well-meaning people, it had been stretched too far, perhaps even to extravagance and enthusiasm; as formerly among the mystics of the ancient church, whom those of latter days have followed. On the other hand, that there were those who in opposition to this devout mystick way, and as professed enemies to what they call enthusiasm, had so far exploded every thing of this ecstatic kind, as in a manner to have given up devotion; and in reality had left so little of zeal, affection, or warmth, in what they call their rational religion, as to make them much suspected of their sincerity in any. For though it be natural enough (he would tell you) for a mere political writer to ground his great argument for religion on the necessity of such a belief as that of a future reward and punishment; yet, if you will take his opinion, it is a very ill token of sincerity in religion, and in the Christian religion more especially, to reduce it to such a philosophy as will allow no room to that other principle of love; but treats all of that kind as enthusiasm, for so much as aiming at what is called disinterestedness, or teaching the love of God, or virtue, for God or virtue's sake.

On one hand, it will be found difficult to defend the notion of that high raised love, espoused with so much warmth by those devout mystics; so on the other hand, it will be found as hard a task upon the principles of these cooler men, to guard religion from the imputation of mercenariness, and a slavish spirit. For how shall we deny, that to serve God by compulsion, or for, interest merely, is servile and mercenary?

P. 274. Though the appearances hold ever so strongly against virtue, and in favour of vice, the objection which arises hence against the deity may be easily removed, and all set right again on the supposal of a future state. This to a Christian, or one already convinced of [so great a point, is sufficient to clear every dark cloud of providence. For he needs not to be overand-above solicitous as to the fate of virtue in this world, who is secure of hereafter. But the case is otherwise as to the people we are here to encounter. They are at a loss for providence, and seek to find it in the world. The aggravation of the appearing disorders in worldly affairs, and the blackest representation of society and human nature, will hardly help them to this view. It will be difficult for them to read providence in such characters.

(To be continued.)

Printed and Published by RICHARD CARLILE, 62, Fleet-street, where all Communications, post paid, or free of expence, are requested to be left.

No. 11. VOL. 4.] LONDON, Friday, Sept. 11, 1829. [PRICE 6d.

OUR business is for the present here completed. We leave the town wiser than we found it. On any other occasion than an election for a member or parliament, or a mayor, greater ex+ citement was never here produced, than by the Infidel Miss sionaries. We confess, that we owe the production of the excitement to the acceptance of our challenge by the Rev. Mr. Thom. No priest in the town but himself would have first ventured on the experiment of a conflict with us. His confidence failed him, before the conflict was begun, and he was only brought to the field by the gentle taunt of his opponent, and the re-action of the little chivalry that is not yet in him extirpated. While he preaches in the character of a priest, he will never again commit such a priestly error. His subsequent letters justify this imputation. The variety of excuses, found in those letters, which had better not have been made, as each weakens the other, added to the first, verbally made, of the danger to be apprehended from Christian violence, must necessarily lead the reader to the conclusion, that the real cause of shrinking from discussion with us was the consciousness of the decrepitude of the whole Christian cause. The case of the Rev. Mr. Thom is a case in proof, that the more a man stirs in a bad cause, the more difficulties he finds to be encountered, and that he is only at ease, if he can be at all at ease, in seclusion from general public attention. How different, how strong, is the cause of the Infidel Missionaries? They challenge, they court, they are delighted with, all the mental conflict that can be brought in array against them. They go abroad for it. They seek it in strange places. They ask it under every disadvantage. They are hunted from standing place to standing place. They take upon them all the burthen, the labour, the risk, to find among strangers a convenient place wherein to instruct them, wherein to communicate useful knowledge,

Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 62, Fleet Street. No. 11. Vol. 4.

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wherein to expose error, and to set up truth. How very different from, how very superior to the cause of religion, is this cause of Infidelity! It is the reality of that cause, in its principle, of which the Christian religion is but a fable and a fiction. They are really bodily and mentally, saviours of mankind. They are the real Jesus Christs. They are the Logoi. They are the true personifications of this great principle of reason. They are in reality gods worthy of human veneration.

Religion, in its pagodas, is every where the idolatry of the earth. It is the same in England as in India, with the difference that it does persecute opposition in England, and does not in India. It has its worst form in England. It is here united with all the bad passions of humanity. It here trusts to nothing but political power. There, it was never supposed subvertible; because, allegorically, it was well and honestly founded. Here, it has dwindled into a conscious trick, and villiany goes hand in hand with it. The Pagans have carried an allegorical reason throughout their religion. The Christians feel and act as if they were conscious of a mere corruption of those allegorical reasons for a bad purpose. Theirs was not a priestcraft which fettered and held fast the mind of man. Ours is such a priestcraft, and amidst all that genius or industry can accomplish, beggars the mass of mankind.

The Rev. Mr. Thom with his some reason, sufficient reason and his grand reason, for not further meeting us in public discussion, pourtrays the pitifulness of his case; and while we may, and so far as he does not forbid it, shall respect him as a man, for the little good he has done; we perceive in him a new reason for detesting the principles of religion, by which he is shackled, and which, in spite of himself, constitute him a priest.

The brief history of our Infidel-Missionary-visit to Liverpool, is this: the fillings-up shall come in afterwards:

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We have spent a month in the town. On entering, we took a respectable lodging, and sent forth our circular challenges to the preachers. The Rev. Mr. Hincks, a young Unitarian preacher, came to complain that we had posted two circulars to him, and he called, lest he might be deluged with post letters. It was shown, that the fault was in the Directory giving him a double name. He was a poor creature, thought things were very well as they are, and that discussion would do no good: preaching and writing were sufficient. We met him again in the Vestry Room of Mr. Thom's chapel, in company with the renowned John Finch, and Mr. Hincks shone not there.

The Rev. Mr. Thom called on us, presented a better character, and promised better things. He shewed an entire agreement with us, in every other but that one thing needful to preserve a pulpit in Bold-street. His word of God, his internal evidence, independent even of all its fabulous associations, was to him a rock of salvation from-nothing after death. He had no objection to discussion. We hailed him as a friend. Discussion is all

we aim at-all we want.

We care not what the man is, so as he be of good moral repute, and will bear free discussion. He has then a claim to be written down honest. Mr. Thom, having given his word, having allowed his name to be advertised, was finally impelled, and reluctantly stood, before a public assembly, side by side, with us. He did great good as an intrument for discussion; but he gained, in other sense, no laurels for himself. He talked, but reasoned not. He declaimed, but was destitute of argument, and of all application of language to our arguments. His congregation perceived this, and lamented the circumstance. He did himself measureless injury, by introducing an individual to the company, as a talented Christian friend, to share in the discussion, who proved a very simpleton, and essentially an idiot, and whom I found it necessary to beg off the stage, free from the reproaches of the company, by an apologetic subterfuge, (God forgive me, what I fear was a lie!) that he had talent to write and not to speak. The company present will never forget him and the dilemna in which he placed his friend Mr, Thom.

Immediately after our arrival in Liverpool, a friend asked Mr. Wilson, the proprietor of the Music Hall, in Bold-street, if he would allow it to be used for the purpose of a lecture or discus sion, which should go to the disproof of the validity of the Christian religion. Mr. Wilson said he would let it for that purpose On subsequent application, when we wanted the use of the Hall, Mr. Wilson shuffled, was not to be found, nor could a positive answer be directly or indirectly obtained from him.

We e were thus kept in suspence several days about the Music Hall, until I applied for the next best place, the Ball Room of the King's Arms Hotel. This was agreed for; but subsequently lost through the authority of the Mayor. The same was the case with the Royal Amphitheatre. More indirect authority deprived us of the use of the York Hotel room. In this latter case the Reverend James Macgowan, of 15, Hope-street, the resurrection man, or cannibal, on whose premises were lately found fifteen dead human bodies, salted and packed in casks. It was pretended, that they were for exportation to Scotland, as subjects for dissection; but nothing seems more probable, than that, by salting them, the reverend teacher meant himself, family, scholars, or some one to eat them. This reverend body snatcher wrote a note to Mr. Golway, the proprietor of the York Hotel, to dissuade him from allowing us to use his room for our discussions, in which he described us as infamous characters, who had been convicted and punished for blasphemy in London, and who consequently sought this sort of revenge in reviling the Christian religion through the country. There needs no comment on the note which I saw and read of this reverend cannibal resurrectionist, who is certainly a man of infamous character in Liverpool. I generally find that the men who revile me as an Infidel, who are most loud in the cry against my Every Woman's Book," are men of vile and filthy habits. And I shall not ɛ.

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surprised to discover, that the man, whom I suspect as having described or complained of one of my publications to Mr. Thom, will prove to be as base a character as any in the county of Lancashire. I saw such a man near him on the day to which he alludes as receiving such a report. However, Mr. Golway refused the use of his room, and neglected to pay the printer for the placard which had advertised it. How dazzling is the lustre of this religious purity, this religious honesty, and this religious love of truth!

At an hour's notice; and we succeeded because there was but an hour's notice, we possessed ourselves of the Shipwright's room, the largest room in Liverpool. We engaged it for a second day; and advertised it; but there was too much time for deliberation: it was refused, and we were left to pocket the loss of our new advertisements. In a similar way, at an hour's notice, we got hold of the Gothic Room. We got it again, and ventured to advertise four day's appearance in it; but it was in vain, we could not hold it; and again we had to pocket the loss of 21 68, in our printer's bill. The Mayor then sent round to all the licensed rooms, to say they were not to be used for our purpose. This settled the matter, and after failing in three or four applications for private rooms, I renounced all further trouble in the matter. We met Mr. F. B. Wright twice in the Gothic Room. His Unitarian principles were weighed in the balance of discussion, and found wanting. He threw up every thing but the Christianity of Plato, the mere imaginary beau ideal of moral example in a public teacher.

We had also to meet, and to be challenged by some of the religious small fry of Liverpool. One of these styled himself the Rev. R. G. Sheldon of the New Church, or New Jerusalem, or Swedenborgian Church. A room was offered for this purpose, but the condition was equal to a refusal. The deposit of a sum of money was required from me for any damage that might arise to the premises: a risk that I was not disposed to run; after I had seen what encouragement was afforded to mischievous boys, and ignorant men to disturb us, and to destroy the property where we were assembled.

We have thus shaken the Israel of Liverpool to its base. It totters. We are threatened with a ringing of the bells on leaving the town to-morrow; but the bells that shall ring us out of Liverpool, will be the knell of its Christian religion. RICHARD CARLILE.

P.S. We cannot fix the day of being in London; but we shall invite our friends to meet us at 62, Fleet-street, on Sunday evening, the 20th inst., to report our past and intended progress, We can shew them that the Infidel Rent has not been mis-spent, and that it is a fund of great promise to mankind.