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dent, F. A. C., misconceives the Doctrines, of the Unitariaps, or he would not have sent you the chapter on eternal punishments, for Mr. H.'s perusal, as no sect can hold that. dogma in greater abhorrence than the Unitarians. They profess to believe, that all punishment is corrective, and that when a man is sufficiently corrected by punishment hereatteras to perfectly convince him of the evil of vice, and the advantages of virtue, he will then be made perfectly happy, and so remain through eternity. The four chapters, however, are most excellent, and contain some powerful arguments on my side of the question. You cannot publish the whole of the book too soon. I noticed several typographical and other errors in the reply to Mr. H. published in No. 11, I will mention two only, for the others are not very material; in page 326, line 18, from the bottom," repeated the falsehood of Isaac his father," should be " Isaac repeated the falsehood of his father;" and in page 331, lines 10, and 11, from the top, for " may exist through eternity to come, it may have existed through a past eternity," read "may exist through an eternity to come, and if through an eternity to come, it may have existed through a past eternity." Perbaps my own MS. may be chargeable with the errors; but I am not aware that such is the case. Being, as I imagine, perfectly acquainted with the Unitarian system of Christianity, I have been particularly careful to attribute nothing to it, which the Unitarians themselves do not admit, and consequently the arguments, I have used, have been entirely against that system, which approaches much nearer to rationality than any other system of Christianity that I know. Free thinking Christianity I look upon as only another name for the same doctrine. Its professors take the best grounds of any, for the dogmas of other sects are so pregnant with absurdity and mischief, that it seems impossible for any thinking man seriously to believe them.

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I am, Sir, yours respectfully,

LEUCIPPUS.

TO RICHARD CARLILE DORCHESTER GAOL.

CITIZEN, Leeds, October 6, 1825. THE Christian God having had occasion for my wife, and I having occasion for another, I have exchanged with him, Elizabeth Smithson died on Wednesday the 4th of September, and I married a cousin last monday the 2d of October. All I think of is an agreeable temper, cleanliness and industry, and, in these three points, I am as certain this time, as I was the first time I yielded to a ceremony that I detest. JOHN SMITHSON.

N. B. The above epistle, though private, is too curious to be lost. All my readers know that John Smithson is a genuine "odd fellow." This is his third wife. I commend his courage, and wish him all joy and happiness.

R. C.

COPY OF A LETTER SENT TO THE KING, WINDSOR CASTLE.

SIR,

Dorchester Gaol, October 4, 1825. WHEN the art of printing was discovered, there arose, on the part of those who ruled the people of Europe, a great dread of printed books. The first book submitted to the Press was the Bible, and a printed Bible had then precisely the same or a more terrifying effect, than the printed investigation of the Bible called the "Age of Reason" has now it was denounced as a seditious and blasphemous thing, and calculated to corrupt the labouring class of the people, in plain or intelligible language, means, to open their eyes to existing abuses. Its publishers and holders were prosecuted and even burnt; and precisely for the same reason as the publishers of the "Age of Reason" are now prosecuted and im

prisoned the fear of knowledge. That dread of printed books, even of printed Bibles, is not yet extinct; and the fear that they who labour will gain too much knowledge is yet a prevailing vice among those who do not labour. It is a vice that cannot thrive again; for the press has now gained the upper band and rendered the once powerful powerless. Abuses of the press cannot exist any more than abuses of speech, and the one can have no more bad effect than the other; for the one is but the auxiliary of the other. Printed books are printed speeches, and the best sort of speeches; for they are generally made at calm moments and in a state of deep thought, which cannot exist with oral communications. It is thus that they are the most powerful kind of speeches.

I counsel you to throw off all dread of printed books and to send out a flaming proclamation, inviting all to free discussion, upon all subjects. We shall then hear nothing but the cry of "God bless the King: we have gotten a wise king at last."

I am, Sir, your prisoner,

For printing books,

RICHARD CARLILE.

TO MR. RICHARD CARLILE DORCHESTER GAOL.

SIR, Yarmouth, 18th Sept, 1825. THE friends of freedom of opinion in this town beg to transmit their fourth subscription, in aid of the "good husbandman," who is now tilling the ground; and which, with the assistance of the Press," will in due time, bring forth an hundred fold. That it may be to perfection, is the wish of those, who although absent in person, are ever with you in sentiment.

66

s. d.

s. d.

Mr. R Riches

5 0 Mr. E. Bonfellow

5 0

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Note. Thanks to my Yarmouth Friends. I can assure them, that so rapid is the progress which we are making, though with little noise, at all times the best way to work, I begin to cherish my chains. I am really growing proud of, and fond of my imprisonment, and shall not trouble for a moment as to the period when it will end; not but that I think the Ministers and the priests must be desperate indeed to keep me in prison much longer; desperate towards their own dismay and downfall, "Consummatum est!"

R. C

Printed and Published by R. CARLILE, 135, Fleet Street.-All Correspordences for "The Republican" to be left at the place of publication.

1

The Republican.

No. 16, VOL. 12.] LONDON, Friday, Oct. 21, 1825. [PRICE 6d.

A CHARGE TO THE WHOLE FRATERNITY OF FREEMASONS.

DELUDED BRETHREN,

ONE of the Grand Architects of the Universe is about to charge you, to mend your manners and to increase your knowledge. I AM THAT I AM, and you are that you areall noodles. To order, Noodles, whilst I open the grand lodge of the universe, to shew you the true secrets of Masonry in an improved book of Revelations. Holy Saint John was a drunken blockhead and has not left you a revelation worth a moment's attention. Mine is to be one endless stream of masonic light, that is to shine from the east to the west, and from the north to the south, or, in scripture phrase, to the four corners of a globe! Hereafter, you will want neither artificial nor allegorical lights: you will find my revelation a thorough illumination, and superior to the Holy Law. Your Holy Law is an expiring tallow rushlight, which I AM THAT I AM means to puff out. Yes, Noodles, I swear by Jao-bul-on, by the holy word and triangular grip of a Royal Arch Mason, that I will put out all your lights and light up the first year of light with the last of Christianity. I will make a taper of the last Annus Domini, to set fire to the first Annus Lucis. Then, the world will be on fire, then will have arrived that prophesied period, when speculative Masonry is to have its end. So mote it be.

My new lodge is open to the brethren of all the degrees, from the entered apprentice to the ne plus ultra, and here you shall find a revelation of all the secrets at one initiation, and that without being made naked, hoodwinked, marched, cable-towed, tiled or obligated: for a very small fee and no subsequent quarterly payments, no lodge-night payments, no grand lodge fees, no badges, no sashes, no swords, no robes, no fool's caps.

Printed and Published by R. Carlile, 135, Fleet Street.

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