upon the antiquity of the world, and general civilization, than reflections upon the heavenly appearances set forth in those splendid poems, in which the constellations played so conspicuous a part. We might also give an analysis of the poems which treat of Bacchus, and shew that the supposed son of Semele was, as Hercules and Christ, a personification of the Sun-that physical being, the most powerful, as the most beautiful, agent of nature; and if we attach so much importance to proving that Bacchus and Hercules were but symbols of the Sun, adored by all ancient people under various forms and different names, it is because the conclusion is inevitable, that in former times men wrote the history of nature and its phenomena, as they now write the history of men, and that the Sun was, above all, the great hero of all such marvellous romances; with regard to the true character of which, posterity has been so grossly deceived. If the reader is convinced of this truth, he will easily admit our explanation of the solar legend, known by the Christians under the name of the life of Christ, which, it cannot be too often repeated, is but one of a thousand names of the god Sun, whatever may be the opinion of his adorers as to his real existence as a living god, prophet, or mere man; for their opinion unsupported by evidence, no more proves that Christ really existed, than did the opinion of the Greeks, unsupported by evidence, prove the existence of Mercury, Bacchus, Jupiter, or Hercules. The Christian fathers, who were learned enough to know the character of the ancient religion, immediately saw the wonderful similarity between the religion of Christ and the religion of the ancient Bacchus, Adonis, Hercules, and a crowd of others, but above all that of Mithra in Persia; but then, they contended that the devil copied the Christian religion before it existed, in order to spite God and bring his worship into, contempt. Oh, wonderful theologians!-ye have, indeed, a thread for every needle! Just the same was said by the Greeks, who contended that the Egyptians stole from them (the Greeks) their gods, although these same gods were worshipped in Egypt ages before the Greeks existed! Nothing, surely, but the introduction of the devil can render this clear and convincing. Alas! poor devil! you have much to answer for! London: H. Hetherington; A. Heywood, Manchester; and all Booksellers. J. Taylor, Printer, 29, Smallbrook Street, Birmingham. EXISTENCE OF CHRIST AS A HUMAN BEING, DISPROVED! BY IRRESISTIBLE EVIDENCE, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS, FROM A GERMAN JEW, ADDRESSED TO CHRISTIANS OF ALL DENOMINATIONS. LETTER 14. WEEKLY. ONE PENNY. "I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides me there is no Saviour."-ISAIAH XLIII. 3, 10, 11. CHRISTIANS, The preposterous vanity which leads human beings to suppose that a God they themselves acknowledge is incomprehensible-is something, yet immaterial—filling all space, yet occupying noņe— creating every thing, yet itself uncreated-loving truth, yet permitting falsehood-desiring man to be virtuous, yet tolerating their viciousness; that such a deity should assume the human form, and come masquerading among men, as God is said to have done in Christ, is certainly the very quintessence of the deliramentæ doctrinæ, or fanaticism run mad. We hear much of the presumption of the Jews, but surely nothing can equal the presumption—the maniac folly of the Christians,-nought but itself can be its parallel! The Jews say that God is a Spirit, that is, a something, the nature of which we know nothing,-here, at all events, there is no presumption; but Christians have not been content to worship a Spirit in spirit and in truth, but must needs have-oh horrible insanity!—a god of flesh and blood, a real man-deity,—an eating, drinking, talking god, who formerly ate upon the earth, and, in the opinion of some pious Catholics, is now eaten! And this they call honouring the Deity! and those who scorn to assist in their mad orgies, and refuse to dishonour their own nature, and bow down to the idols "How superstition has erected, are denounced as irreligious, forsooth! called infidels, deists, atheists, and other hard names, by the wise interpreters of what they call God's will, which is of course, that they should teach and we pay-they command and we obey! These sleek-haired, hypocritical, spluttering, and shamefully ignorant preachers, who devour widows' houses, and, for a pretence, make long prayers, have the brazen-faced audacity to say, that all who resist their will, resist the will of God, for they are God's representatives on earth, and the preachers of his word! Verily, if there be a devil, or spirit of evil, they represent him, and are most admirable preachers of his word. Resist the will of God! Where can be found a Jew who would utter such impious balderdash? Why, even Christian writers themselves tell us, vain is all resistance to God; but the very will, the wish, the power to resist cannot rise into being unless supplied and supported by him." So that, according to these wise-acres, men are to be eternally punished for that resistance which God himself had supplied and supported them in. Oh priests, priests!-ye are the curse of of the human race!-the plague-spots of society-and while ye are permitted to domineer over the intellects of men-bend them to your hateful will, the earth will continue what it has hitherto been, through your accursed instrumentality, the abode of fiends in humani shape! Your unholy frauds must and shall be exposed!-aye, your frauds, cruelties, and most shameful opposition to human liberty and happiness, from Aaron downwards. The world has had more than enough of fable, and it is now prepared for noble truths; and one, the most important of all, is, that it is not the Deity who has commanded that men should believe and worship-it is cunning men, who have insolently dared to deceive their fellow-creatures, by pretending that a god or gods, one or many, just as it suited their purposes, had made them his confidants! Yes, knavish hypocrites have, in all ages of the world, set up systems of religion as an engine of tyranny, and a means by which they might plunder the people; for what is it but desire and fear which leads men to worship with disgraceful insincerity the gods of their several nations. It is not respect and gratitude that fills our churches, it is hope and fear. Relieve the human mind from the terrors of hell, and priestcraft will be for ever annihilated! therefore it is, that the priests so strenuously support the notion of a deep fiery-gulf for sinners, and a place of delight for good believers, that is, for all who 115 pay them well; for if you pay, they care little what you believe. Who can be so silly as not to understand, that if the gods, or the priests in their name, promised nothing, their splendid temples would soon be deserted-converted into temples of science, or halls for the education of the people. All religions, whether Christian, Jew, or Mahomedan, have one common character, which is, to establish a correspondence between men and invisible beings, whether called gods, geniuses, angels, fairies, or devils-imaginary existences, to which half-craze, half-rascal soul-torturers have created-spun out of their hot brains with a view to explain in their own manner the phenomena of nature! The selfishness and vanity of men is never shewn under so disgusting and truly contemptible a form as when they are trafficking with the unseen powers, which they suppose rule, after having created, the universe. These creatures make praying an article of commerce-they give their prayers that the gods may give them something better than mere words. It is always "give us this day our daily bread," forgive us this and lead us out of that,-indeed, we always find that those who want the most, pray the most; so that the length of our prayers prove not our sincerity, but simply the length of our desires. Of course, it would appear very ridiculous to be offering up tears and beseechings to a nothing,-so a something is imagined, to which a shape, a form, and a character is given, according to tastes of individuals and nations. An old man with a long beard is sometimes the symbol of deity in Europe; in other parts of the world, an old woman without a beard is selected for adoration; the colour of the gods varies with the climate: nor are human beings content to give form and colour to the gods,—but also give them human passions, feelings, opinions, vices, and follies. This is happily hit off by Fontenelle in his Dialogues des Morts (Dialogues of the Dead), a part of which we shall transcribe : HOMER. You ought to know that my gods, such as they are, and all mysteriousness apart, have not been thought ridiculous. ÆSOP. That makes me tremble; I seriously fear that people will think that beasts have spoken, as they are represented to have done in my fables. HOMER, A truly pleasant fear. ÆSOP. Ha!-what, and if people believe that the gods have delivered the discourses that you have put into their mouths, why should they not equally believe that beasts may have spoken in the manner that I have made them speak? HOMER. It is by no means the same thing. Men wish that the gods may be as foolish as themselves; but they do not wish that beasts may be as wise. - This sage remark of Homer will hardly be disputed; for, though men pull down in imagination the gods to their own level, they have no desire to lift up the beasts to the same. God made man after his own image, saith the Scripture; the fool takes this literally, and says in his heart, I am like unto God-thereby likening God unto a fool; truly that is making a fool of Deity. The agents of this correspondence between men and gods are skilful tricksters, called priests, magicians, and impostors,-which last, may be considered as the generic name for magicians, jugglers, conjurors, and priests, for mysterious men of all kinds, who are paid for teaching what they themselves don't know, are only the several species of the genus impostor, who all agree in saying, that they are the or gans, if not the intimate friends, of invisible beings! Such is the foundation of all worship, and of all religion, which places man in relation with the gods, and the earth with the skies; in plain language, all organized worship which is superintended by priests, has for basis an ideal order of invisible beings, who are charged with the destinies of men who are more or less obedient to the voice of the true priesthood; and of course there are as many true priesthoods as there are true religions; and there are as many true religions as there are people who understand their own nature, and the nature of things beyond that which nothing is beyond—that is, the universe. Nor do the worshippers at the shrine of Jehovah, who hope one day to sing hallelujah above the clouds, entirely neg lect the little comforts to be enjoyed beneath the clouds. Mammon has almost as many, perhaps more, worshippers than Jehovah; and the text, "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul," is little regarded. "It is by Plutus, or the god of riches," said Aristophanes, "that Jupiter reigns; it is for him that sacrifices are made;" and goes on to say, that "since Plutus enriched so many men, Mercury complains that the gods received very few offerings, and wanting little, offered up very few prayers." So that we perceive the priests, in the times of Aristophanes, were just the same kind of men as the priests of our times; for if these latter pray to Jehovah, with all their lips, they worship with all their hearts, and all their souls, the god of riches; thus we have the singular spectacle of a proud, wealthy, and rapacious priesthood, preaching humility, poverty, and charity! Let us root out |