been destroyed through the want of adequate checks upon men of ambitious or desperate desires; hence, in modern times, the maxim has been universally recognized by the friends of human liberty, that governments should be founded and written in well digested forms, and not exposed to the caprice or passions of men." To this luminous extract, we shall only add, a government of Scripture, and not of Priests or Levites. Therefore, to the law and the testimony we go; if they speak not according to this, from the cottage to the altar, and the throne, it is because there is no light in them: A part of which law is, Love thy neighbour as thyself Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this (and not lawless slander) is (the sum of) the law and the Prophets. Matt. vii. 12.

PREFACE.

MEN of Israel, help by all your energies, plunge the bucket of faith into the perennial, healing, inexhaustible river of life and love, which runs through the midst of the paradise of God, and, in united phalanx, pour forth into the fire engine of Christian charity, the unceasing supply; work with faithful hearts, peaceable, stedfast, yielding, and persevering hands, until, by keeping down the fire of hell, which works the large boiler of the devil's steam-boat, Slander; the hot burning atmosphere of defamation shall become more dense, the machinery loose its propelling power, the buckets of clattering backbiting, cease to disturb and poison the waters of social happiness, and Lucifer's pedlers no longer scald, nor be scalded by the highrectified steam which bursts forth from his original manufacturing conclave in hell, which has, heretofore, and, until now, been productive of a world of iniquity.

Our object is to dissect the hypocritical defamer, who covers malice with the silver dross of pretended necessity, ambition by the guise of strict severity, while many maintain a holy, stiff, frigid distance, to keep up self-conceited sanctification, under the whining fear of injuring men who are better, politer, and wiser than themselves, by ho

nest familiarity. We hope to make manifest, that an Hiera Picra bitterness, that is to say, an holy bitterness, (for that acrid, drastic drug, Hiera Picra, means holy bitter;) is not the wisdom from above, but, on the contrary, is the bilge water of commercial malignity, the regurgitating bile of Abaddon's implacable gall-bladder.

Let none attempt to pass under the guns of mount Zion with impunity, by virtue of having the colours of Jesus Christ flying, while they carry on a war in disguise against the royal law of love, and a smuggling trade with the church of the malignants, under a secret license from the devil, with the poor pitiful apologies that their fathers were plain spoken men, and to punish the wicked, when the truth of the matter is, that we can prove them to be of their father, the devil, while they seem to be religious, but bridle not their tongues, nor libeling pens.

We shall also take notice of the cases of many who, very politely, very religiously, and very like a fox, compliment you, advise you, pray for, and slander you, with a "Lord pity him, he is the worst foe to himself," with a hypocritical smile and stab, professing that they always put their friends upon their guard against horse stealers, swindlers, pickpockets, drunkards, house burners and breakers; when, at the same time, they are men-stealers, character filchers, backbiting pickthanks for slandering pickpockets; are murderers of more bodies and souls than all the Cæsars and other butchers in the universe, both civil and religious. Millions of psalm-singing, doggerel, canting puffballs, who deny that it is slander to circulate the crimes of individuals, while they ball out, "I tell nothing but the truth," will find their cases attend

ed to, and their slanderous truths proved to be as far from God's truth as the declaration of a drunken man is from republicanism, when he boasts that he is for equal liberty, and gives no further proof of it than that of throwing up strong whigs in spue and vomit, and treading in the dust the rights of

man.

Thousands of cowardly, raspish roarers, and cacklers, profess to be so innocent of what they say against the absent, that you never can fathom their hearts until, upon approaching their slandering mansions, you hear them kaw like crows, "there she comes," when, upon the signal, they all fly off, as those carnivorous fowls, to their respective hiding places. This also shall be delineated.

Hecatombs upon Hecatombs, of Luciferian trading companies, accompanied by their officers, and distributing post officers, pedlers, smugglers, and post-riders, in and out of the churches, are establishing, as far as their influence can he effect, the detestable doctrine of exparte evidence, that is, hearing one side only, which opposes the first rule of legal evidence, that "It is a settled rule of law, that no evidence is to be given against a prisoner but in his presence." 2 Hawk. p. c. ca. 46, which axiom of law is founded on this principle, namely, "That the opposite party is not present to have the benefit of a cross examination." 5 Mod. 165, M'Nally upon Evidence, p. 10.

And although the sixth rule of evidence is, that one who can only witness by hearsay, is not a lawful accuser within any statute." 2 Hawk. p. c. ca. 25. And, that the abominable and illegal doctrine, or, as sir Edward Coke terms it, the strange conceit, that 'one may be an accuser by hearsay, was utterly denied by the justices in Lord

Lumley's case, Hill, 14. Eliz. 3. co. 15, M'Nally upon Evidence, p. 17. Although, we repeat, the above is the language of justice, yet despots, not having God before their eyes, act by virtue of decisions and commissions issued from Appollyon's four courts of calumny; this also shall be considered.

We read in Peake upon Evidence, p. 15, “The law never gives credit to any one, however high his rank, or pure his morals, but always requires the sanction of an oath." Yet millions believe, judge, and sentence millions to tortures, imprisonments, confiscations, banishments, and death itself. Yea, alas! tell it not in Gath: we have done something like it, even at the horns of the altar! These things shall be noticed.

"A pardoned man is not guilty; his crime is purged; but merely for the reproach of it, it shall not be put upon him to answer a question whereon he will be forced to disgrace himself." Lord C. Justice Treby. Peake. 141. Yet, nevertheless, we, whose mercy is called upon to glory over justice, work old Satan's cunning, question-asking pump, as though the spiritual ark was sinking for want of it. This, also, should be touched upon.

"It frequently happens that persons are made defendants with others, for the mere purpose of excluding their testimony." Peake, 159. It also has been often practised in Asia, Africa, Europe, and America, in the churches and courts where such cunning usurpations should not be suffered. "In an information against the wife for adultery, the husband cannot be a witness.' State vs. Gardner, 1. Root, 435.

"The rule of law does not merely prevent a husband or wife from giving evidence, for the