do justice to the branches of morality they have treated well, but point out the importance of those in which they are deficient. I should then take a view of the deism and ethics of the Jews, and show in what a degraded state they were, and the necessity they presented of a reformation. I should proceed to a view of the life, character, and doctrines of Jesus, who, sensible of the incorrectness of their ideas of the Deity, and of morality, endeavored to bring them to the principles of a pure deism, and juster notions of the attributes of God, to reform their moral doctrines to the standard of reason, justice, and philanthropy, and to inculcate the belief of a future state. This view would purposely omit the question of his divinity, and even of his inspiration. To do him justice, it would be necessary to remark the disadvantages his doctrines have to encounter, not having been committed to writing by himself, but by the most unlettered of men, by memory, long after they had heard them from him, when much was forgotten; much misunderstood, and presented in very paradoxical shapes. Yet such are the fragments remaining, as to show a master workman, and that his system of morality was the most benevolent and sublime probably that has been ever taught, and more perfect than those of any of the ancient philosophers. His character and doctrines have received still greater injury from those who pretend to be his spiritual disciples, and who have disfigured and sophisticated his actions and precepts from views of personal interest, so as to induce the unthinking part of inankind to throw off the whole system in disgust, and to pass sentence as an impostor on the most innocent, the most benevolent, the most eloquent and sublime character that has ever been exhibited to man. This is the outline; but I have not the time, and still less the information which the subject needs. It will therefore rest with me in contemplation only.

SIR,

THOMAS JEFFERSON.

Letter from the same to William Canby.

I have duly received your favor of August 27th; am sensible of the kind intentions from which it flows, and truly thankful for them, the more so, as they could only be the result of a favorable estimate of my public course. During a long life, as much devoted to study as a faithful transaction of the trusts committed to me would permit, no object has occupied more of my consideration than our relations with all the beings around us, our duties to them and our future prospects. After hearing and reading every thing which probably can be suggested concerning them, I have formed the best judgment I could, as to the course they prescribe; and in the due observance of that course, I have no recollections which give me uneasiness. An eloquent preacher of your religious society, Richard Mott, in a discourse of much unction and pathos, is said to have exclaimed aloud to his congregation, that he did not believe there was a Quaker, Presbyterian, Methodist or Baptist in Heaven-having paused to give his audience time to stare and to wonder-(he said) that in Heaven, God knew no distinction, but considered all good men, as his children and as brethren of the same family. I believe with the Quaker preacher, that he who steadily observes those moral precepts in which all religions concur, will never be questioned at the gates of Heaven, as to the dogmas in which they differ; that on entering there, all these are left he hind us the Aristideses and Catos, Penns, and Tillotsons, Presbyterians and Papists, will find themselves united in all principles which are in concert with the reason of the supreme mind. Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern, which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus. He who follows this steadily, need not, I think, be uneasy, although he cannot comprehend the subtleties and mysteries erected on his doctrines, by those who calling themselves his special followers and favourites, would make him come into the world to lay snares for all understandings but theirs; these metaphysical heads, usurping the judgment seat of God, denounce as his enemies, all who cannot perceive the geometrical logic of Euclid in the demonstrations of St. Athanasius, that three are one, and one is three, and yet that three are not one, nor the one three. In all essential points, you and I are of the same religion, and I am too old to go into inquiries and changes as to the unessentials. Repeating therefore my thankfulness for the kind concern you have been so good as to express, I salute you with friendship and brotherly love. THOMAS JEFFERSON

Monticello, September 17th, 1813.

BONAPARTE.

By the Report of Las Casas, the authenticity of which is not doubted, Bonaparte, who, whatever may be thought of his goodness, is allowed by all to be a great man, made the following remarks on religion. "Every thing proclaims the existence of a God; that cannot be questioned; but all religions are evidently the work of men. Why are there so many? Why has not ours always existed? Why does it consider itself exclusively the right one? What becomes, in that case, of all the virtuous men who have gone before us? Why does these religions oppose and exterminate one another? Why has this been the case ever and every where? Because men are ever men; because priests have ever and every where introduced fraud and falsehood." He said, "that his incredulity did not proceed from perverseness or from licentiousness of mind, but from the strength of his reason. Yet," added he, "no man can answer for what will happen, particularly in his last moments. At present, I certainly believe that I shall die without a confessor. I am assuredly very far from being an atheist, but I cannot believe all that I am taught in spite of my reason, without being false and a hypocrite."

The bare mention of the possibility that he might, before he died, confess his sins, with a view of obtaining pardon from a frail mortal like himself, was unworthy of the character of Bonaparte. But it exemplifies in the strongest manner the almost unconquerable power of habits and prejudices acquired in early life. If, at the time the above expressions were made, there still remained.in the great mind of Bonaparte some lirgering vestiges of the contemptible prejudices which he had imbibed from his nurse and father confessor in childhood, what can be expected from the multitude who never think? How important then is it, that the minds of youth should be properly directed; that they should be taught their true condition in nature;-that their present and future happiness depends, not on confessions to a priest, but on uniform practice of moral virtue. If confessions are depended on, we may be assured, that morals will be neglected.

LORD ERSKINE.

The following opinion of the manner in which mankind will be judged in a future state must be concurred in by every rational being, not under clerical influence. It is extracted from the speech of the famous Irish barrister, Erskine, on the liberty of the press, in the trial of Stockdale for an alleged libel against the parliament.

"Every human tribunal ought to take care to administer justice, as we look hereafter to have justice administered to ourselves. Upon the principles on which the Attorney-General prays sentence upon my client-God have mercy upon us!-For which of us can present, for omniscient examination, a pure, unspotted, and faultless course. But I humbly expect that the benevolent author of our being will judge us as I have been pointing out for your example. Holding up the great volume of our lives in his hands, and regarding the general scope of them. If he discovers benevolence, charity and good will to man beating in the heart, where he alone can look ;if he finds that our conduct, though often forced out of the path by our infirmities, has been in general well directed; his all-searching eye will assuredly never pursue us into those little corners of our lives, much less will his justice select them for punishment, without the general context of our existence, by which faults may be sometimes found to have grown out of virtues, and very many of our heaviest offences to have been grafted by human imperfection upon the best and kindest of our affections. No, believe me, this is not the course of divine justice. If the general tenor of a man's conduct be such as I have represented it, he may walk through the shadow of death, with all his faults about him, with as much cheerfulness as in the common paths of life; because he knows, that instead of a stern accuser to expose before the Author of his nature those frail passages, which like the scored matter in the book before you, chequers the volume of the brightest and best spent life, his mercy will obscure them from the eye of his purity, and our repentance blot them out for ever."

MR. OWEN.

This gentleman is not so universally known as to render his opinions so imposing as those already quoted, but he has acquired such celebrity for philanthropy in

his extraordinary exertions to meliorate the condition of the poor, in which charitable work he is now zealously engaged, that I am induced to give his rational views respecting religion, in answer to a correspondent of the Limerick Chronicle.

"For nearly forty years," he says, "I have studied the religious systems of the world, with the most sincere desire to discover one that was devoid of error; one to which my mind and soul could consent; but the more I have examined the faiths and practices which they have produced, the more error in each has been made manifest to me, and I am now prepared to say that all, without a single exception, contain too much error to be of any utility in the present advanced state of the human mind. There are truths in each religion, as well as errors in all, but if I have not been too much prejudiced by early education and surrounding circumstances, to judge impartially between them, there are more valuable truths in the Christian Scriptures than in others but a religion to be pure and undefiled, and to produce the proper effect upon the life and conduct of every human being, and to become universal, must be so true, that all who run may read, and so reading may fully comprehend. A religion of this character must be devoid of forms, ceremonies and mysteries, for these constitute the errors of all the existing systems, and of all those which have hitherto created anger, and produced violence and bloodshed throughout society. A religion devoid of error will not depend for its support upon any name whatever. No name, not even Deity itself, can make truth into falsehood.-A pure and genuine religion, therefore, will not require for its support, or for its universal promulgation by the human race, any name whatever, nor ought, except the irresistible truth which it shall contain. Such religion will possess whatever is valuable in each, and exclude whatever is erroneous in all, and in due time, a religion of this character, freed from every inconsistency, shall be promulgated. Then will the world be in possession of principles which, without any exception, produce corresponding practices, then all shall see, face to face, clearly and distinctly, and no longer through a glass, darkly. In the mean time, however, while the dangers shall be gradually working in the minds of those who have been compelled to receive error mixed with truth, it is intended that no violence shall be offered to the conscience of any one, and that in the proposed new villages, full provisions shall be made for the performance of religious worship, according to the practice of the country in which the villages shall be situated.

ELIAS HICKS.

Elias Hicks, a celebrated Quaker preacher, at New-York, in a letter addressed to the Rev. Dr. Shoemaker, dated 3d mo. 31, 1823, speaking of the atonement, and those who believe in it, writes, "Surely, is it possible that any rational being, that has any right sense of justice and mercy, would be willing to accept forgiveness of his sins on such terms? Would he not go forward, and offer himself wholly up, to suffer all the penalties due to his crimes, rather than the innocent should suffer? Nay, was he so hardy as to acknowledge a willingness to be saved through such a medium, would it not prove that he stood in direct opposition to every principle of justice and honesty, of mercy and love, and show himself a poor selfish creature, unworthy of notice?" Towards the conclusion of his letter, he says, "I may now recommend thee to shake off all traditional views that thou hast imbibed from external evidence, and turn thy mind to the light within, as the only true teacher; and wait patiently for its instructions, and it will teach thee more than men or books can do, and lead thee to a clearer sight and sense of what thou desirest to know, than I have words clearly to convey to thee."

In his discourses the following sentiments have been noted and published; "That the death of Jesus Christ was no more to us than the death of any other good man ; that he merely performed his part on earth as a faithful son, just as any other man had done; that he did not believe any thing contained in the Scriptures merely because it was in them; that although the miracles might have been a proof to those who saw them, yet they could be no proof to us who did not see them. Is it possible, said he, that there is any person so ignorant or superstitious, as to believe, that there ever was on earth such a place as the garden of Eden, or that Adam and Eve were really put into it, and turned out of it for eating an apple? My friends, it is all an allegory."

Mr. Hicks, I understand, is far advanced in life, and is a great favourite, as a preacher, not only among his own sect, but with others of different denominations

He is said to be a man of the strictest morals. His doctrine is void of trifling puerilities, and disgusting hypocrisy, the greatest impediment to human improvement. It is plain, honest, common sense. Such as one would suppose would be adopted by all people, not burdened with an expensive priesthood.-Hired priests, no doubt, consider themselves in a measure bound to deal out to their hearers a great deal of school divinity, consisting of perplexing metaphysics, in order to convince them that they get the worth of their money. Plain morality would not command a high price among those who are in search of mysteries, miracles and spiritual nonentities.

Religionists seem to think that there can be no religion unattended with mystery and miracle. They require a name to uphold their religion; and the person who bears it must have performed miracles to entitle him to their respect. The simple principles of moral virtue have no charms for them. Their religion must be involved in clouds and darkness, to make it difficult to be understood, in order to enhance the merit of believing it. Such a scheme, as they call it, of religion is well adapted to priestcraft, because it gives the high priests of the establishment an opportunity to play off a sort of necromancy to deceive and gull the multitude. It would require no ministers, with high salaries, to explain the plain creed of Dr. Franklin. It does not require, like complicated and mysterious religions to be taught, as a school boy is taught grammar.

The morality contained in what is called the gospel, unconnected with the Old Testament, is unexceptionable. It is the doctrine of Deism; as Dr. Tindal has shown, in his work, entitled, "Christianity as old as the Creation, or the Gospel a republication of the religion of nature." The same sentiments, however, had been promulgated long before the gospel had existence. CONFUCIUS, the Chinese phlosopher, who was born 551 years before Christ, said, "Human nature came to us from heaven pure and perfect; but in process of time, ignorance, the passions, and evil examples have corrupted it.-All consists in restoring it to its primitive beauty; and to be perfect, we must reascend to that point we have fallen from. Obey heaven, and follow the orders of Him who governs it. Love your neighbour as yourself; let your reason, and not your senses be the rule of your conduct; for reason will teach you to think wisely, to speak prudently, and to behave yourself worthily on all occasions. Do to another what you would he should do unto you; and do not unto another what you would should not be done unto you; thou only needest this law alone; it is the foundation and principle of all the rest.

"Desire not the death of thine enemy; thou wouldst desire it in vain; his life is in the hands of Heaven.

"Acknowledge thy benefits by the return of other benefits, but never revenge injuries."

In the precepts of PHOCYLIDES, written 540 years before Christ, we find the following: "Let no favour or affection bias thy judgment; reject not the poor; nor judge any man rashly; for if thou doest, God will judge thee hereafter."

"Give not thy alms to the poor with grudging, nor put him off till to-morrow; have compassion on the man that is banished, and be eyes to the blind."

"Show mercy to those that are shipwrecked; for the sea, like fortune, is a fair, but fickle mistress. Comfort the man that is dejected; and be a friend to him that has no one to help him. We are all liable to misfortunes, up to day, and down to

morrow."

In what are called the Golden Verses of PYTHAGORAS, who died 497 years before Christ, we read as follows, "Do not an ill thing, either in company, or alone; but of all respect yourself first; that is, first pay the duty which is due to yourself, to your honour and to your conscience; nor let any foreign regard make you deviate from this faith."

"Presume not to sleep till you have thrice ran over the actions of the past day. Examine yourself, where have I been? What have I done? Have I omitted any good action? Then weigh all, and correct yourself for what you have done amiss, and rejoice in what you have done well."

"Whatever evils thou mayest undergo, bear them patiently, endeavoring to discover a remedy. And let this reflection console thee, that fate does not distribute much of evil to good men.

"Men apply the art of reasoning to good and bad purposes; listen, therefore, with caution, and be not hasty to admit or reject. If any one assert an untruth, arm thyself with patience, and be silent.

"When this habit has become familiar to thee, thou wilt perceive the constitution of the immortal Gods, and of mortal men; even the great extent of being, and in

what manner it exists. Thou wilt perceive that nature in her operations is uniform, and thou will expect only what is possible. Thou wilt perceive that mankind willingly draw upon themselves evil. They neither see nor understand what it is wise to prefer; and when entangled, are ignorant of the means of escape. Such is the destiny of man. They are subjected to evils without end, and are agitated incessantly, like rolling stones. A fatal contention ever secretly pursues them, which they neither endeavor to subdue, nor yield to

"Great Jove! Father of Men! O free them from those evils, or discover to them the demon they employ! But be of good cheer, for the race of man is divine. Nature discovers to them her hidden mysteries, in which if thou art interested, and attain this knowledge, thou wilt obtain with ease, all I enjoin; and having healed thy soul, thou wilt preserve it from evil.

"Abstain, moreover, from those unclean and foul meats, which are forbidden, keeping thy body pure, and thy soul free.

"Consider all things well, governing thyself by reason, and settling it in the uppermost place. And when thou art divested of thy mortal body, and arrived in the most pure ather, thou shalt be exalted among the immortal Gods, be incorruptible, and never more know death."

Laurence Sterne, in his Coran, says, "I had conceived, that to love our enemies was a tenet peculiar to the Christian religion, till I stumbled upon the same idea in the writings of that rogue Plato." And it seems that the rogue Pythagoras, as well as Plato and others, taught the doctrine of immortality long before its promulgation in the gospel, although the merit of it is ascribed exclusively to Jesus by many of his followers.

Quotations to the same effect might be made from the writings of Socrates, Plato, Cicero, and others, who lived anterior to the time of Jesus Christ. In fact, it seems apparent, that the moral sentiments contained in the gospel, have been derived from philosophers who lived at periods remote from the time of its promulgation. The morals of Epictetus, Seneca, and Antoninus, whom christians call heathens, are not inferior to those of the gospel. ANTONINUS observes, "It is the peculiar excellence of man to love even those who have offended him. This you will be disposed to do, if you reflect that the offender is allied to you; that he did it through ignorance, and, perhaps involuntarily; and, moreover, that you will both soon go peaceably to your graves. But above all, consider, that he has not really injured you, as he could not render your mind, or governing part, the worse for his offence.

"A man may be more expert than you in the gymnastic exercises; be it so; yet he is not superior to you in the social virtues, in generosity, in modesty, in patience under the accidents of life, or lenity towards the foibles of mankind."

Moral principles are the same in all countries, and at all times. Neither time nor place can change them.

Although sects were formed under the names of some of the ancient philosophers, which caused great disputations among the disciples of the respective leaders, it does not appear that they were carried on with such rancor towards each other, as those which have distinguished the followers of men who have given names to various denominations of christians. Among these, at least, reason has been perverted by a blind zeal to support the favourite dogmas of spiritual guides, and christendom has been kept in turmoil, for 1800 years, by the ranglings and persecutions of sectarians. When philosophers speak favourably of the morality of the gospel, they are far from vindicating the cruelties committed in the name of its founder, or the arrogant pretensions of its ministers. In fact, they evidently do it as a salvo against persecution for their unbelief in its divinity, and their disapprobation of the vindictive spirit of its supporters.

The following are the only books of note which are esteemed by the various nations of the earth as of divine origin.

Shu-King, or sacred book, of the Chinese.

Yajur Veda, or holy book, of the East Indians.

Bible of the Christians, and Koran of the Mahometans.

Which of these contain the best or most practical system of morals it might be difficult to determine. But, as the cause of cruelties in the destruction of the human species, I will venture to say, that the Bible stands pre-eminent and unrivalled. Millions have been sacrificed, under both the Jewish and Christian economy, with the false and wicked pretext of honouring the Deity by the inforcement of ridiculous creeds, rights and ceremonies. In the trifling and foolish affair of the molten calf alone, as recorded in the 32d chap. of Exodus, about three thousand men are said to have been