libel, viz.

true and Christian religion, as received and publicly professed within this realm of England; and to blaspheme God and our lord Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, on, &c. at, &c. aforesaid, having and holding in his hands a certain cup of wine, unlawfully, wickedly, and blasphemously, in the presence and hearing of divers liege subjects of our said lord the king, spoke, pronounced, and with a loud voice published these profane and blasphemous words following, that is to say, "Here's a health to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," (meaning Almighty God, Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, and the Holy Spirit,) and immediately thereupon, then and there drank the wine from the said cup, to the great dishonor of Almighty God, in contempt and disgrace of the Holy Trinity, to the great scandal of the profession of the Christian Religion, to the evil example of all others in the like case offending, and against the peace of our said lord the king, his crown and dignity.

For publishing [Commencement of information as ante 6.] That Daniel Isaac a blasphemous Eaton, late, &c. bookseller, being an evil disposed and wicked person, Third Part of and disregarding the laws and religion of this realm, and wickedly Paine's Age of Reason, on the and profanely intending to bring the holy scriptures and the Christian Christian Reli- religion into disbelief and contempt ainong all the liege subjects of gion, the Bible and our Saour said lord the king, did heretofore, to wit, on, &c. at, &c. unlawviour. (b) fully and wickedly print and publish, and cause to be printed and published, a certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane libel of and concerning the holy scriptures and the Christian religion, containing therein amongst other things divers scandalous, impious,

(b) See other precedents of indictments for written libels on the Christian religion, Trem. P. C. 43. 45. 3 Mod. 68. Co. Ent. 352, 3. and precedents of indictments for verbal slander on Christian religion, West. 334, 355. Cro. Jac. 421. 2 Rol. Ab. 78. Precedent of indictment on 1 Eliz. c. 2. for using other prayers in the Church than in the Prayer Book, 2 Show. 437. 3 Mod. 79. This statute was repealed as far as relates to Protestant Dissenters and Catholics, by 31 Geo. III. c. 32. s. 3. The above information was framed upon that against Paine for the Age of Reason," see also 1 East. P. C. 5. It is founded on the principles of the

common law as recognized in the case of the Kingv. Taylor, 1 Ventris, 293. 3 Keb. 607. 1 East. P. C. 3. &c. 4 Bla. C. 44. that Christianity is part of the law of England. The general law as to this offence as collected from the case of the King v. Hoolston, 2 Stra. 834. Fitzgib. 64. Barnard, 162. is that it is illegal to write against Christianity in general, that it is also illegal to write against any one of its evidences or doctrines so as to manifest a malicious design to undermine it altogether; but that it is not illegal to write on controverted points, whereby it is possible some evidence of Christianity may be affected,

blasphemous, and profane matters of and concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian religion, in one part thereof according to the tenor and effect following (that is to say.) But the case is, that people have been so long in the habit of reading the books called the Bible (meaning that part of the Holy Bible called the Old Testament,) and Testament (meaning the New Testament,) with their eyes shut and their senses locked up, that the most stupid inconsistencies have passed on them for truth and imposition for prophecy. The all-wise Creator hath been dishonored by being made the author of fable, and the human mind degraded by believing it. And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following (that is to say), I forbear making any remark on this abominable imposition of Matthew (meaning the holy evangelist Saint Matthew), the thing glaringly speaks for itself. It is priests and commentators that I rather ought to censure for having preached falsehood so long, and kept people in darkness with respect to those impositions; I am not contending with those men upon points of doctrine, for I know that sophistry has always a city of refuge. I am speaking of facts, for; wherever the thing called a fact is a falsehood, the faith founded upon it is delusion, and the doctrine raised upon it not true. Ah! reader, put thy trust in thy Creator and thou wilt be safe; but if thou trusteth to the book called the Scriptures (meaning the Holy Scriptures) thou trusteth to the rotten staff of fable and falsehood. And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say) I have now, reader, gone through and examined all the passages which the four books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (meaning the four holy gospels) quoted from the Old Testament, and call them prophecies of Jesus Christ: when I first sat down to this examination I expected to find cause for some censure, but little did I expect to find them so utterly destitute of truth and of all pretensions to it, as I have shown them to be; the practice which the writers of those books employ, is not more false than it is absurd. They state some trifling case of the person they call Jesus Christ, and then cut out a sentence from some passage of the Old Testament, and call it a prophecy of that case; but when the words thus cut out are restored to the place they are taken from, and read with the words before and after them, they give the lie to the New Testament: a short instance or two of this will suffice for the whole. And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say), these repeated forgeries and falsifications create a well founded suspicion that all the cases spoken of concerning the person called Jesus Christ are made cases, on purpose to lug in, and that very clum

sily, some broken sentences from the Old Testament, and applý them as prophecies of those cases; and that so far from his being the Son of God, he did not exist even as a man; that he is merely an imaginary or allegorical character, as Apollo, Hercules, Jupiter, and all the deities of antiquity were; there is no history written at the time Jesus Christ is said to have lived, that speaks of the existence of such a person even as a man. Did we find in any other book, pretending to give a system of religion, the falsehoods, falsifications, contradictions, and absurdities which are to be met with in almost every page of the Old and New Testament, all the priests of the present day, who supposed themselves capable, would triumphantly show their skill in criticism, and cry it down as a most glaring imposition; but, since the books in question belong to their own trade and profession, they, or at least many of them, seek to stifle every enquiry into them, and abuse those who have the honesty and courage to do it; and in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say), they tell us that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, it is very easy to say so, a great lie is as easily told as a little one, but if he had done so, those would have been the only circumstances respecting him that would have differed from the common lot of man, and, consequently, the only case that would apply exclusively to him, as prophecy would be some passage in the Old Testament that foretold such things of him, but there is not a passage in the Old Testament that speaks of a person who, after being crucified, dead, and buried, should rise from the dead and ascend into hea ven. Our prophecy mongers supply the silence; the Old Testament guards upon such things, by telling us of passages they call prophecies, and that falsely so, about Joseph's dreams, old clothes, broken bones, and such like trifling stuff. And in another part thereof, according to the tenor and effect following, (that is to say), Now had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the Sun and the Moon in characters, that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in twentyfour hours, and all nations would have believed; whereas, though it is now almost two thousand years since, as they tell us, that Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know any thing of it, and among those who do the wiser part do not believe it. I have now, reader, gone through all the pas+ sages called prophecies of Jesus Christ, and shown there is no such thing; I have examined the story told of Jesus Christ, and com→ pared the several circumstances of it with that revelation, which, as Middleton wisely says, God has made to us of his power and wisdom, in the structure of the universe, and by which every thing

ascribed to him is to be tried, the result is, that the story of Christ has not one trait, either in its character or in the means employed, that bears the least resemblance to the power and wisdom of God, as demonstrated in the creation of the universe: all the means are human means, slow, uncertain, and inadequate to the accomplishment of the end proposed, and therefore the whole is a fabulous invention, and undeserving of credit; the priests of the present day profess to believe it, they gain their living by it, and they exclaim against something they call infidelity; I will define what it is, he that believes in the story of Christ is an infidel to God. To the high displeasure of Almighty God, to the great scandal of the Christian religion, to the evil example of all others, and against the peace of our said lord the king, his crown, and dignity. And the said attor Second Count, ney general of our said lord the king, who for our said lord the king in this behalf prosecutes, further gives the court here to understand and be informed, that the said Daniel Isaac Eaton further. impiously and profanely devising, and intending as aforesaid did afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year aforesaid, at London aforesaid, in the parish and ward aforesaid, unlawfully and wickedly print and publish, and cause to be printed and published, a certain other scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane libel, of and concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian religion, containing therein, amongst other things, certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous, and profane matters and things, of and concerning the Holy Scriptures and the Christian religion, to the tenor and effect following (that is to say), These repeated forgeries and falsifications create a well founded suspicion, that all the cases spoken of, concerning the person called Jesus Christ, are made cases on purpose to bring in, and that very clumsily, some broken sentences from the Old Testament, and apply them as Prophecies of those cases, and that so far from his being the Son of God, he did not exist even as a Man, that he is merely an imaginary or allegorical character as Apollo, Hercules, Jupiter, and all the deities of antiquity, were. There is no history written at the time Jesus Christ is said to have lived, that speaks of the existence of such a person even as a Man. Did we find in any other Book pretending to give a System of Religion, the falsehoods, falsifications, contradictions, and absurdities, which are to be met with in almost every page of the Old and New Testament, all the priests of the present day who supposed themselves capable, would triumphantly show their skill in criticism, and cry it down as a most glaring imposition. But since the books in question belong to their own trade and profession, they, or at least many of them, seek to stifle every enquiry into them, and abuse those who have the honesty and the courage Crim. Law. VOL, II.

B

to do it. To the high displeasure of Almighty God, to the great scandal of the Christian religion, to the evil example of all others and against the peace of our said lord the king, his Third Count. crown and dignity. And the said attorney general of our said lord the king, who for our said lord the king in this behalf prosecutes, further gives the court here to understand, and be informed, that the said Daniel Isaac Eaton, further impiously and wickedly devising and intending to bring the Christian religion into contempt and disbelief among the liege subjects of our said lord the king, afterwards, to wit, on the same day and year last aforesaid, at London aforesaid, in the parish and ward aforesaid, did unlawfully and wickedly print and publish, and cause to be printed and published, a certain other scandalous, impious blasphemous, and profane libel, of, and concerning the history of our Saviour Jesus Christ, containing therein, among other things, certain scandalous, impious, blasphemous and profane matters of and concerning the history of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, to the tenor and effect following (that is to say) Now had the news of salvation by Jesus Christ been inscribed on the face of the sun and the moon in characters that all nations would have understood, the whole earth had known it in 24 hours, and all nations would have believed it. Whereas, though it is now almost 2000 years since, as they tell us, Christ came upon earth, not a twentieth part of the people of the earth know any thing of it, and among those who do, the wiser part do not believe it. I have now, reader, gone through all the passages called Prophecies of Jesus Christ, and shown there is no such thing. I have examined the story told of Jesus Christ, and compared the several circumstances of it with that revelation, which, as Middleton wisely says, God has made to us of his power and wisdom in the structure of the universe; and by which, every thing ascribed to him is to be tried. The result is, that the story of Christ has not one trait, either in its character or in the means employed, that bears the least resemblance to the power and wisdom of God, as demonstrated in the creation of the universe : all the means are human means, slow, uncertain, and inadequate to the accomplishment of the end proposed, and, therefore, the whole is a fabulous invention, and undeserving of credit. The priests of the present day profess to believe it, they gain their living by it, and they exclaim against something they call infidelity. I will define what it is, He that believes in the story of Christ is an infidel to God. To the high displeasure of Almighty God, to the great scandal of the religion of this realm, as by law established, to the evil example of all others, and against the Fourth Count. peace of our said lord the king, his crown and dignity. And the