have, but thefe only: And I put it upon them to fhew any Forgery that has All these Marks.

THIS is a fhort Iffue. Keep them clofe to this. This determines the Caufe all at once.

LET the produce their Apollonius Tyaneus, whofe Life was put into English by the execrable * Charles Blount, and compar'd with all the Wit and Malice he was Mafter of, to the Life and Miracles of our Bleffed Saviour.

LET them take Aid from all the Legends in the Church of Rome, thofe Pious Cheats, the foreft Difgraces of Chriftianity; and which have bid the faireft of any one Contrivance, to overturn the Certainty of the Miracles of Chrift, and his Apofles, and whole Truth of the Gospel, by putting them all upon the fame Foot; at leaft, they are fo understood by the generality of their Devotees, tho' Difown'd and Laugh'd at by the Learn'd, and Men of Senfe among them.

LET them Pick and Chufe the moft probable of all the Fables of the Heathen Deities, and fee if they can find in any of thefe, the Four Marks be fore-mention'd.

OTHERWISE let them fubmit to the Irrefragable Certainty of the Chriftian Religion.

XIII. But, if, notwithstanding of all that is faid, the Deifts will ftill contend, That all this is but Prieft-Craft, the Invention of Priests, for their own

Profit,

*The Hand of that Scorner, which durft write fuch outragious Blafphe my agaft his Maker, the Divine Vengeance has made his own Execu tioner. Which I wou'd not have mention'd (because the like Judgment has befall'n others) but that the Theiftical Club, have fet this up as a Principle; and printed a Vindication of this fame Blount, for murdering of himself, by way of Juftification of Self murder. Which fome of them have fince, as well as formerly, horribly practifed upon themselves. Therefore this is no common Judgment to which they are delivered, but a visible Mark fet upon them, to fhew how far God has forfaken them; and as a Caution to all Chriftians, to beware of them, and not to come near the Tents of thefe wicked Men, left they perish in their Deftruction, both of Soul and Body.,

Profit, &c. then they will give us an idea of Priests, far different from what they intend: For then, we muft look upon thefe Priefts, not only as the Cunningeft and Wifeft of Mankind, but we fhall be tempted to adore them as Deities, who have fuch Power, as to impofe, at their pleasure, upon the Senfes of Mankind to make them believe, that they had practis'd fuch Publick Inftitutions, Enacted them by Laws, Taught them to their Children, &c. when they had never done any of thefe Things, or ever fo much as heard of them before: And then, upon the Credit of their Believing that they had done fuch Things as they never did, to make them further Believe, upon the fame Foundation, whatever they pleas'd to impofe upon them, as to Former Ages: I fay, fuch a Power as this, muft exceed all that is Human; and, confequently, make us rank these Priests far above the Condition of Mortals.

2. NAY, this were to make them out-do all that has ever been related of the Infernal Powers: For though their Leger-demain has extended to deceive fome unwary Beholders; and their Power of Working fome feeming Miracles has been great, yet it never reach'd, nor ever was fuppos'd to reach fo far, as to deceive the Senfes of all Mankind, in Matters of fuch Publick and Notorious Nature as thofe of which we now fpeak, to make them believe, that they had enacted Laws for fuch publick Obfervances, continually. Practis'd them, Taught them to their Children,and had been Inftructed in them themselves from their Childhood, if they had never Enacted, Practis'd, Taught, or been Taught fuch Things.

3. AND as this exceeds all the Power of Hell and Devils, fo is it more than ever God Almighty has done fince the Foundation of the World. None of the Miracles that He has thewn, or Belief which He has requir'd to any thing that He has Reveal'd, has ever contradicted the outward Senfes of any one Man in the World, much less of

C 2

all

all Mankind together. For Miracles being Appeals to our outward Senfes, if they fhou'd overthrow the Certainty of our outward Senfes, muft deftroy,with it, all their owu Certainty,as to us; fince we have no other way to judge of a Miracle exhibited to our Senfes, than upon the Suppofition of the Certainty of our Senfes, upon which we give credit to a Miracle, that is thewn to our Senfes.

4. THIS, by the way, is a yet unanfwer'd Argument against the Miracle of Tranfubftantiation, and fhews the Weakness of the Defence which the Church of Rome offers for it, (from whom the Socinians have lick'd it up, and, of late, have Glory'd much in it amongst us,) That the Doctrines of the Trinity or Incarnation contain as great feeming Abfurdities as that of Tranfubftantiation. For I wou'd ask, Which of our Senfes it is which, the Doctrines of the Trinity or Incarnation do contradict? Is it our Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Tafté, or Smell? whereas Tranfubftantiation do's contradict all of thefe. Therefore the Comparison is exceeding Jhort, and out of purpose. But to Return.

IF the Chriftian Religion be a Cheat, and nothing elfe but the Invention of Priefts; and carry'd on by their Craft, it makes their Power and Wisdom greater, than that of Men, Angels, or Devils, and more than God Himself ever yet thew'd or exprefs'd, to Deceive and Impofe upon the Senfes of Mankind, in fuch Publick and Notorious Matters of Fact.

XIV. AND this Miracle, which the Deifts muft run into to avoid thefe recorded of Mofes and Chrift is much greater, and more aftonishing than all the Scriptures tell of Them.

So that thefe Men, who laugh at all Miracles, are now oblig'd to account for the greatest of all, how the Senfes of Mankind cou'd be impos'd upon in fuch publick Matters of Fact.

AND how then can they make the Priefs the

moft

moft contemptible of all Mankind, fince they make Them the fole Authors of this the greatest of Miracles.

XV. AND fince the Deifts, (these Men of Sense and Reason) have fo vite and mean an Idea of the Priefts of all Religions, why do they not recover the World out of the Poffeffion and Government of fuch Blockheads? Why do they fuffer Kings and States to be led by Them; to establish their Deceits by Laws, and inflict Penalties upon the Oppofers of them? Let the Deifts try their Hands; they have been trying, and are now bufie about it. And free Liberty they have. Yet have they not prevail'd, nor ever yet did prevail in any Civiliz'd or Generous Nation. And tho' they have fome Inroads among the Hotentots, and fome other the moft Brutal Part of Mankind, yet are they ftill exploded, and Priefts have and do prevail against them, among not only the Greateft, but Beft Part of the World, and the moft Glorious for Arts, Learning, and War.

XVI. FOR as the Devil do's ape God, in His Inflitutions of Religion; His Feafts, Sacrifices, &c. fo likewife in His Priefts, without whom, no Religion, whether True or False, can ftand. Falfe Religion is but a Corruption of the True. The True was before it; though it be follow'd clofe upon the Heels.

THE Revelation made to Mofes, is elder than any Hiftory extant in the Heathen World. The Heathens, in Imitation of him, pretended, likewife to their Revelations: But I have given thofe Marks which diftinguish them from the True: None of them have thofe Four Marks before-mentioned.

Now the Deifts think all Revelations to be equally Pretended, and a Cheat; and the Priests of all Religions to be the fame Contrivers and Fuglers; and therefore they proclaim War equally againft all, and are equally engag'd to bear the Brunt of all.

AND if the Conteft be only betwixt the Deifts and the Priefs, which of them are the Men of thẹ greatest Parts and Senfe, let the Effects determine it and let the Deifts yield the Victory to their Conquer. ors, who by their own Confeffion, carry all the World before them.

XVII. IF the Deifts fay, That this is because all the World are Blockheads, as well as thofe Priefts who govern them; that all are Blockheads, except the Deifts, who vote themfelves only to be Men of Senfe, This, (befides the Modefty of it) will spoil their great and beloved Topic, in behalf of what they call Natural Religion, againft the Reveal'd, viz. appealing to the Common Reafon of Mankind: This they fet up againft Revelation; think this to be fufficient for all the ufes of Men, here, or hereafter, (if there be any after State) and therefore that there is no ufe of Revelation: This Common Reason they advance as Infallible, at leaft, as the fureft Guide, yet now cry out upon it, when it turns againft them; when this Common Reafon runs after Revelation, (as it always has done), then Common Reafon is a Beaft, and we must look for Reafon, not from the Common Sentiments of Mankind, but only among the Beaux, the Deifts.

XVIII. THEREFORE, if the Deifts would avoid the Mortification, (which will be very uneafie to them) to yield and fubmit to be Subdu'd and Hew'd down before the Priests, whom of all Mankind they Hate and Defpife; if they would avoid this, let 'em confefs, as the Truth is, That Religion is no Invention of Priefs, but of Divine Original: That Priefts were Inftituted by the fame Author of Religion; and that their Order is a Perpetual and Living Monu ment of the Matters of Fact of their Religion, Inftitúted from the Time that fuch Matters of Fact were faid to be done, as the Levites from Mofes ;

the