No man, Jew or Gentile, has any more right to disbelieve that the Bible was given to man by the inspiration of God, than he has to deny the existence of the eternal I AM, who has declared, saying, "Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last, and beside me there is no God.”

I heard Mr. Kneeland say about four years since, that "The idea of a God, of angels and of demons, of heaven and of hell, are all imaginary things." Mr. Kneeland after this read from a Roman Catholic book wherein they pretend to believe that the wafer and the wine that they partake of at their communions, is actually the body and blood of Christ. And after Mr. Kneeland had exploded this foolish and absurd notion, he then said, that "The idea of a God is just as absurd as this is." But he now says that every thing is God. Then what a multitude of gods Mr. Kneeland has got. I should judge more than thirty thousand.

The man that denies the eternal existence of him who has declared himself a great many times, to be "The Lord God of Israel," or says that there is any other God besides him, or denies that the Bible is the revelation of his mind and will to man, makes him a liar; and no man ever had the least conceivable right to make God a liar directly or indirectly. It is an abominable assumption. Pharaoh king of Egypt, had no right to disbelieve Moses, when he said unto him, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness." Nor had Pharaoh the least conceivable right to disobey the divine mandate, and refuse to let Israel go. But Pharaoh said unto Moses, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Pharaoh was an Atheist, and a king over a great nation, but he had not the least right to disbelieve Moses, and disobey God. Pharaoh's having a totally depraved, wicked, and corrupt heart, and a disbelieving

and disobeying mind, did not remove one particle of the obligation, that God had laid upon him to believe Moses and obey him. Pharaoh had not the least right to refuse obedience for one moment. So that Pharaoh was " without excuse." Even so is Mr. Kneeland, for thinking, and saying, and writing, and publishing to the world, what he has done for years past, against the Bible and its divine author. Pharaoh's right was as good, to say the least, as Mr. Kneeland's now is. Both assumed rights that never belonged to either of them, nor can the latter prevail against God and his word, any more than the former did in his cause to hold the children of Israel in bondage. God is the same now that he was then. The framers of the Constitution of Massachusetts, were neither Atheists nor Deists, and they knew full well that God, the giver of "every good gift and every perfect gift," had never given them the least right to be either. Nor did they mean to give to any other man in this Commonwealth a right that they well knew they did not possess themselves as individuals or framers of a constitution for the people. Neither did they make the least provision for the free toleration of Atheism or Deism, for there is not one particle of the Christian religion in either of those schisms. And they all knew then as we all know now, that Atheists and Deists are opposed to all denominations of Christians of every name whatsoever. The constitution knows nothing about either.

But the framers of the constitution were men of the Puritan or Protestant religion, and firmly believed in the existence and over-ruling power and goodness of God; for they in the second article of the Bill of Rights say, "It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publicly, and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, the great creator and preserver of universe. And no subject shall be hurt, or molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate, for worshiping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his

own conscience, or for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious worship."

There is not an atom of provision made in this article for the Atheist or Deist. The constitution "knows them not." Nor is there a word in it that gives to any man the least right to blaspheme God; so that Mr. Kneeland has not the least constitutional right to think one irreverent thought, or speak or write one disrespectful word against "the Supreme Being, the great creator and preserver of the universe;" or think, or speak, or write one contemptible word against the scriptures. The right that Mr. Kneeland claims for himself, and others claim for him, is an assumed, supercilious, and superficial, and not a natural, essential, unalienable and constitutional right. So that Mr. Kneeland is as fully "without excuse,' as those were whom Paul said "Changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things."

Blasphemy against God is the very greatest crime that any man can possibly commit, save that of speaking against the Holy Ghost; and this is so great, so heinous, and so abominable a crime in the sight of God, that He determined before the world was, that He never would forgive it, in this world nor in the future. For Christ says, Math. xii. 31, 32. "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sins and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him : but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.'

وو

If men are not to be punished in this world by human governments, for the committal of the very greatest of crimes that man can commit, then they are not to be punished for the lesser crimes. And if there is

no statute law in the Commonwealth, to punish men for blasphemy, then it is high time there was one. For the law that was given to Moses and the children of Israel, has never been made void by Christ, or his apostles. For Christ was concerned in giving that very law. And this law is found written in Lev. xxiv. 10-17. "And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel, and the son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; and the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed: and they brought him to Moses (and his mother's name was Shelometh, the daughter of Debri, of the tribe of Dan) and they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them. And the Lori spake unto Moses, saying, bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin, and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death."

This is a plain and positive law, and was designed by him who gave it, for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. This was a just and righteous law when it was given, and it is as just and righteous now as it was the very day on which it was promulgated to Moses and the children of Israel. Nor has it ever been made null and void, but is in as full force now as it ever was. Christ was concerned in giving this very law, as well as all other laws that were ever given to the human race from on high. And he is of the same mind now that he was then, "and none can turn him." Paul says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day and forever." As an evidence that the above law against blasphemy

was designed for the Gentile nations as well as for the Jews, I shall present before you one case aud one only, and that is the case of Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who sent Rab-shakeh with a blasphemous message unto Hezekiah and his people, to destroy their confidence in God as their deliverer from the Assyrian bondage under which Hezekiah found them when he came to the throne of Judah, which was in the third year of Hoshea king of Israel. "Then Rab-shakeh stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and spake saying, Hear the word of the great king, the king of Assyria, thus saith the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hands. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria." "So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me: Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor, and shall return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land."

According to the word of the Lord, the king of Assyria did fall in his own land, by the hands of his own sons. "And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred four-score and five thousand." The king of Assyria was a Deist and an Atheist, but he had not the least right to blaspheme the most high God, who is over all kings.

In conclusion of this part of my address, I would remark that the time no doubt has been when Mr. Kneeland would have assented if not fully subscribed to all that is now before us. For he was brought up and educated under the influence of Christianity, and pretended to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. And Mr. Knee