Jenks' Portland gazette. Maine advertiser. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1802-1803, 1803-02-14
TO SAMUEL ADAMS.
70 kay xr4 venerable TrirE1;,

L
thank you also for the franknels or II. Be-
tween men IN purfuit Of truth, and whole 90
ject il the h2ppineis Of man both here and
hereafter, there ought 70 b. no rcftrve. e.
ven error has claim 10 indulgence, II not
10 refpec, when II i believed 10 he truth.
I'm obliged 10 you for your 4fTcGfiona;c re-
morbrsnce Of what you file my fervices IN
awakening the public mind to declaration Of
independence, and supporting It after il was
declared ALTO, like you, have often look
cd back on thofe times, and have thought, that
if independence had not been declared At the
time it was, the public mind could not have
been Brought up to il afterwards. II win
Immediately occur 70 YOU, who were 70 init.
mately acquainted with the ftuation cfthings
At that time, that i aIluae 10 tho black times
Of Serxao IN for though know, and you,
my good friend, alto know, they wcr no 81 her
than the natural consequences Of the military
blunders of that campaign, the country might
have viewed them As proceeding from nat
uras inability 70 fupport its cauls againlf the
enemy, and have fnnk under the dependency
OF that mnconceived idea. This was the i'm
preflion againa which it was necelz-y the
country lhould be Rrongly animated.
now come 10 the fecond part of your let
ter, on which I lhall be As frank with you as
you are with ne" But (fay Ycl) when /
beard you had turned your mind 70 defence
Of LgfIthty. felt mylelf much alton flied. &c. I"
What, my friend, do you call believing in
Con isfsthy? for that j the great point main
tanned ~ the dsf Of RsgfgH sgainlt all divided
beliefs and aAsg7yiezl dlvinities The bifhcp
Of Landau, (Dr. Watfon) not only acl.noUI-
edges this, but pays me fome compliments
upon IT in his anlwer to the fccsnd part Of
thar work" Ttsrs y tfays he) q Pblsistbirai
aJir7ity IN szt Of ytzy iIs4s, zrsen P-alisg II fbr
Greater Of fbe Uaisr ~
What then (my much e1ermed friend, for
! do not refpea you the lcfs becarfe We differ,
and that perhaps not much, in religious fen :
tiRents) what, ak, i this thing called inf
dtlHy II We 60 back to your anceilors and
mine, three or fonr hundred years ago, for
we muf have had fathers and grandfathers or
VIC llould not be here, We fhal find them
praying to f4ints and virgins, and believing in
purgatory and tranfabnantiation, asd there
fore all Of u are iniidels according 10 our fore
fathers belief. If We 60 back to times more
antient We ihall again be inhdels according to
the belief OF iorne other forefafhers
The cafe, my friend, is, thar the world has
been overrun with fable and creeds of human
invention, with ietfarics of whole nations, a.
CAN'T other nations, and fet9arics Of thole fec
ta-ics in each Of them aEainlt each other
Every fcctary. except the quakers, has been 4
perircutor. Tkoie who fed from perlecurion
peFfecuted in their turn, and il i this confu
ion Of creeds that has filed thc world with
psriccntion and deluged Il with blood. Evtn
The depreciation Oh your commerce hy the Bar
barry powers, fp,sng from the cruiad-s Of the
church az ain( thoie powers II was war Of
creed againlf creed, each boating OF Cod for
It's author, and revilug each other will the
name ofinhdcI.-If do no, believe a. YOU be.
lievc, it proves that Won DO not believe a.
believe, and this j. All that il proves.
There is however one point IF union where.
in all religions meet, and that il in the tirit
article of every mans creed, and Of every ma
tons creed, that has any creed Al all. Tt.-
iirOf ID CD. Thofe who ref here, and the r.
are millions who do, cannot be wrong A. far
IS their creed goes. Thofe who chute 10 %
further mry u SOrssE, for IL is impoiIi5le that
all can be right 6ncc there Is 70 much contra !
dicton among them. The fiiit, therefore. are
IN my opinion on the fsfel 6ds.
IPrefure you are 70 far acquainted with
ecolefiaffical hitory as 10 know, and the bifh-
op who has anfwercd ne has been obliged 70
acknowledge the fad, that The books that com.
pofe the New Tetfamement were voted by ys4s
and nayS to be the word Of God a. you now
vote law, by the popilh councils Of Nice
and Laodocia, about 1850 years ago. With
refoccf 70 the fai there ID no difpu,e, Hciher
do mention il for the fake Of controversy.
This vote may appear authority enough to
fomc, and not authority enough 10 others.
It IS proper however tha: every body ihould
know the fact.
With rrfpef to the Ast cf Razor, which
you 70 much condemn, ant that | believe
without having read it, for you FAY only that
you bard OF II, will inform you Of cifcum-
ffance bccaufe you cannot know 1t BY other
means.
! have faid in the fra page Of the frft part
OF that work. that it had long been my inten-
ton 10 pubIifh my thoughts upon religion,
but thar had rcisrved it to later time Of
life. have now to inform you WHY wrote
II and Pubithed il at the time I did.
In the hrl place. | Jaw my life in continual
danger. My friends were falling as falt a. the
guillotine could cur their heads of, aud As
every day expected the fame fate, rclolved
10 begin my work. appeared to myfrlf TO be
on my death bed. for death was On every fidc
Of me, and had no time to lofe This &C
counts for my writing It the rimr did, and
70 nicely did the tine and the intention r-et,