ,i give this as a hint to ,hugh ,latimer4 #g;b ,i must remain in my present sentiments4 #h;a ,tiresomeness4 #h;b ,the republic of letters4 #i;a ,a fit man4 #i;b ,three united in one4 #i;c ,winding up4 #aj;a ,common phrases #aj;b ,by what authority4 #aj;c ,with what intention4 #aj;d ,to ensnare the vulgar4 #aj;e ,what harm will it do4 #aj;f ,the law of retaliation4 #aa ,see a speech by a minister4 7,lectures1 page #agg7 #ab;a ,like master like man4 #ab;b ,thou that teachest others1 teachest thou not thyself4 #ab;c ,wonderful to tell4 #ab;d ,indispensable pre-requisite4 #ad;a ,the truth without fear4 #ad;b ,without over bashfulness4 #af;a ,i do not wish to be made a bishop4 #af;b ,sudden enterprise4 #af;c ,burden of proving4 #af;d ,bradbury4 #ah ,jesus ,christ has informed us1 ,john iii4 #af1 #ah1 8that ,god has displayed his love to the world in sending his ,son1 not to condemn the world1 but to save it40 ,hugh ,latimer tells us1 page #f1 8that the perpetuity of punishment in vindictive justice1 7which by the way is a contradiction in terms71 is the emanation of love to the universe40 ,there is no method of reconciling these plain contradictions1 but by allowing him to be acquainted with those sublime mysteries with which ,christ was wholly unacquainted4 #ai ,a foolish argument4 #ba;a ,deputy4 #ba;b ,said for nothing4 #bf ,with the whole heart4 #bg ,truth conquers4 #bh;a ,the guardian of morality4 #bh;b ,as in a looking glass4 #bh;c ,improper fondness of writing4 #bh;d ,substitute4 #bi;a ,for decency sake4 #bi;b ,over much bashfulness4 #cj;a ,for the public good4 #cj;b ,face to face4 #cj;c ,by word of mouth4 #cb;a ,theological tracts1 preface1 page #ai4 #cb;b ,molineux's ,familiar ,letters1 page #afc4 #cc ,bishop ,horne4