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 ABADDON'S 
 
 STEAM ENGINE, CALUMNY, 
 
 DELINEATED : 
 
 IEIXG AN ATTEMPT TO STOP ITS DELETERIOUS RESULTS 
 
 ON SOCIETY, THE CHURCH, AND STATE, 
 
 Called Bitterness, Eph. iv. 31. Compared bv Adam Clarke, L.L.D. to 
 HIE It A PICK A, or The Hoi a Bitter. 
 
 A Medicine of the last century, compounded of a variety of Drastic, 
 
 Acrid Drug's, and Ardent Spirits: administered in a great 
 
 variety of cases, which produced immense evil. 
 
 TO WHICH IS SUBJOINED, 
 
 THE INFERNAL TRIUMVIRATE : 
 
 OPPRESSION, DEPRESSION, AND EXTORTION. 
 
 " Troy soon shall wake, with one avenging* blow 
 " Crush the dire author of its country's woe." 
 
 O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. 2d Kmg&i iv. 40. 
 He that uttereth slander is a fool. Prov. x. 18. It is the glory 
 
 of God to conceal a thing-. Prov. xxv. 2. Thou shalt not go up and 
 
 ; as a tale-bearer. Lev. xix. 16. (ox Pedler, in the Hebrew ,■ that is 
 
 10 say, The Devil's Pedler. 
 
 BY A LOVER OF MERCY REJOICING OVER JUDGMENT. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 PUBLISHED TOR THE BENEFIT OF THE PURCHASER. 
 
 J. H. Cunningham, Printer. 
 

TO THE HEADER, 
 
 THE merciless breakers of bruised reeds, who 
 outknave the Priest and the Levite, in the Gospel , 
 by not only passing the unfortunates, but also by 
 giving them a louring glance, a bad name, or a 
 kick, are humbly requested to apply at his Satanic 
 Majesty's Council Chamber for a license to inform 
 against Swindlers, Drunkards, and other criminals, 
 contrary to Law and Gospel, as we are determined 
 to stretch the string of charity, rather than act upon 
 presumptive, circumstancial evidence, or exparte 
 testimony. " The voice of the country has deci- 
 ded, irrevocably, in the condemnation of CAU- 
 CUSES — that scheme of concealed intrigue and 
 corruption has been unfolded, and called forth the 
 execration of all men who feel a reverence for the 
 principles of the revolution." We contend against 
 the Hydra-headed monster, Slander, in this book, 
 by law and testimony, reason and revelation, be- 
 seeching the people and the elders, to enact simple 
 and distinct statutes, defined and limited, under the 
 purview of which, the court and jury may find the 
 slandering felon guilty. 
 
 To restrain slander, and prevent our civil and 
 religious rights from being prejudiced, and taken 
 away by tyranny, u Experience had taught the 
 founders of our government, that freedom had 
 
4 
 
 been destroyed through the want of adequate 
 checks upon men of ambitious or desperate de- 
 sires ; hence, in modern times, the maxim has 
 been universally recognized by the friends of hu- 
 man liberty, that governments should be founded 
 and written in well digested forms, and not expo- 
 sed 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. There- 
 fore, to the law and the testimony we go ; if they 
 speik not according to this, from the cottage to the 
 id the throne, it is because there is no light 
 them : A part of which law is, Love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself — Whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this 
 (and not lawless slander) is fthe 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, heal- 
 ing, 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 ma- 
 chinery loose its propelling power, the buckets of 
 clattering backbiting, cease to disturb and poison 
 the waters of social happiness, and Lucifer's ped- 
 lers no longer scald, nor be scalded by the high- 
 rectified steam which bursts forth from his original 
 manufacturing conclave iri hell, which has, here- 
 tofore, and, until now, been productive of a world 
 of iniquity. 
 
 Our object is to dissect the hypocritical defa- 
 mer, 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 sanctiiication, 
 under the whining fear of injuring men who are 
 better, politer, and wiser than themselves, bv ho- 
 
 a 2 
 
nest familiarity. We hope to make manifest, that 
 an Hiera Pier a 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 com-* 
 mercial malignity, the regurgitating bile of Abad- 
 don'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 ma- 
 lignants, 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 mattei 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 libel- 
 ing 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 break- 
 ers ; when, at the same time, they are men- steal- 
 ers, character filchers, backbiting pickthanks for 
 slandering pickpockets ; are murderers of more 
 bodies and souls than all the Csesars and other 
 butchers in the universe, both civil and religious. 
 Millions of psalm-singing, doggerel, canting puff- 
 balls, 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 
 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, l< there 
 she comes" when, upon the signal, they all fly off, 
 as those carnivorous fowls, to their respective hid- 
 ing 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 es- 
 tablishing, as far as their influence can have 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 partv 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 
 
8 
 
 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 de- 
 cisions and commissions issued from Appollyon's 
 four courts of calumny ; this also shall be consi- 
 dered. 
 
 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, imprison- 
 ments, confiscations, banishments, and death it- 
 self. 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 not be forced to disgrace himself." Lord 
 C. Justice Treby. Peake. 141. Yet, nevertheless, 
 we, whose mercy is called upon to glory over jus- 
 tice, 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, JEurope, 
 and America, in the churches and courts where 
 such cunning usurpations should not be suffered. 
 
 " In an information against the wife for adulte- 
 ry, 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 
 
purpose of criminating each other ; it goes much 
 further, and precludes any evidence which has the 
 least tendency to it." Lord Justice Hardwich 
 said, " The reason why the law will not suffer the 
 wife to be a witness for or against her husband is, 
 to preserve the peace of the families, and, there- 
 fore, I shall never encourage such a consent.'' 
 Peake, p. 179, 180. How contrary to this pru- 
 dent, scriptural, and legal doctrine, has been the 
 current coin of thousands, even in the bosom of 
 the sanctuary, we leave to the judgment of the tru- 
 ly prudent and experienced. O ! what villainies 
 go down under the garb of power ! 
 
 Partial or interested sheriffs are not competent to 
 empannel a jury : yet thousands of the clergy, in 
 ancient and modern times, have produced, and 
 still re-produce multifarious oppression, by such 
 illegal, partial conduct, to the great scandal of re- 
 ligion. Witnesses are not allowed to be compe- 
 tent who are propter delictum, that is, guilty of 
 certain crimes; still, however, any ruffian, will 
 serve the turn of an open-mouthed, hard-hearted, 
 humped-up railer, with a beam in his eye ! Jurors 
 must not be propter defectum, defective in under- 
 standing ; yet weak heads and narrow hearts often 
 serve the turn of ambitious judges better than long 
 heads or strong heads. Jurors are not allowed to 
 be propter affectum, that is, given to bias or par- 
 tiality ; nevertheless, those are always the choice 
 of the judges who form the devil's council cham- 
 ber of injustice, conclave, and exparte defamation. 
 Jurors must be omni exceptione majoTes ; that is 
 to say, above or beyond all exception. 
 
 This is what we ought to aim at, namely, to lay 
 aside partiality and tyranny. If a juror mentions 
 anv thins: against the accused, which was not said 
 
10 
 
 ill open court, it vitiates and destroys the verdict ; 
 yet thousands of sacerdotal conclaves in caucuses, 
 throughout the four quarters of the globe, have al- 
 lowed the introduction of such private villainies, 
 without even admitting the person accused to have 
 any hand in the oppressive ecclesiastical laws, un- 
 der the purview of which they were to have their 
 civil and religious rights administered, prejudiced, 
 and taken away, or even to appear, as did the hea- 
 then Romans, by impartial impleadings face to 
 face. This is lording it over God's heritage with 
 a witness, with no better satisfaction, check, or re- 
 muneration, than the inflammatory haughty answer, 
 that " we are sent of God to rule over you." Upon 
 this point the church has been much harrassed ; 
 we do not pretend, in the present work, to enter 
 upon what is too heavy for us, we mean church 
 government ; but just to give some hints to those 
 whom Paul calls novices, that is, " young plants," 
 "puffed up" like bladders, " puff balls." 
 
 Although not learned, we may receive help to 
 the meaning of the word Slander, in two or three 
 languages ; shewing in association some law au- 
 thorities. With diffidence we object to the pre- 
 sent mode of punishing slanderers, and would re- 
 commend statute law well defined by the legisla- 
 ture; that when the slanderer of malice and felony 
 committed evils as great as other murderers and 
 thieves; he should, when it was legally proved 
 upon him, suffer equal punishment ; still leaving 
 it with the jury under the direction of the court to 
 find guilty, according to the intention of the legis- 
 lature. We therefore have drawn up a number of 
 indictments, as though such laws were actually in 
 force ; the objections to such statutes, from the dif- 
 ficulty of the mode of proof, and the number of 
 
11 
 
 guilty persons, should be no objection to such acts ; 
 for, in the first place, the law in Virginia of 1810, 
 to punish whoever had a slandering hand in a duel, 
 had a happy and immediate effect, to break up the 
 fire and brimstone consequences of those vallainies; 
 and secondly, the longer the legislature put off pun- 
 ishing the slandering thief and murderer, the more 
 will the iniquity increase in the community, until, 
 as in the reign of Antoninus Pius and Commodus, 
 the malicious state informer or prosecutor is severe- 
 ly punished, even with death, one of whom had his 
 legs broken by Perennius, in the reign of Commo- 
 dus, for informing against that great philosophical 
 christian, Apollonius. 
 
 You ask why we harp so much upon one string ? 
 We answer, because all men are set as spies up- 
 on each other ; because the preachers have harped 
 upon the other strings till they have made the slan- 
 dering s'ring too strong for the rest ; because pop- 
 ulation languishes under slander; because the states 
 and the churches are poisoned therewith ; the winds 
 putrescent thereby ; fatherless, widows, slaves, or- 
 phans, and strangers, with mechanics, merchants, 
 sailors, farmers, and preachers, are ruined by it : 
 officers upon sea and land are broke and kept back 
 from promotion by its fangs ; and men in power 
 belied by the envious, ambitious, and avaricious ; 
 because St. James wrote almost all his epistle 
 against it ; Moses and the prophets, Jesus Christ 
 and the apostles called it stealing, foolishness, hy- 
 pocrisy, lies, murder, and a world of iniquity ! 
 
 Why does a citizen run with a bucket ? A 
 house, a city is on fire ; and shall we stand all the 
 day idle, and see this Canaan turned into an acel- 
 dema, a field of blood, of fire, the fire of hell, and 
 not run with our buckets of law and Gospel? 
 
12 
 
 Let us form the line, and pass the water of Chris- 
 tian faith, love, meekness, gentleness, and unwea- 
 ried diligence, until the fire engine of charity, fed 
 from the water of life, shall have extinguished the 
 electric daemon, slander, and thrown his infernal ri- 
 der, the complicated steam boat of political, mecha- 
 nical, mercantile, incontinent, sensual, and all reli- 
 gious illicit smuggling, trading, and pedling, into 
 the shoreless, bottomless sea of the love of God 
 and man ; so shall there be a great calm. 
 
13 
 
 Commonwealth of 'Israel, to xvit : 
 
 The law and the testimony, Moses and the 
 prophets, Messiah and the apostles, do present ibr 
 Jehovah, the King, the Lord ol Hosts, that, where- 
 as, hard-hearted malignant, envious invidious, co- 
 vetous lovemoney, ambitious terrorum, vain dou- 
 ble-tongue, hypocritical beam eye, young inflated 
 novice, worrying Lord over God's heritage ; with 
 a troop of church gossippers and state lickplates, 
 of the church of the malignants, all being devil's 
 pedlers and postriders in the circulation of slander, 
 not having" the fear of God before their eyes, but 
 being moved and seduced by the instigation of the 
 devii, at every favorable opportunity, in the reign 
 of the King, whose name is the Lord of Hosts, 
 King, defender of the faith that works by love, and 
 plays no slandering slight of hand ; in this reign, 
 we repeat, in the parish of political shuffling, and 
 religious scuffling, and in all the wards and ward- 
 robes of whispering, backbiting, and hating of God, 
 as aforesaid, and with force of arms, of railing and 
 controversial preaching, in the places aforesaid, fe- 
 loniously, and of their aforethought malice, in and 
 upon sincere lover, one flesh, husband and wife, 
 disappointed, broken heart, sinking Peter, rising 
 Corinthian, weeping and returning prodigal, for- 
 given David, sobbing and grateful Magdalene, 
 then and there, in the peace ot God, and of the 
 said Lord of Hosts, the only lawful King then be- 
 ing, made an assault, and slandering church af- 
 fray, and the aforesaid novices, lords, whifkrs, 
 groaners, controversial priests, hard-hearted Le- 
 vites, bruisers of broken reeds, whisperers, state 
 and church receivers, tea, wine, grog, snuffing and 
 smoking slanderers, double-tongued, high-eyed, 
 
 B 
 
14 
 
 tossing-nosed railers, a certain hell-fire machine, 
 called the Leviathan calumny, with two hundred 
 millions of propelling steam boats, puffiing and 
 bursting with double rectified secrets, which load 
 the weeping, groaning, bleeding zephyrs, and pu- 
 trescent winds, producing vipers, firebrands, ar- 
 rows, and death, which they held in their right 
 hands then, there, and every where, in and upon 
 the aforesaid strangers, fatherless, widows, slaves, 
 free colored people, preachers, men on trial, then 
 and there feloniously, voluntarily, and of their ma- 
 lice aforethought, did shoot off and discharge ; and 
 the aforesaid slanderers, with the destructive hell- 
 fire defamations aforesaid, from the whispering 
 railing guns, aforesaid, then and there shot off and 
 discharged the aforesaid peepers, watchers, novices, 
 puffers, raisers, receivers, and publishers, in and 
 upon the left part of the breast and soul of them, 
 the said orphans, widows, fatherless, preachers, 
 strangers, broken and broken hearted lovers, mer- 
 chants, and returning prodigals, then and there fe- 
 loniously struck, giving to the said returners, bro- 
 ken hearted, strangers, bound boys and girls, 
 preachers, slaves, unfortunate boys and girls, bro- 
 ken hearted husbands and wives, then and there 
 with the leaden bullets of whispering aforesaid, 
 out of the reviling guns aforesaid, then and there 
 shot off and discharged in and upon the left part of 
 the breast of them, the said Mary, doubting Tho- 
 mas, restored David, Peter, and the Corinthian, 
 ten thousand mortal wounds of the breadth of pro- 
 perty, character, happiness, and appetite, and the 
 length of life and eternal damnation, of which mor- 
 tal wounds inflicted by the aforesaid novices, can- 
 ters, puff bails, drunken railers, religious gossip- 
 pers, church Receivers, revengeful backbiters, and 
 
15 
 
 seven-times Peters ; the aforesaid good, bad, and 
 indifferent sufferers slowly, instantly, and eternally 
 died; And that Poll Plot, Bill Blot, Sail Saucy- 
 face, Prating Partnership, Psalmsinging Longface, 
 Parson Pumpall, prying peeper, white-eyed watch- 
 er, leader lackey boy, widow wildjaw, riggling 
 runner, tea talkative, bear-mouthed burlesque, 
 lick plate liar, and trumpeter telltale, feloniously and 
 of their malice aforethought, then and there were 
 present, aiding; assisting, abetting, comforting, and 
 maintaining the aforesaid punners, praters, winkers, 
 raisers, libellers, novices, slowjawed slanderers, 
 Diotrephes's, lion faced lord's over God's heritage, 
 altar-scraping asses, light tongued lasses, and far- 
 rago fulminators, to the felony and murderers afore- 
 said, in form aforesaid, to be done and committed ; 
 and so the aforesaid iterating and reiterating slan- 
 derers, the aforesaid slighted stranger, weeping 
 widow, blackened backslider, returning and zea- 
 lous Peter, poor prodigal, and weeping Mary afore- 
 said, in the parish of cup evidence, and wards of 
 church conclave causes, bar browbeat, coquette in- 
 grate, pulpit inflate, and slowjawed long hate afore- 
 said, in manner and form aforesaid, feloniously, vo- 
 luntarily, and of their forethought malice, slighted, 
 slandered, received slanders against, robbed, mur- 
 dered, and brought to damnation, the name, fame, 
 appetite, happiness, peace, property, reason, imagi-. 
 nation, memory, judgment, life and soul of the 
 aforesaid innocents, penitents, Mary's, Peter's, 
 strangers, &c. against the peace of these United 
 States, the commonwealth of Israel, the peace of 
 the Lord God, gracious and merciful, the alpha 
 and omega, his crown and dignity. And that one 
 cholera morbus blackvomit, bruise-reed butcher, 
 browbeating bigot, twittering fidget, jabbering 
 
16 
 
 jackall, despotic dryjaw, ever dropping long ear, 
 judge watch mote, idle informer, search warrant 
 blood hound, rough and smooth receive all ; with 
 a covey of political roarers, goarers, tearers, swear- 
 ers and kidnappers, accompanied by a cloud of 
 punners, runners, peepers, railers and retailers, late 
 of the parish of church gossipping, bar, statehouse, 
 political calumniating coxcombs, naval and mili- 
 tary supplanting, in the county of licensed bespat- 
 tering of infamous memory, not having God be- 
 fore their eyes, but being seduced by the instiga- 
 tion of the devil before the felonies and murders, 
 aforesaid, by the aforesaid envious, malicious, 
 talkative, twitterers, long ears, sharp eyes, tossing 
 nosed, tea, grog, coffee, and wine bibbers, dogge- 
 rel canters, whifflers, brawlers, blating goats, and 
 braying asses, in manner and form aforesaid, done 
 and committed, that is to say, on every interesting 
 opportunity, in the reign of the Lord our righte- 
 ousness, the only King acknowledged by these 
 United States, King, defender of the injured, the 
 helpless, stranger, slave, fatherless, widow, orphan, 
 bound boy and girl, &c. The aforesaid backbit- 
 ers, receivers, publishers, unjust condemners, and 
 quivering cacklers, at the aforesaid parish of cup 
 evidence, bar browbeat, and pulpit slander, in a 
 world of iniquity, as aforesaid, and in the county of 
 •laughing, twisting, grinning, whispering, and ask- 
 ing Foxite questions, in conclaves, by outknaves, 
 whip slaves, jobbers, winkers, tipplers, gluttons, 
 sycophants, church and state bloodhounds as afore- 
 said, to the felonies and murders aforesaid, in man- 
 ner and in form aforesaid, to be done and commit- 
 ted maliciously, feloniously, voluntarily, and of 
 their forethought malice, did incite, move, abet, 
 counsel, and procure against the peace of families, 
 
17 
 
 strangers, and helpless in state and church, and of 
 the Lord God, gracious and merciful, who was, is, 
 and is to come, his crown and dignity. And that 
 political mitigate fine, Diotrephes Divine, Part- 
 nership Pompous, Bishop Bigthought, Deacon 
 Dreadnaught, Elder Redhot, conclave inquisition, 
 civilian caval, flinthearted steel tongue, and bell 
 clatter ding dong, including a long grilling, grunt- 
 ing, hemming, canting, covetous train of insidious 
 vulpine flatterers, late of the parish of Political 
 supplanting, and in the county of Gospel gossip- 
 ping, all being hypocritical slanderers and devil's 
 pedlers, well knowing the said offenders to have 
 done and committed the said felonies, in manner 
 and form aforesaid, afterwards, to wit, on every 
 advantageous opportunity towards the four winds 
 of heaven, and in all places, in the reign of the 
 Lord of Sabbaoth, the King eternal, immortal, and 
 invisible, at the parish and county of Gospel gos- 
 sipping as aforesaid, with slandering force and 
 backbiting arms, did assist in oppressing them, the 
 said weeping and returning prodigals, restored 
 backsliders, oppressed slaves, doubting Thomas's, 
 rising Peters, poor hired girls and boys, bound 
 orphans, true lovers, abashed Ephraims, swallow- 
 ed up of over much sorrow, suffering strangers, 
 broken hearted widows, insane lovers, sinking 
 merchants and mechanics, them the aforesaid 
 rough sly receivers, condemners, church and state 
 officers, gossippers, swindlers, oppressors, &c. 
 did then and there in Asia, Africa, Europe, and 
 America, feloniously, and of their malice afore- 
 thought, receive, aid, and comfort the said slan- 
 derers, against the peace of the said Lord our 
 righteousness, who was, is, and is to come, his 
 crown and dign|tv. . \ 
 
 b2 
 
SLANDER. 
 
 The following is from A. Clarke, L. L. D. upon Daemons. 
 
 " It appears there is but one DEVIL, who 
 seems to be supreme, or head over all the rest. 
 (The Doctor then gives his name in Greek, and 
 observes that it) signifies an accuser, or slanderer. 
 1 Tim. 3. 11. 2 Tim. 3. 3. Tit. 2. 3. Per- 
 haps Satan was called so, 1st. because he accused ox 
 slandered God in paradise, as averse from the in- 
 crease of man's knowledge and happiness. Gen. 
 3. John 8. 44. And 2dly, because he is the ac- 
 cuser of men, Rev. xii. 9. 10. See also Job i. 2. 
 The word comes from (Greek) through, and (the 
 Greek) to cast or shoot, because of the influence 
 of his evil suggestions; compared, Eph. vi. 16. 
 to fiery darts ; and thus it is nearly of the same 
 meaning with (the Greek) he who pierces through:" 
 
 Adam Clarke, L. L. D. Just so, his children 
 pierce through. 
 
 The Low Dutch word laster, s. slander, is ca- 
 lumny, lampoon* 
 
 Lastermond, or foul-mouthed. 
 
 Lasteren, v. to slander, reproach, defame, blas- 
 pheme. 
 
 Lasterly, adj. and adv. reproachful, slanderous. 
 
 Agterklapping, slandering, backbiting. 
 
19 
 
 Agterlrfappen, v. to backbite, to slander. 
 
 Aghter Mapper, backbiter, talebearer. 
 
 The Teutonic, or ancient German word Ver- 
 leumdung, s. pronounced Fcrlimedung, is calum- 
 ny, slander, slandering, backbiting, detracting, 
 detraction, false imputation, malicious aspersion, 
 defamation, defaming, decrying, blemishing, tra- 
 duction, traducing, obtrectation, medisance, French 
 for slander. 
 
 Schaenden, schmaehen, or schmaen, v. to abuse, 
 blame, injure, detract, cavil, defame, vilify, revile, 
 disgrace, slander, vituperate, that is a blaming or 
 finding fault, rebuke, outrage one, put an affront, 
 abuse, blame, injury or aspersion upon him, blast 
 or blot his credit, honor, or reputation. 
 
 He that uttereth slander is a fool. Proverbs 
 x. 18. 
 
 Verleumder, or Fcrlimeder, a calumniator, slan- 
 derer, backbiter, false accuser, sycophant, pick- 
 thank, decryer, defamer or detracter, lastermaul. 
 
 Verleumderisch, or Ferlimederish, calumnious, 
 slanderous, backbiting, traducing, blaming, slan- 
 dering, Verleumdet or Ferlimedet, slandered. 
 
 Verleumden, v. or Ferhmeden, to backbite, slan- 
 der, defame, calumniate, asperse, detract, or tra- 
 duce one, decry, wound, blemish, asperse, or blot 
 his reputation, speak evil of. him, cast an aspersion 
 or blemish upon his honor. 
 
 Who, in his reason, does not at first sight dis- 
 cover how much more original and copious the 
 Teutonic or ancient German is than the English ? 
 And who also dare deny that from the above expla- 
 nation from the Teutonic, there are slanderous 
 trains as well as slanderous falsehoods ? 
 
 We shall, in another place in this work, bring in 
 the French word for slander, with some indisputa- 
 
20 
 
 ble law authorities, as we are not only greatly in- 
 debted to the bench, but also to the lawyers in 
 general, for the little legal information which we 
 possess upon slander. 
 
 Those who take sacerdotal liberties to speak and 
 write with religious and private severity of others, 
 from the example of prophets, Jesus, and the apos- 
 tles, should never forget, 1st. That our duty is to 
 love our neighbour as ourselves, always asking, 
 before we expose a brother, how would I like such 
 obloquys ? 2dly. Can we take the same liberties 
 as Jesus, who knew the hearts of all men, and 
 knew, as did also the apostolic discerners of spi- 
 rits, how, when, where, what, and to whom to 
 speak. 3dly. That before St. Paul and the churches 
 gave up certain persons to Satan, or wrote warn- 
 ing epistles to the incorrigible, or rebuked them 
 publicly, as some of our modern would-be-thought 
 apostles ; they exercised the utmost extent of mer- 
 ciful reclaiming, spoken of in Matt, xviii. Luke 
 xvii. Gall. vi. and 1 Cor. xiii. And 4thly. That 
 Jesus sent word to backsliding Peter of his resur- 
 rection, in tfiree or four days after his public apos- 
 tacy, and restored him to his ministry in a few days 
 after, instead of blasting his fame, as some of our 
 clerical lords do and have clone ; and that St. Paul 
 wrote to restore the very wicked Corinthian to the 
 church, lest he should be swallowed up of over- 
 much sorrow, as are and have been millions by ec- 
 clesiastical harshness, slander, and oppression, 
 which often terminates in the civil, spiritual, and 
 eternal destruction of the poor bruised reeds. 
 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, that is 
 to say, " Every man, as plainly appears, 1st. By 
 comparing this place with verse 34, where this law 
 is applied to strangers. 2d. Because the word 
 
21 
 
 neighbour is explained by another man." Lev. xx, 
 10. Rom. xiii. 8. And 3diy, because in Jer. 
 xxxiv. 17, even a slave is called a brother and 
 neighbour. 
 
 Although the Gospel is called The perfect law 
 of liberty, James i. 25, and that we only seem to 
 be religious if we bridle not the tongue, ver, 26, yet 
 millions " having quite lost the way of nobleness, 
 and climbed up to the height of terribleness." 
 Substitute worryism, lionism, and damnationism, 
 under the equivocal pretext that religious liberty 
 is not altogether republicanism. Love covereth a 
 multitude of sins, 1 Pet. iv. 8. " Yea, love cover- 
 eth all things. He that loves another, covers his 
 faults, how many soever they be ; he turns away 
 his eyes from them, and, as far as is possible, hides 
 them from others." 
 
 Neither as lording over the heritage, 1. Pet. v. 
 3. " Behaving in a haughty, domineering manner, • 
 as though you rwd dominion over their conscience. 
 The word translated heritage, is literally the por- 
 tions, ver. 5. elder or younger, subject to each 
 other. Let every one be ready upon all occasions 
 to give up his own will-" J. W. Yet in the very 
 charge of the Holy Ghost, lording, hearsay, and 
 exparte judging has flown in upon us as the sea 
 upon Babylon ; principles in slander, with their 
 aiders, abettors, and counsellors have been, and 
 are encouraged ill many circles, even in several 
 of the churches, as also by politicians, civilians, 
 and courts, where malicious prosecutors are often 
 admitted, to the shame of whom we shall produce 
 two edicts of the emperors Adrian and Antoninus, 
 on behalf of the Christians : 
 
 " Unto Minutus Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, 
 Adrian sendeth greeting — 
 
22 
 
 I received an epistle from Serenius Granianus, 
 that right worthy man, and thy predecessor, the 
 occasion whereof I cannot with silence leave it un- 
 touched, lest that thereby men be troubled, and a 
 gap left open to the malice of sycophants. In plain 
 words, if any, upon spite or malice, commence or 
 cavil against them, see you chastise him for his 
 malice, and punish him with revengement." — Eu- 
 sebius Pamphilus, book iv. p. 61. 
 
 If all men in church and state would imitate 
 Adrian herein, Luciferian pedlers, postriders, and 
 commercial smugglers, should not be permitted to 
 trade in such stolen goods, devil's love letters, or 
 freights of slander, upon the high roads and seas of 
 defamation. 
 
 Extract of an epistle from Antoninus Pius, unto 
 the commons of Asia, in the behalf of the Chris- 
 tians not to be persecuted : 
 
 " The emperor Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Anto- 
 ninus, Armenicus, Pontifex, Maximus, fifteen 
 times tribune, thrice consui, unto the community of 
 Asia greeting — 
 
 If any be found busied in other men's affairs, 
 we command that the accused be absolute and 
 free, though he be found such a one, I mean faulty, 
 and that the accuser be grievously punished." — 
 Eusehius, lib. iv. p. 63. 
 
 " This edict was proclaimed at Ephesus, in the 
 hearing of the great assembly of Asia, witness 
 hereof is' Meliton, bishop of Sardis, who flourished 
 at that time in his profitable apology to the empe- 
 ror Verus." 
 
 Mark the emperor's words — " If any be found 
 busy in other men's affairs, we command that the 
 accused be absolute and free, though faulty, and 
 that the accuser be grievously punished." 
 
23 
 
 This would be punishing the real malicious sin^ 
 ner, who is the implacable felon, and letting the 
 supposed one go free until prosecuted without ma- 
 lice ; that is to say, scripturally and legally : all of 
 which requires time, patience, forbearance and for- 
 giveness. 
 
 " Apollonius, a person renowned for learning 
 and philosophy, at that time in Rome, was a sin- 
 cere Christian. He was accused by a slandering 
 informer before Perennius, the judge, a person of 
 considerable influence in the reign of Commodus, 
 the emperor. According to the law of Antoninus 
 Pius, which had been revived by Commodus, re- 
 quiring that the accusers of Christians should be 
 put to death, Perennius sentenced the accuser and 
 his legs were broken. In this he obeyed the dic- 
 tates of the law ; in what follows he obeyed the 
 dictates of his own malice, or rather that of the 
 senate. The prisoner was required to give an ac- 
 count of his faith before the senate and the court. 
 He complied, and delivered an apology for Christi- 
 anity ; and by a decree of the senate was beheaded. 
 This is perhaps the only trial we read of in which 
 both accuser and accused suffered judicially." 
 
 If all malicious informers were to have their legs 
 broken, as were those of the aforesaid devil's ped- 
 ler, they would run very few four mile heats oi ob- 
 loquy for his satanic majesty. 
 
 Adam Clarke, in remarking upon Even so must 
 their wives not be slanderers, 1 Tim. iii. 11. ob- 
 serves, not slanderers, (Greek) "literally, not de- 
 vils. This may be properly enough translated 
 slanderers, backbiters, talebearers, &c. for all these 
 are of their father the devil, and his lusts they will 
 do. Let all such, with f he vast tribe of calumnia- 
 tors and dealers in scandal, remember that the apos- 
 
24 
 
 tie ranks them all with malicious fallen spirits ; a 
 consideration which, one would suppose, might be 
 sufficient to deter them from their injurious and 
 abominable conduct." 
 
 What can ail your backbiting religious roarers, 
 goarers, devil's pedlers, and cacklers, answer in 
 reply to this learned Doctor's dissection of them, 
 which shews their alliance with, and origin from, 
 Apollyon the destroyer ? 
 
 The same great divine, when commenting upon 
 Eph. iv. 31, 32, thus unfolds the true sense, verse 
 31. Let all bitterness. " It is astonishing that any 
 who profess tiie Christian name, should indulge 
 bitterness of spirit. Those who are censorious ', 
 who are unmerciful to ihe failings of others; who 
 have fixed a certain standard by which they mea- 
 sure all persons, in all circumstances, and unchris- 
 tian every one that does not come up to this stand- 
 ard ; the se have the bitterness against which the 
 apostle speaks. In the last century there was a 
 compound medicine made up from a variety of 
 drastic, acrid drugs, and ardent spirits, which was 
 called Hiera Picra, (Greek) the holy bitter. This 
 medicine was auministered in a multitude of cases, 
 where it did immense evii ; it has ever appeared to 
 me to furnish a proper epithet for the disposition 
 mentioned above, the holy bitter, for the religious 
 censorious act, under the pretence of superior sane- 
 tity. I have known such persons to do much evil 
 in Christian society, but never knew an instance of 
 them doing any good." 
 
 And clamor — loud and obstreperous speaking, 
 brawling, railing, boisterous talk, often the offspring 
 of wrath ; all of which are highly unbecoming the 
 ?7ieek, loxvly, quiet, sedate mind of Christ and his 
 folio wers. 
 
25 
 
 And evil speaking — (Greek) blasphemy: that *is 
 injurious speaking, words which tend to hurt thobe 
 of whom, or against whom, they are spoken. 
 
 With all malice, or all malignity : as anger pro- 
 duces wrath, and wrath clamor, so all together 
 produce malice, settled, sullen, fell wrath, which is 
 always looking out for opportunities to revenge it- 
 self by the destruction of the object of its indigna- 
 tion. No state of society can be even tolerable 
 where these prevail ; and if eternity were out of 
 the question, it is of the utmost consequence to 
 have these banished from time. Verse 32, Be ye 
 kind one to another : be kind and obliging to each 
 other ; study good breeding and gentleness of man- 
 ners. A Christian cannot be a savage, and he need 
 not be a boor. Never put any person to needless 
 pain. 
 
 Tender hearted, compassionate, having the bow - 
 els easily moved, (as the word implies) to commis- 
 serate the state of the wretched and distressed. 
 
 A roughness of manners is to some unavoidable ; 
 it is partly owing to the peculiar texture of their 
 mind, and partly to their education. But there are 
 others who glory in, and endeavor to cultivate this 
 ungentle disposition : under this is often concealed 
 a great degree of spiritual pride, and perhaps some 
 malignity, for they think that this roughness gives 
 them a right to say grating, harsh, and severe 
 things. They should be taught another lesson — 
 and if they will not demean themselves as they 
 ought, they should be left to themselves, and no 
 man should associate with them. They are not 
 Christians ; and they act beneath the character of 
 men. 
 
 Union among the followers of Christ is strongly 
 recommended. How can spiritual brethren fall 
 
 C 
 
26 
 
 out by the way ! Have they not all one father, 
 all one head ? Do they not form one body, and are 
 they not all members of each other ? Would it not 
 be monstrous to see the nails pulling out the eyes ; 
 the hands tearing off the jlesh from the body ; the 
 teeth biting out the tongue, &c. &c. ? And is it 
 less so to see the members of Christian society bite 
 and devour each other ? Every member of the 
 mystical body of Christ, should labor for the com- 
 fort and edification of the whole ; and the honor of 
 the head. He that would live a quiet life, and keep 
 the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, must 
 be as backward to take offence as to give it. 
 Would all act on this plan, and surely it is as ra- 
 tional as it is Christian, we should soon have " glo- 
 ry to God in the highest, and on earth peace and 
 good will among men." — A. Clarke. 
 i Do all things without murmurings. Phil, ii. xiv. 
 " Without grumblings and altercations. Be pa- 
 tient in, and contented with your work, and see 
 that ye fall not out by the way " 
 
 Ijet your moderation be known. — " The word 
 (saith A. C.) is of very extensive signification ; it 
 means the same as mildness, patience, yielding- 
 ness, gentleness, clemency, moderation, unwilling- 
 ness to litigate or contend ; but moderation is ex- 
 pressive enough as a general term." 
 . " Moderation," says Dr IVT Knight, " means 
 meekness under provocation, readiness to forgive 
 injuries, equity in the management of business, 
 candour in judging of the character and ac- 
 tions of others, sweetness of disposition, and the 
 entire government of the passions." Let rough 
 jaws chew these remarks. 
 
 Lifting up holy hands without wrath. 1 Tim. ii. 
 8. " Having no vindictive feeling against any per- 
 
27 
 
 son ; harbouring no unforgiving spirit, while they 
 are imploring pardon for their own offences." — 
 Clarke. 
 
 Millions burn the assqfcetida of slander upon 
 the altar of the church, rather than be without 
 smoke — and set ten thousand characters on fire, 
 as Nero did Rome, who, in actor's habit, rejoiced 
 at the beauty of the flames from the tower of Ma- 
 cenas, where lie played upon the harp, and sung 
 the tragedy of the destruction of Troy ; just as if 
 we were under obligations to serve the devil by 
 exparte caucuses and hearsay evidence, and bound 
 by Jehovah to endear damnation to ourselves, by 
 doing the unjust work of slandering supererogation, 
 terminating in our own eternal damnation, under 
 the malicious color of punishing sin, saving souls, 
 and keeping up order. " An Egyptian, who ac- 
 knowledged fire for his God, one day doing his 
 devotions, kissed his God after the manner of wor- 
 shippers, and burnt his lips, (as slanderers do by 
 kissing that fiery serpent.) It was not in the power 
 of that false and imaginary deity to cure the real 
 hurt he had done to his devoinest worshipper." 
 No more can the Diana of slander cure her vota- 
 ries, who communicate the fire of hell frosi her 
 volcanic hydrophobia, cholera morbus lips, there- 
 by rendering their touch and sound infectious. 
 
 " We read a story of a virtuous lady that desir- 
 ed of St. Athanasuis to procure for her, out of 
 the number of the widows fed from the ecclesias- 
 tical corban, an old woman, morose, peevish, and 
 impatient, that she might, by the society of so un- 
 grateful a person, have often occasion to exercise 
 her patience, forgiveness, and charity." 
 
 If she were to make application to some of our 
 clerical bishops, they could furnish a hecatomb of 
 
as 
 
 old maids, and slow jawed stale Bachelors, born 
 upon the mountains of division, baptized in the 
 steam engines of bitter herbs and the oil of vi- 
 triol ; bitter, hot and sour ; some of whom can 
 Lord and libel even at the horns of the altar ; al- 
 though it is said that the servant of the Lord must 
 not strive, but be patient, gentle, and meek to all 
 men. Yea, though James iv. 11. saith, speak not 
 evil one of another. ci This grand hindrance of 
 peace — and he that speaketh evil of another, does 
 m effect speak evil of the law, which so strongly 
 prohibits it ; and thou art not a doer of the law, but 
 a judge ofit; thou settest thyself above, and, as it 
 were, condemnest it." Yet, after all these nega- 
 tive commands, the humped up, pinched faced, 
 tossing nosed, high eyed, grunting, and psalm - 
 singing reviler, goes on, like a bloodhound upon 
 full sight or scent, pumping, prowling, and tearing 
 in pieces ! If any one be ever so religious, " ex- 
 act in the outward form of religion, and bridle th 
 not his tongue from backbiting, talebearing, evil 
 speaking, he only deceiveth his own heart, if he 
 fancies he has any true religion at all." — John 
 Wesley. Let every Methodist hear this from their 
 father. You may preach, pray, and sing, as Paul, 
 Peter, Apollos, and David ; shout, and give all you 
 have to the poor, still boasting of inward religion, 
 disproving and fleeing all other vice, yet we only 
 seem to be religious, we altogether deceive ourselves, 
 till our religion is vain, frothy, and ineffectual, un- 
 less we bridle (or muzzle our mouths, Psalms 
 xxxix. 1. margin) andrestrain our reviling tongues. 
 " A seventh article in the character (saith A. C. 
 of a bishop) is, he must not be given to wine. 
 The word not only signifies one who is inordinate- 
 ly attached to wine, a wine bibber, or tipler, but 
 also one who is imperious, abusive, insolent, whe- 
 
29 
 
 thcr through wine or otherwise. Kype contends 
 for the latter acceptation here. See his proofs and 
 examples. 
 
 " Eighthly. — He must be no striker ; not quar- 
 relsome ; not ready to strike a person, who may 
 displease him; (he must not thump, kick, and 
 covvskin Toney and Fanny,) no persecutor of those 
 who may differ from him ;" not prone, as one wit- 
 tily said, 
 
 " To prove his doctrine orthodox, 
 By apostolic blows and knocks." 
 
 Behold them trample on their flocks, 
 
 Supported by each vulpine fox, 
 
 Like tyger, hawk, or goaring ox, 
 
 With flouts and scouts, and outing knocks, 
 
 Then off they soar in air balloons, 
 
 As boreas or hot monsoons ; 
 
 So fare you well, and fare you well, 
 So fare you well, they are soaring home. 
 
 Some roar as Balaam's warning ass, 
 And switch a Cushite lad ;mc>lass; 
 And gold and influence amuss, 
 Yet still they'll preach, we're naught but grass, 
 Adoring all the holy rich, 
 They throw the feeble in the ditch. 
 So fare you well, &c. 
 
 He judges by a sly hearsay ; 
 His vengeance sweeps you in a day ; 
 Or, like a slow jaw'd beast of prey, 
 He kills by smile and stab delay ; 
 And by a cunning Gospel trick ? 
 He props a tot'ring bishopry 
 Soiare you well, &c. 
 e2 
 
 lolV. 
 
30 
 
 FourteentJily — " It is required (saith C.) that he 
 be not a novice, not a young plant, not recently in- 
 grafted ; that is, one not newly converted to the 
 faith. It is impossible that one, who is not long 
 and deeply experienced in the ways of God, can 
 guide others in the way of life. But the apostle 
 gives another reason, lest being lifted up with pride 
 he fall into the condemnation of the devil. It is 
 natural for man to think himself of more impor- 
 tance than his feilows, when they are entrusted to 
 his government. The apostle's term, puffed up, 
 inflated, is a metaphor taken from a bladder when 
 filled with air or wind. It is a substance, has a 
 certain size, is light, can be the sport of the wind, 
 but has nothing in it but am Such is the classi- 
 cal coxcomb : a mere puff ball, a disgrace to his 
 function, and despised by every intelligent man. 
 Should we not say to those whom it may concern, 
 
 ' From such apostles, O ye mitred heads, 
 Preserve the church ! and lay not careless hands 
 On skulls that cannot teach and will not learn? 
 % 
 From these words of the apostle, we are led to in- 
 fer, that pride or self conceit was the cause of the 
 devil's downfall. " 
 
 A young excrescent, loud Walloon, 
 Who fights windmills, and bays the moon, 
 A sacerdotal, proud buffoon, 
 A high ey'd, lordly, fell dragoon, 
 In haugr + 7 dev'lish union. 
 
 Such froggish, doggish, hoggish mopes, 
 Frame whips and seorp'ons, snares and ropes, 
 Like Nero's, Herod's, Hainan's popes, 
 
31 
 
 Blighting our church and civil hopes, 
 By huffing, puffing union. 
 
 See slandering puff balls, light as air, 
 Japan'd all o'er with bishop hair, 
 Behold them stamp, and roar, and stare, 
 As Solomon's not very rare, 
 In bladder, adder union. 
 
 Such men often have for their staff of honor, 
 such persons as the following :— Tim. v. 13. And 
 withal they learn to be idle. " They do not work, 
 and they will not work. Wandering about from 
 house to house. — Gadding, gossipping ; never con- 
 tented with home, always visiting. And not only 
 idle — If it w T ent no farther, this would be tolera- 
 ble ; but they are tattlers, talebearers, whisperers, 
 light, trifling persons ; all noise and no work. Bu- 
 sy bodies — Persons who meddle with the concerns 
 of others, who mind every one's business but their 
 own. Speaking things which they ought not — 
 Lies, slanders, calumnies, backbiting their neigh- 
 bours, and every where sowing the seeds of dissen- 
 tion." — Clarke. 
 
 A slandering truth is the devil's truth : is a practi- 
 cal lie against God, or, which amounts to the same 
 thing, if ye have bitter zeal and strife in your 
 hearts, (saith James iii. 14.) do not glory -, and lie 
 against the truth, 
 
 " True Christian zeal is only the flame of love. 
 Do not lie against the truth — as if such zeal could 
 consist with heavenly wisdom." — W. 
 
 Buy the truth, and sell it not. — Prov. xxiii. 23. 
 What truth ? A puff ball truth, a whipping truth, 
 a sly matchbreaking truth, a roaring bull frog 
 truth, that he got drunk, or she raised the wind by 
 
32 
 
 brawling in the kitchen ? No, no ; but the whole 
 revealed truth, the bloody cross truth, a saving 
 truth, the spirit of truth in your hearts, the love of 
 all flesh, the knowledge and practice of your whole 
 duty and interest. 
 
 A LIE, 
 
 According to Cruden, is, 
 
 1st. A falsity or untruth. Judges, xvi. 1.0. 
 
 2d. False doctrine. 1 John ii. 21, 22. 
 
 3d. An image, or idolatrous representation. Rom. 
 i. 25. 
 
 First meaning — Judges xvi. 10 : 
 
 And Delilah said unto Samson, behold thou 
 hast mocked me, and told me lies ; now tell me, I 
 pray thee, wherewith thou mightest be bound. 
 
 The second meaning is, false doctrine — 1 John 
 ii. 21, 22. 
 
 No lie is of the truth. Who is a liar, but he 
 that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? He that be- 
 lieveth not God, hath made him a liar. 1 John v. 
 10. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not 
 his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not 
 in him. 1 John ii. 4. 
 
 The third meaning of a lie — 
 
 Who changed the truth of Gad into a lie, and 
 worshipped, and served the creature more than the 
 creator. Rom. i. 25. 
 
 Ye shall know the truth, of peace with God and 
 man, including power over sin, and the truth shall 
 make you free. John viii. 32, from the guiit, pow- 
 er, and rnbeing of all sin, from whispers, and all 
 such low, cowardly swindlings, which are cum nt 
 coin with thousands of political and very religious 
 
33 
 
 grunters and roarers, under the lying excuse that 
 they relate nothing but the truth, which, when nar- 
 rated against the truth of God's word, by slander- 
 ing a brother, is a lie, though what is said be a fact ; 
 it being manifest, that all are liars who set up a sys- 
 tem of defamation against Gospel reformation, of 
 unjust, exparte caucus, in opposition to two or 
 three witnesses, and our Lord's seventy times se- 
 ven, Matt, xviii. 22, and of blasting the fame and 
 uncovering shame, in competition with that charity 
 which cover eth a multitude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8. 
 and covereth all sins. Prov. x. 12. 
 
 Every one that is of the truth (as it is in Jesus) 
 hear eth my voice. John xviii. 37 ; which truth 
 and voice is thus iterated: Love your enemies. 
 Matt. v. 44, Luke vi. 27, 23. Whosoever shall 
 say Raca (that is, empty fellow) to his brother, 
 shall be liable to the council, ver. 22. Forgive 
 us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, chap. vi. 
 12. But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, 
 neither will your Father forgive you your tres- 
 passes, ver. 15, And reiterated i\% follows: All 
 things whatsoever ye would that men should do 
 to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the 
 law and the prophets. Matt. vii. 12. Enter ye in 
 at the straight gate of love, forgiveness, and for- 
 bearance, and not through the wide valves of the 
 devil's steam engine, slander, propelled by the 
 fire of hell into a world of iniquity. 
 
 Mr. Wesley's words upon Every one that is of 
 the truth, shall hear my voice, are — " An universal 
 maxim. Every sincere lover of truth will hear him 
 so as to understand and practice what he saith. In 
 truth and love, or faith and love, as St. Paul speaks. 
 Faith and truth are synonymous terms."" — J. IV. 
 upon 2 John verse 3. I found of thy children, v. 4, 
 
34 
 
 walking in truth. " In faith and love." The elder 
 whom I love in the truth, vcr. 1. "with unfeigned 
 and holy love." Ver. 2. For the truth's sake, 
 which abideth in us — as a living principle of faith 
 and holiness." 
 
 What has any admirer of Wesley to say in an- 
 swer to this, who has denied that love is the truth ? 
 Every practice and assertion which professing 
 Christians set up opposite to God's truth, is a lie 
 against faith and love, allowing even what we say 
 to be a fact ; as, for instance, to tell a church or 
 preacher, or for the preacher or church to receive 
 and act upon a slander against a member, contrary 
 to Jesus and the apostles, is a lie, even if what was 
 said of the man was true, a lie against the Gospel, 
 which points out the more excellent way of love. 
 
 Yea, let God be true and every man a liar. Rom. 
 iii. 4. Every man who opposes slandering church 
 government, and secret exparte testimony, to God's 
 impartiality. Yes, let them go on, be condemned 
 and believe the lie, xvho believe not the truth, (of 
 covering sins) but had pleasure (like fiends) in un- 
 righteousness; in expelling, by lordly, partial, hear- 
 say, in a day, againstyto/z and love. 
 
 Brethren, if any err from the truth, " practically 
 by sin," James v. 19. he (who reforms him) shall 
 save a soul — from death, running into malicious 
 and inconsiderate slanders, and haughty puff ball 
 airs; he shall save a soul from death, and thou- 
 sands of others who would be ruined by hirn ; and 
 hide a multitude of sins, which he and they would 
 scratch up as dog's do rottenness and dead men's 
 bones. He that saith I know him, and keepeth not 
 his commandments, (to love ene?nies ; to bear each 
 other's burdens; to restore in the spirit of meekness; 
 to tell his brother between him and him ; to hide a 
 
35 
 
 multitude of sins ; to love his neighbour as himself J 
 is a liar, even allowing what he blubbers out of his 
 neighbour's to be true ; and the truth, of truth and 
 love, of faith and silence, of forbearance, and Gos- 
 pel order, is not in him. 1 John ii. 4. Nay, but 
 the cunning of the hissing, whispering, fiery ser- 
 pent, whose very name signifies slanderer, accuser, 
 or destroyer. 
 
 Again — a disavowal of the Gospel doctrine is a 
 lie, because it is against God's record, which slan- 
 der also is ; as, for instance, no lie is of the truth, 
 1 John ii. 21. 
 
 " All the doctrines of these antichrists are irre- 
 concilable to it," as are those of oppression and 
 hearsay evidence, instead of free and impartial in- 
 quiry, and the loving faith of the Gospel. Who is 
 a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ ? 
 ver. 22. " Who, (saith Wesleyj is guilty of that 
 lying, but he who denies that truth, which is the 
 sum of all Christianity." Here, truth signifies the 
 word of God ; and a disavowal thereof a lie against 
 that word of truth ; of which the defamer is virtu- 
 ally guilty, when he publishes what he should con- 
 ceal. 
 
 The truth that is in thee. 3 John 2, 3, 4. " The 
 true faith and love." I have no greater joy than 
 this, ver. 4. " Such is the spirit of every true 
 Christian pastor." — W. To hear that my children 
 walk in the truth. What truth, Mr. Telltale, and 
 Miss Aitarscraper ? Not, certainly, a slandering 
 truth, which is a lie against the faith and love ol the 
 Gospel ; but a loving perseverance in the whole 
 circle of the Christian duty. Fellow helpers to the 
 truth, ver. 8. preached by the brethren and stran- 
 gers, ver. 5. To receive, " with all kindness, the 
 truth which they preach." 
 
36 
 
 For the truth* s sake, which abideth in us. 2 John 
 i. 2. " as a living principle of faith and holiness ;" 
 not a tell-tale principle. Sanctify them through 
 the truth : The Holy Ghost, which is called the 
 " spirit of truth" who is diametrically opposite to 
 that unholy ghobt, the spirit of slandering, mali- 
 cious lies and truths. Thy word is truth, John 
 xvii. 17. " Consecrate them by the anointing of 
 thv spirit to their office, and perfect them in holi- 
 ness, by means of thy word," saith Wesley. 
 
 Pray Mr., Miss, and Misses Luciferian Trum- 
 peters, how long, think ye, would it take slander- 
 ing truths to sanctify us ; that is to say, prohibited, 
 unscriptural, whispering truths, to make up God's 
 loving, forbearing, sin-covering, forgiving, and re- 
 claiming truth ? And 2d. How many millions of 
 those fine, religious, devilish, stranger-running, 
 merchant breaking, negro whipping, match break- 
 ing, mechanic starving, nymph killing, preacher 
 spoiling, soul damning, and church dividing truths, 
 will amount to the unerring spirit of truth, which 
 is to sanctify us ? Until you can answer these que- 
 ries in the affirmative, we shall beg the favor of 
 stigmatizing your diabolical lickplate, altarscrap- 
 ing, bespattering truth, by the opprobrious epithet 
 oUies against the Holy Gospel of God. 
 
 " Truth is also taken for testimony, because it is 
 a witness between God and man, of God's will, 
 and of man's duty." 
 
 Bind up the testimony ) seal the law among my 
 disciples. Isaiah vin. 16. " By the testimony and 
 the law, or doctrine, he understands the word of 
 God. ver. 20. Law and testimony, the main scope 
 whereof is the doctrines of the Gospel." — W. Not 
 the devil's gospel of slanderous truths, to disgrace 
 our brethren, and prejudice their civil and religious 
 
37 
 
 rights by secret, sly hearsays. Had the prophet 
 have said, bind up the testimony of gadders, ad- 
 ders, backbiters, railers, receivers, and whisperers, 
 and seal the lawless obloquys of supplanting, gos- 
 sipping, devil's pedlers, and tyrants, we should long 
 e'er now have fulfilled both law and testimony. 
 
 Therefore be not thou ashamed — "When fear is 
 banished, evil shame also flees away — of the testi- 
 mony of our Lord — the Gospel, and of testifying 
 the truth of it to all men." — JVesley, upon 2 Tim. 
 i. 3. 
 
 Upon the whole, we might, with the same plau- 
 sible pretensions to truth, say of a puncheon of poi- 
 son, mixed with a gill of rum, that it was the best 
 West- India rum, because it had l best West-India? 
 upon the head of it, as to attempt to pass slander 
 for Christian charity, under the malicious excuse 
 that what we narrated, had some facts mixed up 
 with the poison of asps, which excites us to con- 
 clude this point by observing, that as God and 
 mammon. Christ and Beliel, are not the same ; no 
 more are the devil's slandering, smuggling truths, 
 God's truth ; nor the poisonous, regurgitating, bit- 
 ter waters of Satan's slandering steam engine, any 
 thing else but the overflowings of his highest recti- 
 fied, implacable gall-bladder, productive of the cho- 
 lera morbus of hell, which terminates in the most 
 direful results in time and eternity. How much 
 better would it sound to ask, with Pilate, the cour- 
 tier, " JVhatis truth? What is it worth? What 
 signifies truth ? Is it worth dying for ? Is it a thing, 
 or nothing ? Right or wrong, or mixed up of right 
 and wrong?" than to pass slandering truth for 
 Gospel, law, and testimony. 
 
 If an attempt in the Grecians to check, dismay, 
 and vanquish Philip, king of Macedon, was called 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 by Demosthenes, acing nobly, though their valour 
 was stigmatized as unsuccessful by their malig- 
 ners, shall we be accused of presumption, for at- 
 tempting to neutralize the acidity of malignant 
 tempers and humors, which are forming concre- 
 tions in the stomach, bowels, lungs, and heart of 
 society, productive of, and resulting in, the most 
 direful ulcers, noisome and grievous sores ? We 
 hope not, but that the community will join in with 
 us, in christening slanderers as men stealers and 
 murderers, as Lucifer's smugglers, under whose 
 lincenses, charts, and commissions they sail ; car- 
 rying on an illicit commerce, in blasting good, bad, 
 and indifferent, name and fame, their abominable 
 holds being stowed away with malefic stores, im- 
 ported from the bottomless pit, and trimmed by 
 the devil's double geared jackscrew of defamation, 
 with thecoloursof religion flying, such as moral vir- 
 tue, dignity, decent pride, a religious nod, a divine 
 wink, a holy groan, as if they travailed for poor sin- 
 ners, a prophetic shrug, portentous of future evil, 
 an inflated white ej 'd sigh, or marvellous law ! con- 
 cluding with a long, quivering, sorrowful prayer- 
 smile and stab-signal, L-o-r-d p-i-t-y t-h-e-m, 
 they are the worst foes to themselves, as they break 
 bruised reeds ; shewing thereby, like mount JEtna 
 shaking, that they are loaded with internal fire from 
 hell, or an overcast, angry heaven, the seat of phe- 
 nomena, that a vial of wrath is coming, or, as a 
 troubled, black, inflated, turgid ocean, portentous 
 that they are about to be guilty of shipwreck. 
 
 Our object, then, is to prove them liars, carry- 
 ing on a war in disguise against religion, under the 
 colors of affected sanctity ; against the peace of so- 
 ciety, colored by justice and mercy ; against truth 
 and" candor, under the pretence of truth and can- 
 
39 
 
 dor ; against honesty, coloured under the necessi- 
 ty of putting men upon their guard ; and, in fine, 
 that they S carry tales to shed blood,' stimulated by 
 cupidity, whim; and vanity, and, therefore, ought 
 to be punished as such villains deserve, by statute 
 law, in proportion to their criminal intentions and 
 actions. Many blind guides strain out gnats from 
 the church and* states, and swallow the camels of 
 injustice, partiality; impatience, hearsay evidence, 
 and slander; and with a heart double hooped with 
 flint, a brow of adamant, a forked, barbed tongue 
 of steel, dipped in poison, the poison of cunning, 
 sly, private defamation, pierce and poison thou- 
 sands. Yea, the camel of unmerciful judging, of 
 talebearing, is retained, instead of the following: 
 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse 
 cherisheth her children. 1 Thess. ii. 7. Not as 
 some of our modern, raspish, cattish, lion-like roar- 
 ers, who affright their children, who disinherit them 
 by sacerdotal fretfulness in the nurse keepers, and 
 doctors of the church, who give violent sudorifics, 
 emetics, and drastic medicines ; instead of the sin- 
 cere milk of suffering long, of a 1-o-n-g, patient 
 mind ; instead of hoping the best of a brother, when 
 faith in him fails ; instead of telling a brother pri- 
 vately, until ' seventy times seven,' if he repent. — 
 Matt, xviii. 15, 22, to the end of the chap. Luke 
 xvii. 1 to 5. Titus iii. 2. Eph. iv. 31, 32, Col iii. 
 8 to 14. James iv. 11. 1 Peter ii. i. We want 
 patient nurses, that will not break the bones of 
 the children by throwing them down upon the 
 pavement, for every trifle ; the church nurse may 
 be a slanderer, and often is a receiver of stolen re- 
 putations. Psalms xv. 1. 3. The servant of the 
 Lord must be gentle unto all men, patient, or (for- 
 bearing, margin) 2 Tim. ii. 24. Neither as bdng 
 
40 
 
 lords (or" overuling the majority) over God's he- 
 ritage. Such lords, in seventy, are backbiting 
 usurpers. " When ye received the word of God, 
 ye received it not as the word of men, but (as it is 
 in truth) the word of God. " 1 Thess. ii. 13. What 
 is this word of truth ? To put him out, if you have 
 hearsay, suspicion, and lordly power enough to car- 
 ry the unjust point ? No, no, but in the mouth of 
 two or three witnesses ; not one talebearing cup- 
 cackler. If they will not hear the church. Matt, 
 xviii. Not to put her out, put him out, but restore 
 him in the spirit of meekness. Gal. vi. 1. " It is 
 written, that -the testimony of two men is true." 
 John viii. 17. Dent. xvii. 6. Yet we are come to 
 this, that the whispering of one half- grown girl will 
 do with some of your very suspicious great men. 
 Put on bowels of mercy, saith Paul, Col. iii. 12. If 
 any have a quarrel, (or complaint, margin ) forgive, 
 ver. 13. No, no, put him out, say your ill-bred 
 lords. To the law and the testimony, which is the 
 truth, and not to unmerciful tyrants over God's 
 heritage, against mercy and truth. 
 
 Church governors ought, in all things relating to 
 character, to approve themselves as the ministers of 
 of God, in much (not little slandering J patience, 
 by pureness, (not by impure hearsays) by know- 
 ledge, (not juvenile, partial ignorance) by long 
 suffering, (not to mew, and jump, like an impa- 
 tient cat) by kindness, [wot haughtiness and seve- 
 rity) by the Holy Ghost, (not by the unholy ghost 
 of backbiting) by love unfeigned, (not by brother 
 and talebearing united) by the word of truth, (not 
 by the devil's word of slanderous truth, which is a 
 lie against God's truth. 2 Cor. 6, 4, 6, 7.) not 
 handling the word of God deceitfully, (not whis- 
 pering wherever we go,) not walking in craftiness^ 
 
41 
 
 (going up and down as the devil's pedlers, craftily 
 finding out every villainy, and telling of it to our 
 sly friends;) but have renounced the hidden (pri- 
 vate slandering* things 6f\ Whispering and cunning 
 judging) darkness, by manifestation of the truth, 
 (not of hearsay truth and lies) commending our- 
 selves to every man's conscience in the sight of 
 God. 2 Cor. iv. 1 to 3. 
 
 O ! how little do double rectified church oppres- 
 sors resemble our merciful and faithful high pries% 
 who sent word to backsliding Peter of his trium- 
 phant resurrection, who gave that hungry sailor his 
 dinner, and then restored him to his apostolic of- 
 fice. One of your keen-tongued great men, sharp 
 nosed small men, chissel lip'd cat men, would have 
 puffed at him like a porpoise, shut their snap turtle 
 eyes and lips upon him, like a vice upon a broken 
 reed. Yes, when his mouth was under, they would 
 put down his nose also, and rejoice in the last bub- 
 ble which arose upon the surface, because it fulfil- 
 led their evil thinking prophesy of the heart broken 
 Peter. Shall mankind always submit their civil 
 and religious liberties of justice, truth, and mercy, 
 to such open-mouthed prowlers '*? No, no — To 
 the law and the testimony, Isaiah viii. 16, 20. the 
 testimony of Jesus, Rev. i. 2 ; to the law of truth, 
 Mai. ii. 6 ; not whispering lies against truth ; to 
 grace and truth, John i. 17 ; not to graceless, snuf- 
 fy, smoky, church, or state, slandering truths, law- 
 less nods, winks, and devil's love letters : to the 
 doers, then, of the law of love, Rom. ii. 13 ; of the 
 perfect law of liberty, James i. 25 ; the fu Hi Hers of 
 the royal law, James ii. 8. These are our truths, 
 law, and testimony : upon these principles we con- 
 struct the following pages for the universal good. 
 not for false or lawless bigotry for a partv. 
 
 D.2 
 
42 
 
 Suppose the justices who compose a general 
 court, were, with jurors and witnesses, to hold an 
 exparte council on various occasions, upon hear- 
 say evidence, of crimes committed by certain citi- 
 zens, and prejudge them; thus prejudicing their 
 civil rights, would not the legal evidence of such 
 injustice form a ground for their impeachment, by 
 an action that would lie against them, and also viti- 
 ate and destroy the verdict of the jury, while it 
 would weaken the testimony of the witnesses ? And 
 shall not we, who are called upon to judge nothing 
 before the time, to know no man after the flesh, be 
 upon our guard ? \\ e, who have the charge of 
 congregations, who may, by a single step of severity, 
 upon suspicion, hearsay, or partial testimony, enve- 
 lope and destroy our brethren in time and eternity ! 
 We, whose justice is always to be tempered with 
 meekness, patience, gentleness, and mercy. One 
 word, upon an unhappy occasion, has often produ- 
 ced the most direful results, especially against the 
 poor, the weak, the wavering, and the vexed heart 
 of the stranger ! Let us take particular care how 
 we bark and spur upon our own ground. Why, 
 O why, do we put on that stiff, puff ball look ? 
 Why riggle our japaned backs, sacerdotal hair, 
 slow, selfish bow, and all important self, into supe- 
 rior favoritism, at the expense of humanity, good 
 breeding, honesty, manliness, justice, the loyal 
 law, and our brother's overthrow ? Shall we go 
 to hell for Diotrephes's monopoly ? Our law 
 judges no man before it hear him, and know what 
 he doeth. Is whispering the hearing spoken of? 
 Is hearing one side, by having both sides of our 
 partial cake buttered, scriptural hearing? Is judg- 
 ing in the absence of the accused, without being 
 confronted by the opposite side, by cross examina- 
 
tion, knowing what the poor, oppressed, and slan- 
 dered innocent doeth? Is jumping upon the ap- 
 palled brother like a cat, and \vo»ying him as a 
 mastiff, without giving time for repeated hearings, 
 justice? Is being judged by a prejudiced tribu- 
 nal, justice ? Is it justice, where there is not al- 
 ways a check upon check ? Is it an impartial 
 code or administration, where, I say before the trial, 
 that " I shall say so ;" and " will you do so ;" and 
 " we shall decide so, in caucus fashion ;" and that 
 too, when our all is at stake > and the previous ques- 
 tion proposed and taken, instead of free inquiry ; 
 instead of mercy glorying over justice ? 
 
 We have been long tossed up and down in the 
 tempestuous ocean of political and religious ambi- 
 tion. Exclusive privileges have been sought for, 
 and obtained, by the cunning, over the candid; the 
 avaricious, over the benevolent ; the pompous, over 
 the humble. Many, having quite forsaken and lost 
 the good old way of true, humble greatness ; are 
 climbing up to the dangerous acme of sacerdotal 
 littleness. 
 
 The cogitations and agitations of envious souls, 
 (as bodies surcharged with bile) are overflowing by 
 malignant regurgitations, through the ducts of so- 
 ciety, resulting in the black vomit of defamation ; 
 which, poisoning the atmosphere of all companies, 
 is inhaled into the bowels, brains, blood, and whole 
 system of civil and religious economy. The plague 
 having thus obtained fixedness, discolors the co- 
 ral lip by the deadly, hellish tinge of pale blue en- 
 vy ; the vivid glow of the cheek with sallow saffron; 
 the brow of heaven is perverted into Leviathan fe- 
 rocity ; that eye of sympathy, to the fiery glance 
 of dire portentous wrath ; whilst the smiling mouth 
 gnaws the under lip, as indicative of some deadly 
 
44 
 
 passion ! The hearts of almost all society, joining 
 in the murderous perturbations and undulations, 
 of which those are the signs ; run for, and grasp at, 
 wider fields of power, oppression, riches, and re- 
 venge, until the horrific fangs and spoliations hav- 
 ing long accrued to society, by tyrannical, imbecile 
 servants, having rode upon political and religious 
 horses, trampling broken reeds in the dust ; res- 
 training popular revenge, is thereby heated, as Ne- 
 buchadnezzar's furnace, and burns up their direful 
 malignant oppressors ; or, like mount /Etna, roars, 
 shakes its fiery top, pours down its indignant lava, 
 and burns up the briars and thorns in one day ! To 
 avoid which, let us restrain personal slander ; limit, 
 check, and define, privilege and power. To obtain 
 these ends, we shall consider those words of the 
 prophet Ezefcfel : — 
 
 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood. 
 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood. Lzek. 
 xxii. 9, 12. 
 
 Fine work for Christians to be about. " To car- 
 ry tales to shed blood/' to shed biood by whispers,. 
 for gifts too ; " In thee, (saith the prophet) have 
 they taken gifts to shed biood." If you look at 
 the marginal explanation of tales in the text, it will 
 be found to read, " men of slanders ;" as much as 
 if the prophet had said, lightly as you may think of 
 tales in English they mean slaiiders in the original 
 Hebrew, and although you leave it entirely to a 
 jury and court to punish slanderers, as the jury and 
 court may adjudge proper, without a special sta- 
 tute, yet herein you are guilty of partiality in the 
 codes of your jurisprudence ; for in thet are a set 
 of men and women, who, under the color of the 
 Glory of God, the safety of the republic, the pun- 
 ishment of the guilty, the saving of the innocent, 
 
45 
 
 justify all their slanders : thus coloring the mali- 
 cious murders of the tongue and pen, under the 
 hypocritical mask of pretended necessity, and, 
 therefore, should be restrained by special, defined, 
 limited statute. 
 
 St. Paul saith, " Speak evil of no man." Titus y 
 iii. 2. The slanderer singles out an extraordinary 
 black case of evil, without full proof, only by hear- 
 say and malicious suspicion, and under that pre- 
 tence justifies all hisfelonious defamations. " Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," saith God ; 
 we plead necessary slanderous informations, in bar 
 of the fulfilment of the equitable precept — " What- 
 soever ye would that men should do unto you, do 
 ye even so to them, for this is the law and the pro- 
 phets," saith Jesus. Matt. vii. 12. For which law 
 and prophets they substitute Lucifer's lawless ob- 
 loquys, still crying out necessity ! 
 
 Solomon saith, " It is the glory of God to con- 
 ceal a thing." Prov. xxv. 2. But, contrary to 
 God's glory, the slanderer, as the devil's constable, 
 acts by virtue of his hellish search warrant, and re- 
 veals every thing he hears or suspects, to the pre- 
 sent and eternal injury of his brother. " Love 
 covereth all sins ; but (whispering) hatred stirreth 
 up implacable strifes." Prov. x. 12. Ail honest, 
 still-tongued man, will faithfully take the beam out 
 of his own eye ; but a whispering hypocrite, will 
 steadfastly and suspiciously behold the " mote in 
 his brother's eye." Matt. vii. An altar- scraping 
 tell-tale, a church lickplate, like Peter, can bear 
 with his brother only until seven ti?nes ; while a 
 saint mercifully endures until seventy times seven* 
 Matt, xviii. 21, 22. If a well-bred Christian be 
 offended by, or at his brother, he goes and tells 
 him of his fault between him and him alone, like 
 
46 
 
 a man ; but an open-mouthed maligner runs like 
 Jehu's chariot with Satan's license, and disburdens 
 his heart burning backbitings, to some receiver of 
 murdered and stolen reputations in the church. A 
 faithful soldier of the cross forgives seven times in 
 a day, if his brother repent. Luke xvii. 4 ; while a 
 puffed up, impatient reviler bawls out, " what ! if 
 he got drunk publichj\ fine work, indeed, always 
 sinning, and always repenting ;" and this he pro- 
 nounces with as great a puff as an offended dog, 
 when he sneezes out a load of foul matter from his 
 nostrils, falsely and foolishly imagining that he has 
 a license to alter God's rule herein, because the 
 matter transpire publicly ! Thus, and thus go 
 on the implacable breakers of bruised reeds, as the 
 devil's pedlers. 
 
 When a poor, frail brother is overtaken in a 
 fault, those who are spiritual restore such an one in 
 the spirit of meekness, considering themselves lest 
 they also be overcome, herein bearing each other's 
 burdens, and so fulfilling the law of Christ. Gal. 
 vi. ; whilst an unforgiving, fretful railer, who lords 
 it over God's heritage, thinking himself to be 
 something, because he has the charge of a church, 
 when he is nothing but a double rectified novice, 
 sticks his tongue and pen into the poor backslider's 
 heart, and pierces him through with many sorrows ! 
 A meek and holy saint, above all things, has fer- 
 vent charity, and covereth a multitude of sins, 1 
 Peter iv. 8. ; whilst a pedling talebearer sitteth 
 and speaketh against his brother : thou slanderest 
 thine own mother's son, Psalm 1. 20. 
 
 Having thus contrasted the patient saint and 
 high eyed, malefic slanderer, we proceed to the di- 
 vision and consideration of the text. 
 
47 
 
 a In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood. 
 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood." 
 
 And, in the first place, let us explain what is 
 meant by tales, in the text ; called slanders in the 
 margin. 
 
 2dly. The signs, lies, and theft of these tale car- 
 riers. 
 
 3dly. That they are murderers, for the Holy 
 Ghost saith, " they carry tales to jshed blood 7" their 
 object is murder. 
 
 4thly. That the love of gain prompts them. 
 " They have taken gifts to shed blood." 
 
 Inquire we, then, what is meant by tales ? 
 
 You will not forget that tales in the text, is call- 
 ed slanders in the old marginal Hebrew ; so that, 
 according to the Hebrew, a talebearer, (not barely 
 a liar J is a slanderer; that is to say, any kind of 
 tales, productive of mischief, or loss, are slanders, 
 whether those tales be false or true — For it matters 
 not to the sister or brother, whom we pierce by our 
 tales, whether inconsiderate truth, or deliberate ma- 
 lice was the cause of their ruin, for " what signifies 
 the innocency of the motive or intention, when the 
 action is a crime." — Massillon. 
 
 And this meaning of the word slander, is con- 
 firmed by the German, or Teutonic word Ferlime- 
 dung, s. slander, backbiting, railing, vilifying, de- 
 traction, evil speaking, whispering, obloquy, tra- 
 ducing. Bailey derives the verb to slander, from 
 schaenden, literally to scandalize, from the ancient 
 German, or Teutonic, answering to the words evil 
 speaking and backbiting ; either by lies, malicious 
 truth, or iuconsideration ; even a caviler, a quirky 
 or a malicious interpreter is a slanderer, according 
 to Young's Latin Dictionary, 
 
48 
 
 Boyer's French dictionary explains the verb neu- 
 ter niedire, to mean, to slander, rail, speak ill, or 
 revile, to backbite, or traduce. And the word me- 
 (Usance, sub. slander, or slandering, obloquy, de- 
 traction, evil speaking, railing, reviling, or vilify- 
 ing, backbiting, traducing. 
 
 From which overuling authorities we may safe- 
 ly affirm, that there are slanderous truths, as well 
 as slanderous falsehoods, contained in Apollyon's 
 steam frigate defamation. 
 
 The gentlemen of the bar smile at the want of 
 information of the law in those who constantly af- 
 firm, in the most dogmatical manner, that truth is 
 not slander ; and, to their everlasting discomfiture, 
 produce the following overwhelming law authori- 
 ties : — 
 
 " It is no excuse in for o consciencia, (at the bar 
 of conscience( that the slanderous words spoken 
 are true. For malicious slander is the relating of 
 either truth or falsehood, for the purpose of creat- 
 ing misery : for truth may be made instrumental 
 to the success of malicious designs, as well as 
 falsehood- " — Bacon, vol. vi. p. 201. 
 
 Slander, (saith the great law author Espinasse, 
 barrister at law,) is the defaming a man in his re- 
 putation, by speaking or writing words, from 
 whence any injury in character or property arises, 
 or may arise, to him of whom the words are used." 
 — Espinasse *s Digest, p. 196, chap. x. 
 
 And the great Paiey, in his Moral Philosophy, 
 quarto edition, p. 191, says, " that there is such a 
 kind of slander as may be denominated inconsider- 
 ate:' 
 
 " Inconsiderate slander, (saith he) consists in the 
 want of that regard to the consequences of our con- 
 duct, which a just affection for human happiness, 
 
49 
 
 and a concern for our duty, would not have failed 
 to have produced in us. And it is no answer to 
 this crimination to say, that we entertained no 
 evil design." 
 
 Some signs of the disease called tales, or slan- 
 ders, are as follow : — 
 
 First suspicion. 
 
 M But he was foul, ill favoured, and grim. 
 Under his eye brows looking still askance ; 
 And ever as dissemblance laugh'd on him, 
 He lower'd on her with dangerous eye glance : 
 Shewing his nature in his countenance. 
 His rolling eyes did never rest in place, 
 But walk'd each way, for fear of hid mischance ; 
 Holding a lattice still before his face, 
 Through which he still did peep, as forward he 
 d id pass. ' ' Spencer. 
 
 Behold a room, arrray'd in pride, 
 
 As each sits up a target shield ; 
 Where angled eyes the weak deride, 
 
 And chase them through the coquette field. 
 The vain embattled fops engage, 
 
 In nods, and laughs, and peeps, and puns ; 
 With slowjaw'd spleen, and envious rage, 
 
 As langrage, rockets, grape, and guns. 
 
 Never did a kicking horse or mule shew a 
 greater propensity for a side kick, by turning back 
 the tale of the eye, than does a talebearer, when he 
 gives the same sign of a crooked heart, by a back 
 glance from his angled eye. 
 
 2d. Winking is another " hell spot" of a tale- 
 bearer. 
 
 " A naughty person, (saith Solomon) a wicked 
 E 
 
50 
 
 man winketh with his eyes, speakcth with his feet, 
 he teacheth with his fingers ; frowardness is in his 
 heart, he deviseth mischief continually ; he soweth 
 discord." Prov. vi. 
 
 Take care of all those finger teachers, and feet 
 speakers, for they are sowing discord. 
 
 Whispering is another death spot tinged upon 
 the lips of a talebearer. 
 
 Whisperers are called haters of God. Romans i. 
 29, SO. 
 
 They divide chief friends, saith the wise man. 
 
 3d. Asking questions with an inquisitorial as- 
 pect, the answering of which opens a wide field of 
 infamy, upon which the slanderer would feast his 
 eyes, and feed his malicious heart, proves us to be 
 calumniators of a very deep die. Some twisting, 
 cackling, skipping, sipping, shuffling young twit- 
 terers, have a sarcastic way of squeaking their 
 throats to each other, with a scream of contempt 
 and ridicule, indicative of obloquy against some 
 person or persons present, terminating their turgid - 
 ity by a guinea hen cackle. 
 
 " Another "hell spot," or full proof of a slanderer 
 is, his sheepish, hidden smile at the narration of 
 calamities having happened to his competitors, and 
 upon the prostration of a man who transcended 
 him in virtue, talents, success, and public opinion, 
 to rejoice like those who divide the spoil. 
 
 Again, when we call up the name of an absent, 
 or shew honor to a person who is present, or ex- 
 pose one who is obnoxious to a third person, and 
 that third person wrinkles the nose, tosses the upper 
 lip, kindles and winks the eye, lowers the eye 
 brows, lolls out the tongue, or twists the mouth to 
 the one side, like the handle of a high seasoned 
 teapot, O ! man of God, there is death in the pot I 
 
51 
 
 A very evident sign of a slanderer is, the inward 
 gall which boils out by a stamping foot, a bear 
 grunt, screwed up eye, frowning eye brow, biting 
 lip, shrugging shoulders, shaking head, haughty 
 and menacing mien, when a backbiter is turned in 
 side out by an ingenious and ingenuous delinea- 
 tion. 
 
 Another mark of a talebearer is, when they op- 
 pose those who stand up like men for universal 
 charity, watching every word of their mouths, 
 blackening their motives, joining their enemies, 
 envying their success, slighting their persons, and 
 weakening their arguments ; thus fulfilling our 
 Lord's words, he that is not with us is against us, 
 and he that gathereth not with us, scattereth abroad. 
 
 Ignorance of what evil speaking is, is a certain 
 evidence of our being upon the slandering side of 
 the question. For if we do God's will, by search- 
 ing the Scriptures, we shall know of the doctrine 
 of love, which is of God, and hatred, which is of 
 the devil. Why, and whence is it that so few know, 
 as that great scholar and divine, John Wesley saith, 
 what evil speaking is ? " What is evil speaking?" 
 (saith he). All a man says may be as true as the 
 Bible, and yet the saying it is evil speaking. Sup- 
 pose I have seen a man drunk, or heard him curse 
 or swear, I tell this when he is absent : it is evil 
 speaking. In our language, this is also, by an ex- 
 tremely proper name, termed backbiting. If a tale 
 be delivered in a soft and quiet manner, then we 
 call it whispering. Still it is evil speaking ; still 
 this command, " speak evil of no man" is trampled 
 tinder foot, if we relate to another the fault of a 
 third person, when he is not present to answer for 
 himself. We speak thus out of a noble, generous, 
 (it is well if we do not say) holy indignation against 
 
52 
 
 these vile creatures ! We commit sin from mere 
 hatred of sin ! We serve the devil out of pure zeal 
 for God. It is merely to punish the wicked, that 
 we run into this wickedness* So do the pas- 
 sions justify themselves, and palm sin upon us un- 
 dertime veil of holiness." 
 
 Where is one amongst a hundred of Mr. Wes- 
 ley's admirers, who does not err from the closeness 
 of his Catholic arguments, and come under the de- 
 nomination of those who, when they see a man 
 drunk, or hear him curse or swear, serve the devil 
 out of pure zeal for God, by blabbing it out ? And 
 out of mere hatred to sin, thus commit sin ? 
 Where, we ask again, is one in five hundred of ail 
 the religious world, who comes up to this great, 
 and for two hundred years inimitable, reformer's 
 injunctions? "Resolutely (saith he) refuse to 
 hear, though the whisperer complain of being bur- 
 dened till he speak. Burdened ! thou fool, dost 
 thou travail with thy cursed secret, as a woman tra- 
 vaileth with child ? Go then and be delivered of 
 thv burden, in the way the Lord hath ordained." 
 Matt, xviii. 
 
 And we may add that those who, as Mr. Wes- 
 ley enjoins, do not resolutely oppose slanderers, 
 are also, with the backbiter, out of the holy hill, 
 according to the Hebrew margin of Psalm xv. 3. 
 wherein it is said, or receiveth, or endureth ; that 
 is, he that receiveth or endureth the backbiter 
 without reproof, or the taker up of the reproach 
 which the backbiter drops, is in the devil's right, 
 is out of the tabernacle and the holy hill. 
 
 Having, we hope, proved to the conviction of 
 the impartial inquirer, that tales, in the original he~ 
 brew, mean slanders, and also that slander means 
 any kind of evil speaking, or detracting from the 
 
reputation of another, either by lies or truth, by 
 malicious truths, or malicious falsehoods ; as also 
 having given a few of the " hell spots''* of slande- 
 rers : We proceed next to prove, that backbiting 
 means to speak against a person, and not lies, as 
 some imagine, not malice alone, not misrepresent- 
 ation alone. 
 
 2dly. That backbiters are, as such, incorrigibly 
 incapable of telling the truth, their minds being bi- 
 assed by the devil. 
 
 odly. That, when in a backbiting manner, they 
 tell a slanderous truth, it is a moral lie against 
 revealed truth. 
 
 And first, backbite — This word, according to 
 the great Dr. Adam Clarke, is derived from two 
 Greek words, one of which is against, the other, / 
 speak, literally to speak against a person ; so that 
 the word don't mean, as Wesley Kiith, to speak be- 
 hind the back barely, but any kind of railing, revil- 
 ing, or evil speaking of, or against a person, either 
 to the face, or behind the back. What then will 
 the new's carrier do to keep up his or her trade of 
 telling upon all those wicked sinners, whom they 
 have been in the habit of insulting before com- 
 pany, and to preachers, and all others behind their 
 backs? We know what they ought to have had 
 long ago for backbiting, namely — the penitentiary, 
 
 2dly. We were to prove, that a backbiter is, 
 while continuing in that spirit, incapable, as such, 
 of telling the truth, his mind being bent upon 
 high coloring. To accomplish which, we ask, with 
 Pilate — What is truth? Jesus saith, if I am the 
 truth." John xiv. 6. What example did He, who 
 is the truth, set before us ? Why mercy, pity, 
 forgiveness, and covering the sins of Mary, at the 
 table of whispering Simon, the Pharisee. Luke vii. 
 
 e2 
 
54 
 
 And when a group of women haters, or old slander- 
 ing bachelors, brought a poor woman taken in 
 adultery, for Jesus to accuse her before him, he 
 took the poor girl's part, instead of joining her dull, 
 dry, joyless maiigners, making it the only condi- 
 tion of their throwing a single pebble at her, that 
 they should be what it is impossible for any un- 
 merciful backbiter to be, that is to say, without 
 sin. John viii. 7. And we may further add that 
 he said nothing severe to her, nor any word against 
 her, until the slanderers turned their backs upon 
 " mercy and truth met together" in the person of 
 the Messiah. Psalm lxxxv. 10; as they would 
 do, were we to follow herein, his example. For 
 be it enacted, that wherever mercy and truth are 
 seperated, neither mercy or truth can exist ; char- 
 ity or mercy being the truth, and therefore rejoices 
 in the truth, when it promotes the interest or hap- 
 piness of even an enemy. 1 Cor. xiii. 6. 
 
 " The Church is called the pillar of truth. 1 
 Tim. iii. 15. It holds forth the mind of Christ, as 
 a pillar does an edict or proclamation, that all may 
 take notice of it ; so that the truths of God are 
 published, (not the nods, winks, sarcasms, and lies 
 of backbiters) supported, and kept from sinking by 
 it ; in which sense, teachers, prophets, and apos- 
 tles are likewise called pillars." Prov. ix. 1. Jer. 
 i. 18. Gal. ii. 9. — A. Cruden. 
 
 " Truth is put for the true doctrine of the Gos- 
 pel" Gal. iii. 1. O ! foolish Gallatians, who hath 
 bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth ? 
 And we may add, O ! foolish backbiters and tale- 
 bearers, after what we have produced to prove that 
 slanderers are incable to tell the truth, be no longer 
 bewitched by the malignant, who seduce you from 
 the truth of mercy and truth met together, but im- 
 
55 
 
 itate him who is the truth, in covering and forgiv- 
 ing sins ; imitate the Church as the pillar of the 
 truth, holding forth the mind of Christ, as pillars 
 do edicts and proclamations, that all may see, read, 
 and obey, so that the truths of God may be pub- 
 lished, not Lucifer's obloquys. 
 
 What, then, are those charitable truths of God, 
 the holding forth of which, is the duty of Christians, 
 and of the promulgation whereof backbiters are 
 incapable, while the} continue traducers ? 
 
 And first — " lord, ^ saith David) thy command- 
 ments are the truth. Psalm cxix. 151. 
 
 They are negative, as follows : — 
 
 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer 
 amongst thy people. Levit. xix. 16. If you ask 
 the talebearer where the emphatic word in this 
 sentence is, he or she will reply, shalt, as if God 
 commanded him imperiously to be a talebearer ; 
 whereas it is a negative command, and therefore 
 has the imperative prohibitory injunction upon the 
 word not — " Thou shalt not go up and clown as a 
 talebearer," plainly proving that the backbiter is the 
 devil's pedler, or trader, (as the Hebrew word tale- 
 bearer means, as saith A. Clarke,; when he says, 
 naming a man or woman, he got drunk, or she 
 brawled, railed, or fought in the kitchen ; instead, 
 then, of being pillars of the truth, holding forth the 
 mind of Christ as pillars do proclamations, they are 
 pillars of lies and malicious colourings, turn- 
 ing motes into beams, giving publicity to the edicts 
 and proclamations ol the father of lies, who was a 
 murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the 
 truth. " Lord (saith David) who shall abide in 
 thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill ? 
 He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nortaketh 
 up a reproach against his neighbour." Psalm xv. 3. 
 
56 
 
 Take notice, he don't say he that backbiteth — this 
 is not the emphatic word, but he that backbiteth 
 not. Neither doth he ask, Who shall get, or who 
 has gotten into the Church ? But who shall abide 
 there ? And immediately makes it a test of their 
 abidance therein, that they backbite not, take not 
 up the backbiter's reproach, not receive or endure 
 it, as saith the margin : shewing, by these nots, the 
 incapacities of backbiters to tell the truth, and 
 their aptitude to lies. 
 
 Having shewn who truth is, and that his exam- 
 ples are as opposite to backbiting as heaven is to 
 hell, or truth to falsehood ; as also, that the Church 
 is compared to a piliar holding forth the word of 
 truth, as pillars, in some countries, do edicts and 
 proclamations, that all may see, read, and obey the 
 laws ; as also, that God's commands are called the 
 truth ; that upon the subject in hand in the Chris- 
 tian merchant's account brought forward, they are 
 negative and positive, in which St. Paul joins when 
 he saith, "speak evil of no man" Titus iii. 2. 
 And St. James, speak not evil one of another, bre- 
 thren : he that speaketh evil of his brother, speak- 
 eth evil of the law. James iv. 11. They accuse 
 that very law which prohibits their slanders, for 
 saying, ''speak evil of no man," and they set up 
 an uncharitable system of backbiting against it. 
 Hiving, we repeat, brought forward the slanderers 
 truth, and proved it to be a lie by the negative 
 command thou shalt not, we, in the next place, 
 pledge ourselves to prove it to be a double rectified 
 lie in the affirmative, by the positive com- 
 mand, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
 Thus saith the Lord — " Thou shalt not avenge, 
 nor bear any grudge against the children, of thy 
 people ; but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy- 
 
57 
 
 self. Levit. xix. Until, then, the devil's pedlers, 
 and love letter writers in obloquy, can prove that 
 the command enjoins it upon us to avenge, and 
 would thus read, " Thou shalt" instead of " thou 
 shalt not" avenge. Thou shalt ??o£love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself, (because misers, shavers, slave- 
 holders, and slanderers find this equitable precept 
 too honest, just, and merciful, and the lazy, the 
 robber, and the flinthearted say the way is too nar- 
 row ;) we say, until these points are proved, we 
 consequently set down religious backbiters as liars, 
 though they speak what they call nothing but the 
 truth ; it being evident that every thing is a lie, 
 which is opposite to the written word of truth. 
 
 u I rejoiced greatly, (saith John) that I found thy 
 children walking in the truth." What truth, John ? 
 Why, that ye have backbit, and carried tales be- 
 cause they were true, because ye have told upon 
 every one who got drunk, like hoarse or squeaking 
 marsh frogs, and upon every couple who disagreed 
 hi their families, upon swearers by name, upon 
 liars ; but more especially because ye have slan- 
 dered the poor, the slave, the fatherless, the widow, 
 the stranger, and those who were in your debt, like 
 cowards and assassins. No, no, saith John, but 
 the " truth, as we have received commandment 
 from the father. And now I beseech thee, lady, 
 (you see how he writes to the ladies) not as though 
 I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that 
 which we had from the beginning, that we love one 
 another. And this is love, that we walk after his 
 commandments. This is the commandment, that 
 as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should 
 walk in it." 2 epis. John. iv. 5, 6. As certain, 
 then, as love is truth, and the commandment love, 
 yea, the old commandment from the beginning, so 
 
58 
 
 certain it is, that when we depart from love, to tell 
 what we call truth, that is to say, a slanderous 
 truth, not speaking the truth in love, we are liars ; 
 we are shamed, blamed, and shall be damned, if we 
 continue to think, teach, and practice those slan- 
 derous, malicious truths, which being opposite to 
 God, produced by the devil, evidenced by back- 
 bitings, and declared, by the eternal Logos, 
 his word or spirit, to have been lies from the be- 
 ginning ; for "he that loveth not, knoweth not 
 God, as God is love." 1 John iv. 8. " Love work- 
 eth no ill to his neighbour," therefore true ; hatred 
 and telling backbiting truths, is continually work- 
 ing all kinds of ill to our neighbour ; therefore, a 
 lie. " Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 
 Therefore, backbiting, which signifies to speak 
 against a person, either by truth or lies, is the vio- 
 lation of the law of God, of the land, of decency, 
 honesty, truth, and love ; of course it is hellish an- 
 archy ; 'tis Satan's fore courts of injustice and mis- 
 representation ; 'tis indefinite injustice, irreparable 
 ruin ! Before it is Eden, behind it a desolate wil- 
 derness ! " All, therefore, whatsoever ye would 
 that men should do unto you, do ye even so to 
 them ; for this, (not telling upon your brother,) is 
 the law and the prophets." Matt. vii. J2; cer- 
 tainly, then, as ye would not wish for mankind to 
 " make themselves merry with your faults," nor to 
 tell them at all to your injury, by turning your wife, 
 husband, son, daughter, benefactor, brother, sis- 
 ter, neighbour, debtor, creditor, lawyer, preacher, 
 leader, master, mistress, sweetheart, or enemy of 
 your faults ; or if you were a stranger, to be slight- 
 ed, or otherwise to do any thing contrary to what 
 you would think just by a change of situation ; in 
 a word, " whatsoever ye xooidd^ ought to govern 
 
59 
 
 all our thoughts and actions through life ; but if we 
 do contrary thereunto, we violate the moral, the 
 royal law, and the prophets — consequently, to ap- 
 ply it to the point in hand, we are, in so doing, 
 liars against universal charity ; so self-evident it 
 is ; yea, it must be, that he that will not abide by, 
 and promote Christian charity, will never be bound 
 by truth. Yea, let God be true, but every (back- 
 biting telltale) a liar .•" a liar against morality, con- 
 science, revelation, and God ! 
 
 Having proved, from the " truth of God" that 
 a backbiter, or, which is the same, that a slande- 
 rer, as a retailer of reviling truths, acts from a mo- 
 tive which never can be supported, namely, that, 
 while circulating obloquy, he profess and justifies 
 his innocency of intention, when the action is vil- 
 lainous ; thus doing what is contrary to the royal 
 law of love, upon which his self-love is not, but 
 should be founded ; we go on, in continuation, to 
 illustrate tiie subject by a mirror, a lake, a magni- 
 fying, or multiplying glass. 
 
 When persons who pass by a mirror are thrown 
 upon their heads by the refraction, we then have a 
 small representation of a backbiter who inverts the 
 order of incidents, his mind being altogether bent 
 upon distortion, contortion, and entire misrepre- 
 sentation. 
 
 Behold an inflated lake, pond, or river, all trou- 
 bled, restless, turbid, " shewing a surface continu- 
 ally varying ;■" in it you mark the features of a 
 slanderer, or, which is the same thing, a defamer ; 
 the y misrepresent the landscapes — so do the minds, 
 tongues, and pens of defamers distort the features 
 of moral landscapes; stuffed up with envy and 
 malice, their eyes are red, yellow, green, or biack ; 
 and according to the gall of the heart, and as is the 
 
60 
 
 colour of the eyes, so will be the image upon the 
 diseased retina ; that is to say, as they wish, as 
 they think, as they hear, so they speak, which is 
 always in the marvellous, received and conveyed 
 through a defaced, suffocated atmosphere. 
 
 As is a magnifying glass to the eye, turning a 
 musqueto into a large cormorant, bittern, or grey 
 crane ; a merino ram into an elephant, or a sunfish 
 to a whale ; so also is a backbiting disposition to 
 transform the appearance of evil into the most pro- 
 fligate designs and overt acts ; the lens are diseased, 
 or, as when a multiplying glass refracts a legion, 
 though but one or two are advancing, so, in like 
 manner, the slanderer sounds the defamatory trum- 
 pet of discord, in all companies, setting the world 
 on fire by a small matter, and, therefore, always 
 speaking in hyperboles, comes under the denomi- 
 nation of a liar ; yea, a troop cometh, as the mo- 
 ther of Gad said at his birth : which leads us to 
 consider him as a thief, as a robber of the highest 
 magnitude, an universal felon ! 
 
 " Thou shalt not steal," is broken in upon, and 
 violated every where by those who will not steal a 
 pin; wife and husband are stolen from each other 
 by slanderers ; matches broken up ; workmen pre- 
 vented of, and ruined'm their several employments; 
 strangers defeated in honest attempts to settle in 
 our beloved Canaan ; while merchants and me- 
 chanics are drove upon the rocks of Cilia, and into 
 the vortex of Charvbdis ! 
 
 Solomon saith, Prov. x. 18, That " he that ut- 
 ter eth slander is a fool ;" that is, the circulater, the 
 maker known, he that uncovers the tale ; thus, in 
 like manner, he who utters bad notes, or false coin, 
 is equally guilty of felony with him who makes the 
 bad money. How foolish, then, and lying is, and 
 
61 
 
 must be the whisperer who thinks that uttering, 
 that is to say, publishing the faults of his brethren, 
 is not equally damning, as are the actions of those 
 drunkards, liars, fighters, and swearers, of whom 
 these very religious and cunning calumniators 
 speak with an evil tongue, hypocritical groan, and 
 a pitying, white eyed, long prayer, crying out with 
 a quivering tone, L-o-r-d pity him, he is the worst 
 foe to himself. 
 
 The avidity with which those well known words 
 of Shakspeare have been received, in the Moor of 
 Venice — 
 
 " He who steals my purse is a trash thief; 
 
 " But the pilferer of my good name, 
 
 ei Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
 
 " And makes me poor indeed." 
 
 We repeat, the universal agreement of all Chris- 
 tendom with that historical great dramatic poet, in 
 that sentiment, proves that slanderers are consi- 
 dered as the most enormous thieves in society ; and 
 that we no longer should hesitate to call them fe- 
 lons, but have a "Be it enacted" as well as a thus 
 saith the Lord, Surely no one can be so ignorant 
 as not to know that there is one thousand dollars 
 worth robbed from mankind by the tongue and 
 pen, for one hundred by* the fingers in the pick- 
 pocket way ; by signs from Satan's signal book of 
 defamation, such as his telegraphical conveyances, 
 which is enough to make us cry out as Cicero, 
 " O Cataline, how long shall we bear with you ?" 
 O slanderers, O Satan's pedlers, ye privileged 
 fire brands of society, ye barking, biting, dogs of 
 hell ! how long shall we bear with you ? Ye plod- 
 ders, winkers, and nodders, who pray Lord pity 
 them, they are the worst foes to themselves, then 
 stab by the harpoon of the tongue, praying for, 
 
 F 
 
62 
 
 smiling at, whispering against, feeding, clothing, 
 and robbing all around ! How ridiculous do we 
 appear to ourselves while declaring against slander, 
 and yet caress backbiters, as the favored, spoil- 
 ed Joseph's of the church and state ? Instead of 
 consigning them to the penitentiary, we leave it 
 with a jury without a penal statute equal or pro- 
 portionate in punishment and obloquy to other 
 criminalites. If there were an act of assembly, 
 which would punish the slandering thief who steals 
 by the tongue, as well as those who steal with the 
 hands, then, in that case, the jury could find them 
 guilty under such an act, as in cases of lar- 
 ceny, without affecting either the trial by jury, the 
 liberty of speech, or of the press, an act which 
 would provide for the liberty of canvassing the 
 conduct and character of our public agents by the 
 tongue and pen, as those are amenable to the peo- 
 ple, as their trustees and guardians. 
 
 Then, when a jury would find against a back- 
 biter, he could not as he now can, swear out by the 
 insolvent act, but must, like a double distilled villain 
 go into the clang click house of correction ; even a 
 citp cackler could not then break up a character or 
 a match with impunity, and thus impede popula- 
 tion. If a man has anything against another, let 
 him forgive like a Christian, or sue at law, as a 
 man, and not slander by words or letters, like the 
 devil's pedler! Suppose a person to be going 
 about with a torch, burning the world before him, 
 another with a naked dagger stabbing, and a third 
 with a case of pistols sho >ting all he meets, would 
 society not wrest the fire from the incendiary, the 
 dagger from the assassin, and the pistol out of the 
 hands of the murderer ? And shall not we then 
 cut out the tongue of the slanderer for burning so- 
 
63 
 
 ciety, cut off the hand of Lucifer's letter writers, 
 and suffocate that throat of Cerberus for being like 
 an open sepulchre of hell, by swallowing up all 
 around '? More especially as the rattlesnake gives 
 warning before it bites, the lion roars before it tears 
 in pieces, the dog barks ere he bites, but the sly, 
 insidious whisperer has robbed you of all your fu- 
 ture joys, before you discovered his or her hand, 
 or heard their voice speaking out of the dust ; your 
 character is decided upon in your absence ; no- 
 thing, in a few hours, has amounted to most des- 
 tructive realities ; the tale accumulates as it goes, 
 and the mark of eternal infamy is stamped upon 
 you from Dan to Bersheba ; and all this by the 
 devil's four courts of injustice ; the companion of 
 your bosom is alienated from you, neighbours and 
 friends turn away, the object of your future expec- 
 tations tosses up the nose at you ; money, trade, 
 food, clothing, friends are all gone, gone for ever ; 
 down you sink, brood, and languish under the op- 
 pressive, overwhelming load, until a house of bad 
 fame entraps one, frost kills another, a third is 
 starved with his family for want, a fourth drowns 
 herself, a fifth stabs, a sixth shoots, a seventh poi- 
 sons, an eighth hangs himself, while another swal- 
 lows a dose of laudanum ; thousands are scattered 
 from their homes, and expire in the midst of want, 
 waves, wild beasts of prey, more desirable than 
 domestic obloquy. But the evil to the slave and 
 stranger is not to be conceived, suspected in peace, 
 arrested in war, made capable of every villainy, and 
 accountable for every tumult ; accused of insatiate 
 ambition in the church as well as the state, he is 
 slighted, hooted, trampled upon, and cast out ; 
 juries are incensed against him, without having 
 one half of that body made up of foreigners to pre 
 
64 
 
 vent national partiality ! His talents are underrat- 
 ed, his good evil spoken of, his way headed up by 
 cowards, the envious and the malignant, and O 
 tell it not in Gath, even his religious friends, and 
 among the in some ambitious little would be- lords 
 over God's heritage, who are perpetually riggling 
 for favoritism, supplant them in whispers, letters, 
 peeps, shrugs, and other low-bred, cunning devi- 
 ces ; and thus make up in policy, the policy of lit- 
 tleness and slander, what they want in education, 
 religion, knowledge, and talents. So abominable 
 is it to set up for a colonel's or a general's place 
 in the church, when we possess only the capacities 
 of imbecility, envy, avarice, sycophancy, and par- 
 tiality, to fiil them ; when this is the case, corrup- 
 tion succeeds to reformation, the poor, the slave, 
 and the stranger, neglected and trampled upon, in 
 the church and the state, will approximate us to 
 the European aggrandizement of the clergy; and 
 then the next thing, is a general assessment for 
 
 preachers, and then- until some high 
 
 toned corrupter introduces civil, through religious 
 and military despotism ; to guard against which, 
 let us arise and punish, by statute law, the slan- 
 derer, the universal thief and murderer, without in- 
 fringing the trial by jury, or the safe developement 
 of public characters. 
 
 If a man stabs at you, you may parry it, if he 
 shoots, he may miss you ; if he kills you, you no 
 more feel the sting of death ; but the villainous tale 
 hits, and mortally wounds you, whether false or 
 true, until you at last expire, having suffered ten 
 thousand deaths. What, saith the crafty maligner, 
 do you think of a man who did so ; what, said the 
 other ? oo ! saith he or she, with a shrug, like a 
 humped up crane turning up the white of his eyes, 
 
65 
 
 shivering as under a tertain ague, and groaning in 
 malignant hypocrisy as one who travaileth ! And 
 what is still an aggravation of the evil is, that al- 
 though the whisperer stab, shoot, and kill, sticking 
 his or her tongue in your heart strings, barbed and 
 poisoned, though they steal all you are, or ever 
 shall be worth, by the tongue and pen, there is not 
 a single law equal to punish them ; or, if you call 
 him a thief, he may sue and recover damages, be- 
 cause that no law will justify such an epithet to a 
 slandering felon. How necessary, then, to make a 
 beginning, to call them thieves by law, and let 
 the jury mid them guilty under the direction of 
 the court. 
 
 Rollin informs us, that " the false accuser was 
 condemned to undergo the punishment which the 
 person accused was to have suffered, had the accu- 
 sation been proved ;" certainly he is a murderer at 
 the bar of conscience. This perfectly agrees with 
 what our Lord threatens to the flint hearted slan- 
 derer, saying, with what measure ye mete, it shall 
 be measured to you again ; and the prophet Oba- 
 diah pronounces, as thou hast done, so it shall be 
 done unto thee ; thy rexvard shall return upon thine 
 own head. Solomon observes, that he that diggeth 
 a pit shall fall into it. 
 
 The restrictive law in the revised code of Vir- 
 ginia, vol. i. p. 294, under the title * False News,' 
 is a weak preventive Justice; as it is small in its 
 penalty, as a rule of remunerative or distributive 
 justice. That act makes the circulator of ' false 
 news' pay only forty dollars, and binds him to keep 
 the peace if he does not give up the author, which 
 is but a weak restraint upon the Leviathan slander ; 
 but little satisfaction to injured society, and an 
 unsatisfactory cord to bind the hands of the almost 
 
 f2 
 
66 
 
 ruined person from taking revenge. Whereas, 
 were malicious slander, which compasses, which in> 
 teiids death, which procures killing, punished, as 
 are other accessaries to murder, there would then 
 be some equivalence in the penalty to the crime, 
 as well as equality and impartiality in the legisla- 
 ture, the code, and the administration of justice. 
 For instance, when the " circulator of false news," 
 procures the chasing of a man off from his home, 
 his property, country, and friends, or is circulated 
 out of his circulation, by being stabbed, shot, poi- 
 soned, or, what is worse, by legal murder, through 
 Luciferian circulation of lies, mammoth truths, or 
 persons bribed into circulations by the power of 
 gold, paper, and silver circulating mediums, pro- 
 curing cuts, beatings, batterings, abu sings, confis- 
 cations, banishments, breaking off marriages, part- 
 ing married people's hearts, what a pop gun is forty 
 dollars as a penalty ? Or, when slaves, strangers, 
 poor bound boys and girls, lose their reputation by 
 irreputable news through Satan's eating, drinking, 
 laughing, winking, shrugging, grinning, nodding, 
 grunting, groaning, whining, cackling, writing, 
 singing, canting, praying slanderers, with all the 
 signs in his calumniating signal books, and tele- 
 graphic dispatches, you might as well look for the 
 check or overthrow of false, malicious, or inconsi- 
 derate slanders by your forty dollar penalty, as to 
 expect the blowing of all our ships of war out of 
 the water, with all our brave tars within them, by 
 the far fetched breath of European bulls, bull frogs* 
 and bull dogs, assisted by Algerines, &.c. Slander, 
 as the behemoth of Job, has iron loins, gall navel, 
 sinews of spring steel, ribs of brass, and a heart of 
 flint ; or like great Leviathan, who is able to stand 
 before him ? Lay thine hand upon him, remember 
 
67 
 
 the battle, do no more. Shall not one be cast down 
 even at the sight of him? None is so fierce that 
 dare stir him up ; who then is able to stand before 
 him ? Who can discover the face of his garment ? 
 Or who can come to him with his double bridle ? 
 Who can open the doors of his calumniating face? 
 His ad^er teeth are terrible round about ; his scales 
 of excuses, supported by jury decisions, church 
 oppressions, and neighbourhood scandals, for de- 
 famation, are his pride, shut up together in civil 
 and religious hypocrisy, as with a close seal ; one 
 excuse (like the scales of LeviatharO is so near to 
 another, that as no air can come between the scales 
 of the one, so no law, jury, nor penalty, can come 
 between the excuses and exculpations of the other ; 
 for the whisperer's apologies are so closely com- 
 pacted one to another, that they stick together so 
 that they cannot be sundered ; by his sneezings, a 
 false light doth shine as an ignis-fatitus, and his 
 eyes, to the credulous, suspicious, and ambitious, 
 are like the eye lids of the morning ; out of his 
 slandering mouth go burning lamps, fed by gall, 
 wormwood, and ratsbane, blackening, burning, 
 and poisoning the atmosphere, while sparks of fire 
 leap out from the tongue ; out of his snorting nos- 
 trils goeth a sneering smoke, as out of a seething 
 pot or caldron, or a clattering steam boat of hell, 
 bursting and scalding all around ; his hypocritical, 
 tarnishing breath kindleth the coals of anger, ma- 
 lice, wrath, guile, envy, jealousy, and revenge, and 
 a flame goeth out of his mouth set on fire of hell, 
 and productive of a world of iniquity, as though 
 hell and earth had the cholera morbus of implaca- 
 ble bitterness. In his selfish, stiff neck remaineth 
 strength, and joy is turned into sorrow, into the 
 shadow of death before him ; the flakes of his con- 
 
68 
 
 catenated malignity are joined together ; they are 
 firm in themselves, and supported by Abaddon's 
 pandemonium phalanx, so that they cannot be 
 moved ; the slanderer's heart is as firm as a stone ; 
 yea, as hard as a piece of the nether mill stone, 
 " double hooped with flint," with a steel, poison- 
 ed, serpentine tongue. When slander raiseth up 
 himself, the mighty are afraid ; the sword of him 
 that laveth at him, cannot hold for want of law and 
 merciful churches ; the spear of conscience, the 
 dart of common law and revenge, nor the haber- 
 geon of God's eternal, vindictive, just remunera- 
 tion ; for he estetmeth the iron hand of law as 
 straw, and the brass ot conscience as rotten wood. 
 The darts of education and public opinion, unsup- 
 ported by statute, are, by him, counted as stubble ; 
 lie laugheth at the shaking of the spear of the mon- 
 ster, death ; sharp stones are under his rough shod 
 feet ; he spreadeth sharp pointed railings and revil- 
 ings upon the mire of the muddy circles in which 
 he moves through church and state ; he maketh the 
 deep of this malicious world by the buckets of his 
 steam boat slander, to boil withamaddenningrage, 
 like the devil's brew pot ; he maketh the sea of this 
 collected, inflated, muddled universe smooth and 
 slow, by bribes and friends, for his defamatory pur- 
 poses, like a pot of ointment ; he maketh thick 
 darkness after him — a darkness which blinds, ad- 
 mits of no dissipating light — a darkness which 
 may be felt ; one would think the deep to be hell. 
 " O Cataline, how long shall we bear with you ?" 
 O that the Hercules of the law and the Gospel, 
 may conquer the hydra slander upon the fields of 
 equal justice, mercy, and truth. 
 
 " Troy soon shall wake, with one avenging blow 
 Crush the dire author of its country's woe." 
 
69 
 
 Among which, let us take notice of the unjust 
 coward's previous question. 
 
 Doth our law judge any one before it hear him, 
 (saith Nicodemus) and know what he doeth? 
 John vii. 51. What is it to hear and know ? Hear 
 also Jesus. " It is also written that the testimony 
 of two men is true." John viii. 17. What is tes- 
 timony ? Certainly not hearsay evidence ; for saith 
 M'Nally upon evidence, the sixth rule is, that 
 hearsay is no evidence ; hearsays are lies, are ma- 
 licious and inconsiderate truths circulated from, 
 and for the devil's four courts of unmercifulness, 
 cruelty, hypocrisy, and injustice. A witness is 
 sworn to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth : 
 " He must not be a council or attorney of either 
 party, or interested in the event of the cause." — 
 Abridgement of the laws of the United States, by 
 William Graydon, esq. p. 248. 
 
 Now, Mr. and Misses whisperers, put your 
 signgiving hands to your hearts and say, Lord, if 
 it takes, according to the Saviour of men, the tes- 
 timony of two men to make the truth, two sworn 
 men, sworn before a court, cross examined, con- 
 fronted by their antagonists and impleaders, O, 
 how wickedly have I taken the cackling of one 
 half, or one fourth grown girl or blundering boy ? 
 And to aggravate my iniquity, have been interested 
 in the event of the slandering tale ! The acritude 
 of the itch for slander produces the scab of dis- 
 grace, vitriolizes, heats, and burns the moral pal- 
 ate, sharpens and turns the jaws into the biting hy- 
 draphobia, thereby communicating through the 
 maddening saliva of the mouth, the plague of rac- 
 ing, prattling, growling, biting, and worrying all 
 within our defamatory reach upon all favorable op- 
 portunities. Talebearing taints, by its putrescent 
 
70 
 
 qualities, the whole of the surrounding atmosphere, 
 thereby (as the fabled Upas of Jaya,) rendering poi- 
 sonous the respiration of all circles. It is the off- 
 spring of the universal spleen of the heart, regur- 
 gitating bile of the liver, and quinsy of the throat ; 
 'tis Lucifer's hydraulics, or poisonous bilge water 
 poured and pumped forth from the alimentary ca- 
 nals of hell, thus inundating the church and state 
 with the overflowings of his highest rectified im- 
 placability ! It ascends through his patent pump, 
 the throat, by the poisonous, ceaseless lever, or 
 pendulum of the tongue, pen, and pencil. The 
 direful contagion whereof, when inhaled, produces 
 a barking tetter, more deadly than the juice of the 
 " cursed hebenon distilled" which caused the 
 murder of Hamlet, king of Denmark, by pouring 
 it into the porches of his ears ; for it is infectious. 
 Slander vitiates the heart, intoxicates the head, and 
 establishes perpetual motion in the tongue, scat- 
 tering firebrands, arrows, and death universally 
 therefrom ! It is Abaddon's compound mechanics, 
 his lever, wedge, pully, screw, and incline plain, 
 by which (as Archimedes professed he could,) he 
 shakes, shocks, convulses, and tears in pieces both 
 earth and sea ! 'Tis his chymist to mix, and phy- 
 sician to convey the subtle fluid to the pulpit, 
 press, bar, and statehouse ; and his mortifying sy- 
 ringe to squirt the muddy, foetid, putrid waters of 
 obloquy. It is Satan's vat to tinge, stain, and give 
 a new color ; his limner, to transform, by diabol- 
 ical metamorphoses, both vice into virtue, and vir- 
 tue into the deepest tincts of vice ; his optician, to 
 hear and see through Luciferian optics, all bodies 
 multiplied and magnified into the greatest hyper- 
 boles ! His muddy, inflated, wet dock of strife, 
 contention, misrepresentation, theft, and murder, 
 
71 
 
 in which his bigoted, partial high priests of calum- 
 ny, immerse the fallen sons and daughters of Adam 
 and Eve, from which they immerge tenfold more 
 the children of hell, than before their descent into 
 that contaminating mud pool of the misrepresenta- 
 tion of moral landscapes ! 'Tis his clerk, to libel 
 by private and public satires and lampoons to satu- 
 rity ; his orator, to calumniate ; postofficer, to re- 
 ceive, register, tie up, and seal ; and driver, to 
 carry mails, nods, puns, whispers, letter bags, &c. 
 Throughout every angle and triangle of Abad- 
 don's race ground, from a novel-reading room to 
 church and state caucus's. 'Tis his pedler, to 
 trade in talebearing, whispering, and dividing chief 
 friends ; his dog, to bark at and worry good, bad, 
 and indifferent reputations ; bull, to bellow and 
 goar; cat, to mew, jump, and tear bond and free, 
 and cat's paw for others. 'Tis his church gossip- 
 per, and state lickplate. Slander is a night owl, 
 to prowl for his Satanic majesty ; to pursue, seize, 
 and kill, making feathers and flesh fly ! His hypo- 
 critical crockadile, to weep over its helpless prey, 
 crying u L-o-r-d p-i-t-y t-h-e-m ;" yet all the 
 while stabbing like Joab ; such tears are enough 
 to scald a crockadile. A brawling backbiter brays 
 like Satan's ass, prays as his saint ; for those whom 
 she drowns in a cup of tea, or a glass of julap; 
 some railers roar, tear, and slay by wholesale and 
 retail ; others blate as a goat, whine as a dear little 
 1-a-m-b ; whisper as a pure nymph ; speak fine as 
 a humming bird, for some silk -furred cacklers, 
 who have been baptised in the Satanic milk of 
 roses, are accustomed to cut throats by, and upon 
 doany pillows with a hiss, whizzing out at last 
 like the rakings of Satan's stagnated sewers strengh- 
 ening the air. A slandering Balak puts out the 
 
72 
 
 eyes with a bribe ; backbiting Balaam curses for 
 it ; it makes a Peter dissemble, a Judas betray his 
 master, and Diotrephes strive for pre-eminence ; 
 Alexander, the coppersmith, slandered Paul for 
 money ; Porphyry, Voltaire, and Hume slandered 
 from an enmity to Christianity : none of whom 
 could be depended upon, where either Christ or a 
 priest was concerned. Slander is the devil's trum- 
 peter, to blow up discord, sounding charges upon 
 life, liberty, and personal security from a windy 
 Xantippe in the kitchen, up to a thundering lion in 
 the chair, or upon the throne of a Ccesar ; it al- 
 ways fulfils the old maxim, " he who acts by ano- 
 ther, acts for himself." 'Tis Satan's cable, spun 
 and twisted upon the whispering ropewalks of hell, 
 one strand of which is the raiser, the second, the 
 receiver, and the third, the publisher. In short, 
 it is a universal, sleepless robber, firebrand, and 
 murderer, which, when supported by power in the 
 reigns of Nero and Dornitian, procured the mur- 
 der of five thousand Christians each day, for years ; 
 it cuts off the wheat, burns up grain, chaff, and 
 stubble ; before it is Eden, behind it a desolate 
 wilderness. A horse thief is honest, the pick- 
 pocket a trash thief, the profane reverend, drunk- 
 ard sober, fornicator virtuous, and even the mur- 
 derer merciful, when compared with the slanderer, 
 whose villainy is called a world of iniquity, setting 
 on fire the course of nature ; it is an assemblage of 
 all sin, a concretion of every vile passion, of hatred, 
 variance, strife, emulation, wrath, envy, pride, van- 
 ity, malice, guile, hypocrisy, all evil speaking, re- 
 venge, and murder. As then it takes an assem- 
 blage of all the criminal passions, intentions, and 
 actions to complete the character of a slanderer, he 
 must be, he is the greatest of all sinners, the most 
 
73 
 
 universal and sleepless felon and murderer ! Why 
 then, do legislators punish other, smaller, and 
 who may be denominated trash thieves, robbers, 
 horse thieves, burners and assassins, by fixed, de- 
 fined statutes ; while they leave such enormous, 
 extraordinary, malefic, mischievous, hurtful, bad, 
 destructive murderers, to the discretionary juris- 
 diction of a jury, without statutary penalties, ail of 
 whom may, and often have been, and yet may be, 
 either ignorant of equal justice, partial, prejudiced, 
 or otherwise corrupted. Merciful and just hea- 
 ven, stir up the people and their representatives to 
 rise, in remunerative majesty, against this all de- 
 vouring, all malefic passion, or concretion of every 
 iniquity, which, while other sins, like Saul, have 
 slain their thousands, it, like David, has slain its 
 tens of thousands, has opened its ponderous jaws, 
 its unsatiated, fiery throat, like the grave, like hell, 
 to swallow up all that is untarnished, feasting its 
 envious eyes, and green malevolent lips, upon all 
 that is called man, like a universal cannibal ! 
 
 What a desolation in domestic happiness would 
 succeed to a developement of all the criminal facts 
 of which doctors and lawyers are in possession, 
 were doctors especially to betray their trust ? And 
 what a noble lesson is hereby taught to the minis- 
 ters of mercy and peace, to so far imitate the ex- 
 ample of stili-tongued benevolent Rushites, as not 
 to tarnish the pulpit with obloquy and fiery defa- 
 mations against other societies, as also to abstain 
 from the circulation of mischievous tales, and the 
 receiving of private communications, the revela- 
 tion of which is called, in Scripture, working ill to 
 our neighbour, dividing chief friends, and breaking 
 through the restraints of the law and the prophets, 
 A slanderous, smuggling, hypocritical pirate, car- 
 
 G 
 
7* 
 
 ries the watch words and signals of virtue and reli- 
 gion, as the sea smuggler, picaroon, or robber does 
 those of all nations. 
 
 Have you heard such a thing? is one of the 
 backbiter's watch words. O, did you hear ? ano- 
 ther. I'll tell you something, a third. A fourth 
 cries, will you tell if I tell you a fine trick ? Saith 
 a fifth, " O, I have found them out." A sixth, 
 don't tell. Lord pity that poor sot, saith a white 
 eyed railer. O, saith another, I know. Gracious 
 heaven ! cries a high eyed reviler, do you tell me 
 so ? " They are all hypocrites" saith a tossing 
 nosed defamer. " I'll be bound," said an old 
 wrinkled faced puckerer. u Phet," saith a sharp 
 nosed gobbler, ' she always was a brawler.' L-a-w, 
 squealed a nimble rainbow cackler, she is a hypo- 
 crite, and he is a drunkard. I d-e-c-1-a-r-e, saith 
 an arch quiverer, I never hide their faults. Pugh, 
 pegh, hugh, hegh, hagh, ha, ha, ha ! say others. 
 Wicked sinners, cried a long toned slanderer, every 
 word a foot and a half long. Some grunt, others 
 groan, others begin to cry whew ! hay ! Lord, I 
 think, cries out a cunning whisperer, a rascal ought 
 to be known. And then for the signals — such as 
 bending, twisting, leaning, peeping and muttering 
 like witches ; for they never can act nobly or man- 
 ly, never stand straight; winking, shrugging, 
 puckering the face, wrinkling up the nose, like 
 dog shaking a hog's entrails, filling the corners of 
 their eyes with wrinkles, shewing the teeth and 
 red gums, laughing at sinking reputations; tot- 
 tering and quivering the shoulders, crookening 
 their claws, startling out the eye balls, humping up 
 the back bone, and stretching out the neck and bill, 
 like cranes catching fish. Also behold them fre- 
 quenting the houses of Dons, slighting the poor, 
 
 a 
 
75 
 
 the stranger, the ignorant, and the independent in 
 sentiment ; they are altarscrapers for favoritism, 
 on high places in synagogues, giving invitations 
 to the influential, and reciprocating them with adu- 
 lation. In a word, this world is their God. They 
 are bribers, and may be bribed in church and state ; 
 and one certain mark of them is, that they have an 
 angled eye always watching to give, receive, and 
 send abroad double rectified squints of partiality, 
 hypocrisy, ambition, obloquy and revenge. O, 
 brother ! Ah, sister ! how does he or she come on 
 now ? O, ho, ho, bad enough ! What, drunk ? 
 Yes, O yes — and they have done worse. Law ! 
 L-a-w ! — tell upon them — have them out; these 
 last words were by a tyrant. Who is that ? saith 
 the devil's turnkey, pumping out mischief. I don't 
 know him or her, answers a cunning slanderer, 
 hitching up his, or humping up her forbidding 
 shoulders, and shaking the head as a spaniel dog 
 rising out of the water, or a blowing porpoise. 
 You'll find out the rascal, said another. I'll be 
 whipped, responded a twitterer, if she is not a 
 strumpet, and he a rogue. 
 
 Which brings us to the next point proposed, 
 namely : 
 
 They " carry tales to shed blood ;" meaning 
 thereby, you have a kind of murderers, who, not 
 having the heroic spirit of the highwayman, or 
 common assassin, slyly, by nods, whispers, winks, 
 words, and letters, destroy men's lives as effectu- 
 ally as though done by lead, steel, halter, pistol, or 
 pond. 
 
 Let us never forget that murder is hatred of man 
 against man, amounting to that state of evil inten- 
 tion which wishes, intends, compasses, and ma- 
 liciously procures killing, by any means wjiat- 
 
76 
 
 ever, and that all who concur in such unlawful 
 acts, whether before the fact, at the fact, or after 
 the fact, in aiding, abetting, comforting, or re- 
 ceiving the killers, are guilty of murder. Apply 
 this to historical testimony, the arsenal of expe- 
 rience, upon the facts for which we contend ; search 
 we beseech you, this blood stained field by retro- 
 spective experience, and the horrific, black, dire- 
 ful result will run into the proof of the words of 
 the text, they " carry tales to shed blood." 
 
 Slander is a combination of all the passions 
 which constitute the spirit of murder, and make it 
 a capital crime. It is natural hatred, hatred from 
 envy, from interest, vanity, wrath, strife, sedition, 
 voluptuousness, malice, implacability, and re- 
 venge. The devil, whose name in Greek, as say 
 the writers, means slanderer, accuser, destroyer; 
 accused God to man, and man to God ; how like 
 him his deceived pupil Adam was, is evident in his 
 slandering Eve, his wife, thinking to turn king's 
 evidence, and get her put out of the way, as many 
 slanderers and other murderers have attempted to 
 this day ; which villainy, when admitted by the 
 law, and encouraged, opens a door for the accusa- 
 tion, prosecution, and legal murder of the innocent, 
 to clear the guilty, under the pretext of public 
 good. Thousands, thousands of criminals have, 
 in such cases, carried tales as king's and states' 
 evidence, shedding, according to our text, rivers 
 of tears and blood, in former times. Many pro- 
 phets and righteous men have been swept off like 
 a flood by the besom of slandering tales ; even our 
 inimitably innocent Lamb of God was pierced to 
 the soul by the deadly weapon, which, gathering 
 into a national and ecclesiastical storm, cried out to 
 the constituted authorities, " away with him, away 
 
with him ; crucify him, crucify him ;" which slan- 
 dering hurricane rolled its millions of Christians 
 into the flames, the bosom of the earth and sea, in 
 the apostolical ages, and those of the father's fol- 
 lowing. 
 
 Slander is like the cholera morbus, which is bile 
 raised to the highest acrimony after the hot sum- 
 mer months. It, therefore, defiles the whole man, 
 is a world of iniquity, productive of the most uni- 
 versal desolation, carries tales to shed blood, and 
 should be restrained by a Be it enacted, as well as 
 a Thus saith the Lord. 
 
 In proof of the necessity of such restriction, we 
 shall produce a few biographical cases from Cave's 
 Lives, vol. ii. 
 
 St. Clemens, bishop of Rome, having been the 
 means of the conversion of Theodore, a noble lady, 
 and afterwards that of her husband Sisinnius, a 
 kinsman and favorite of the emperor Nerva, the 
 gaining so notable a person over to Christianity 
 swayed several others, which drew upon Clemens 
 the wrath of Torcutianus, a man of great power in 
 the then reign of Trajan. Torcutianus stirred up 
 the inferior magistrates of Rome, who also exas- 
 perated the people, who complained to Mamerti- 
 nus, prefect of the city, to carry tales of him to the 
 emperor, who ordered him to be banished to the 
 disconsolate city of Cherson, beyond the Pontic 
 sea, where, by the grace of God, he comforted his 
 banished brethren, and brought over many others ; 
 information whereof having been given to Trajan 
 by those who, according to our text, " carry tales 
 to shed blood" whereupon Afidianus was dispatch- 
 ed to Cherson, where he had the holy man carried 
 out on board a ship, and thrown into the depth of 
 the sea, the waves whereof have been often stumed 
 
 g2 
 
78 
 
 by blood, spilt by slandering tales ! How many 
 implacables, as those Romans were, raise a slander- 
 ing storm of dire persecution, when a great infidel 
 lady or gentleman is converted ? 
 
 In the reign of M. Antoninus and L. Verus, 
 impudent and greedy informers for revenge and 
 gain, spoiled and vexed the innocent Christians, 
 crying, " away with the impious atheists ! Let 
 Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, be sought for.'' — 
 Three days before his apprehension, falling, at 
 night as he was at prayer, into a trance, he dreamed 
 that his pillow was on fire, and burned to ashes ; 
 which, when he awakened, he told his friends was 
 a prophetic presage, that he should be burned alive 
 for the cause of Christ. The blood hounds of 
 slander, impelled by a thirst for murder, tortured a 
 boy to discover Polycarp, who met the covetous, 
 talebearing flatterers as the light of the morning 
 spread upon the mountains of calumniating Gilboa; 
 he saluted them with a benign, cheerful, and gen- 
 tle countenance, which extorted their admiration 
 and astonishment, who, nevertheless, after their 
 having been fed by the bishop of Asia, delivered 
 him to the proconsul, who, inferior to him in ta- 
 lents and learning, had him burned and stabbed to 
 death ; being another full proof from Ecclesiasti- 
 cal history of the truth for which we contend — " in 
 thee are men that carry tales to shed blood ;" or, 
 as the original marginal Hebrew has it, " men of 
 slanders" Many such attempts have been made 
 in this country, but eternal glory to God, he has 
 made use of even unbelievers to counteract them. 
 O how wicked, how sordid has been the religious 
 avarice of ambitious ministers, upon various occa- 
 sions, to intercept, persecute, and finally extermi- 
 nate their supposed rivals in sacerdotal ascendancy ! 
 
79 
 
 Blocking up their ports, spoiling their tender vines 
 and slaying their Gospel children between the 
 smooth stones of the brook ! ! A further proof, 
 that infidel and slanderous assassination produced 
 the murder of one of the best and wisest of men. 
 Cresens, the philosopher, who declined the chal- 
 lenge of Justin to debate the cause of Christianity 
 with him before the Roman senate, burning with 
 envious rage, that the son of the carpenter should 
 eclipse his glovv-wormship in fame, argument, and 
 testimony, raised a persecuting storm against the 
 learned Justin, whose learning and success sharp- 
 ened the cowardly daggers of persecuting infamy ; 
 incapable to contend in arms against the gigantic 
 Christian, Cresens attacked him with all the viru- 
 lence of unsupportabie unbelief, (as infidel deists, 
 and imbecile buffoons do to this day,) accusing 
 him to the emperor slyly and revengefully. Jus- 
 tin himself had publicly told the emperor what he 
 expected should be his end ; that he looked that 
 Cresens, or some of their titular philosophers, 
 should lay snares to undermine, torment, or cru- 
 cify him. Nor was he at all mistaken ; the envi- 
 ous man procuring him to be cast into prison, 
 where he was exercised with many preparatory tor- 
 tures before his martyrdom. He was brought be- 
 fore Rusticus, prefect of the city. The governor 
 pronounced the following sentence : " They who 
 refuse to sacrifice to the Gods, and obey the impe- 
 rial edict, let them be first scourged, and be behead- 
 ed, according to the laws." He and six other holy 
 men rejoiced and blessed God ; were led to prison, 
 scourged, and beheaded by the effects of slander. 
 
 Another slandering tale, productive of murder, 
 was carried by an enemy of Christ to the Roman 
 
80 
 
 emperor, to deprive a Christian philosopher of re- 
 putation and life. 
 
 Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, of very nota- 
 ble parentage, great learning, piety and general 
 usefulness, was accused by an arch Egyptian ma- 
 gician and slanderer, to the emperor Valerian, of 
 execrable charms, associated with other Christians, 
 inasmuch as they and he thereby hindered the em- 
 peror's prosperity, and this Egyptian so artfully 
 colored his malicious invectives, as to make the 
 emperor believe that the miracles the Christians 
 wrought were the power of abstracting the mis- 
 chievous daemons, whose malevolent influences 
 they banished with the speaking of a word ; where- 
 upon edicts were every where published against 
 them, and they, without the least protection, were 
 exposed to the common rage, persecution, and ex- 
 termination. iEmilian, the governor, cried to 
 Dion} sins, the learned, in a horific rage, " begone to 
 the place allotted ;" when sentence was speedily 
 executed upon this great Christian, Platonic phi- 
 losopher, and divine, who was banished to Cephro, 
 the most rude and barbarous tract of the Lyhian 
 desert. Here was banishment by slandering " tales 
 to shed blood ;" and O, tell it not in Gath, even in 
 this land of equal blood, and unalienable rights ; of 
 toleration and religious protection, there are many 
 places where a preacher of the Gospel is suspected 
 and accused of insurrectious principles, and if an 
 insurrection break out in a county, it is ten to one 
 but some of the creatures of persecuting unbelie- 
 vers implicates a minister. The attempts against 
 night meetings in some parts, invasive of tolera- 
 tion ; and the struggle of a minute minority in an 
 extra session, in Virginia, to make preachers bear 
 arms, is recorded. 
 
81 
 
 From the preceding narrations, we have the full- 
 est evidence that one slanderer can produce more 
 killing than ten thousand men with knives, ropes, 
 pistols, and all the instruments of death, especially 
 as they have so many millions of accessories ; it is 
 upon this account that slander is called a world of 
 iniquity, for it was the means of the destruction of 
 millions of Jews and Christians by the calumnies of 
 Heathen philosophers. No doubt they all plead 
 the truth, nothing but the truth ; they had it from 
 persons who told the truth at all times, if you be- 
 lieve them — that is to say, whipping truths, steal- 
 ing truths, robbing truths, murdering truths, truths 
 to prevent a backslider to get work, to get a wife 
 or husband, when they, by being slanderers are the 
 greatest of all backsliders ; murdering truths, car- 
 rying tales called truth, yet mixed with malice, to 
 shed blood. But if these are truths, then the in- 
 spired Moses and the prophets, Jesus Christ and 
 the apostles, are all arrant liars. Liars, for what do 
 you say ? Why for teaching that truths, which 
 militate against our neighbour's character, happi- 
 ness and life, are disagreeable to the law oi love and 
 truth, or *' mercy and truth met together" and 
 that they are double distilled lies under the garb of 
 religious truth — that is to say, maliciously reli- 
 gious. We say, we contend that a man might as 
 well attempt to impose the worst New-England 
 taffy upon us for the best Antigua, because he ran 
 it through a cold copper West- India still, full of 
 verdigris, put it into Yankee casks, and wrote in 
 fine letters, " West India" upon the head of them, 
 as for a slanderer to pass, without detection, mali- 
 cious truths, (which are nothing but the devil's 
 lies double rectified,) in his or her talebearing 
 casks, because they bore the lying brands of moral- 
 
82 
 
 ity, public and private good, and gospel upon their 
 slandering heads, painted by the devil's patent 
 limners. 
 
 Slandering truths are nothing else but war in 
 disguise against the peace of society, population, 
 conjugal unity, moral principle, and religion, which 
 we prove by producing, a second time, the lan- 
 guage and nature of revealed truth. 
 
 Let God be true, and every one who contradicts 
 him will be found a liar. Rom. iii. 4. The word 
 of God is the word of truth. Thy law (saith Da- 
 vid) is the truth. Psalm cxix. 142. What is the 
 truth of God, the slandering opposition to which 
 brands every man and woman with the justly me- 
 rited epithet of a liar ? Answ. Thou shalt not go 
 up and down as a talebearer. Lev. xix. 16. Who- 
 soever, under the pretext of religious zeal, violates 
 this negative command, thou shalt not, is a liar 
 against revelation, although the person was drunk 
 whom he named, or angry, or fought, or swore, or 
 lied, or played the harlot ; it being evident that as 
 in the Psalm quoted, Thy laxv is truth, an indica- 
 tion of an universal scriptural truth is offered upon 
 the principle of the analogy of faith, of the nature 
 of all, therefore, whatsoever ye would, to the eter- 
 nal exclusion of what we would not have spoken, 
 were we to love our neighbour as ourselves. — 
 Again, That which is opposite to falsehood and 
 error is the truth: In this sense the law and the 
 Gospel of Christ are the truth. Lord, all thy 
 commandments are the truth. Psalm cxix. 151. 
 One of which is, If thy brother sin, tell him be- 
 tween thee and him alone. Matt, xviii. 15. Note, 
 he did not, like slandering liars, pretending truth, 
 and blubbering out slander, tell you to tell a 
 preacher or elder ; therefore, they are liars against 
 
83 
 
 revealed truth, who act the contrary. / have walk- 
 ed in thy truth. Psalm xxvi. 3 ; that is, in cover- 
 ing a multitude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8 ; not telling 
 upon wicked s-i-n-n-e-r-s. Love cover eth all si?is. 
 Prov. x. 12. Is this the truth ? Well then, the 
 uncovering of all sins is a lie against the truth. 
 / will praise even thy truth, O my God. Psalm 
 lxxi. 22. What truth, Mr. Backbiter, do you 
 think ? What do you think, Mr. Hope-the-best ? 
 Why, please your bespattering majesty, it is — O, 
 say you, I have you — yes, like the fool in Maske- 
 rello, you have caught yourselves. No, no, let us 
 have it out of the wallet — the cat out of the wallet, 
 we suppose you mean as the slanderer's mew and 
 jump has it — let it come then : " Mercy and truth 
 are met together; righteousness and peace have 
 kissed each other." Psalm lxxxv. 10. Now, Mr. 
 Slandering tell- truth, telltale, tell malice, tell mur- 
 der, until you can prove that your malignant truths 
 have mercy, righteousness, public and private 
 peace in intention and action united, we shall take 
 the liberty to christen your truth of the devil a lie 
 against mercy and truth met together, against right- 
 eousness and peace as kissing each other ; for it 
 takes mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace to 
 make truth ; therefore, a slandering truth is a dou- 
 ble rectified lie against truth. The slanderer holds 
 the truth in unrighteousness. Pom. i. 18, by slan- 
 dering instead of forgiving ; for, in order to do our 
 duty, we must either sue or forgive — sue like a 
 lawyer, forgive like a God, or slander like a devil. 
 That is to say, by the defamation of the bar, the 
 slander of a bigoted pulpit, cackling of china cups, 
 quilting frames, drawing rooms, bed chambers, 
 carriages, and other gossipping assemblies ; like 
 the religious whiner to a roguish receiver in jthe 
 
84 
 
 church and state, to nod, wink, and receive the 
 Gospel favoritism, or by tumbling up stumbling 
 tales of falling spirits and wine, and, at the same 
 time, go tilting along, upsetting, petting, fretting, 
 besetting, netting, slaying, and damning hecatombs 
 of reputations in and out of the Church, and then 
 sing new Jerusalem. Do these things, we say, 
 rocking, twisting, praying, and blubbering all the 
 while the old style, or other wise, restore your bro- 
 ther in the spirit of meekness* as GaL has it, teli 
 him between thee and him, (not to a preacher, ru- 
 ler, or others,) as Matt, xviii. 15, has it. If any 
 man have a quarrel against any for, as the marginal 
 Hebrew has it, a complaint ;) forgive him even as 
 God, for Christ sake, hath forgiven you. CoL iii. 
 13. Yes, sue like a raspish lawyer, slander as a 
 devil, or forgive as a God — From which digres- 
 sions we shall again return to historical testimony, 
 the storehouse of experience, to prove that slan- 
 derers carry " tales to shed bloody as saith our 
 text. A slanderer has no pity, but, like a merci- 
 less creditor, seizes his fellow servant by the throat, 
 while the sheriff has him by the neck, the lawyer by 
 the pocket, the jailer by the legs, the hangman by 
 the gallows, and the devil by the soul and body in 
 hell. Such were the Athenians by the persecu- 
 tion of Phocian, a celebrated Grecian general, 
 whom they elected forty -five times to lead their 
 victorious armies, and then, by their talebearing, 
 slanderously accused him of treason, because he 
 was sometimes seen in company with an enemy of 
 Greece. This great man was dragged off to pri- 
 son, tried by the people, and forced to swallow the 
 hemlock ; his dead body was banished out of At- 
 tica to Megara, where a lady collected his bones, 
 conveyed them into her house by night, and bu- 
 
85 
 
 ricd them under her hearth with these expressions : 
 M Dear and sacred hearth, I here confide to thee, 
 and deposite in thy bosom these precious remains 
 of a worthy man. Preserve them with fidelity, in 
 order to restore them hereafter to the monument of 
 his ancestors, when the Athenians shall become 
 wiser than they are at present." The best, the 
 justest, and most innocent of mankind, (saith Rol- 
 lin) will sink under an implacable and prevailing 
 cabal. This Socrates experienced almost a hun- 
 dred years before Phocian perished, by the same 
 fate. This last was one ot the greatest men that 
 Greece ever produced, in whose person every kind 
 of merit was united. His wife boasted to a vain 
 Ionian lady of rank, who asked her if she had many 
 ornaments, in the following words : " For my own 
 part, I have no ornament but Phocian, who, for 
 these twenty years, has always been elected gene- 
 ral by the Athenians." After they had slandered 
 him to death, they repented of their tales ; but 
 what good can such tears produce ? Can they re- 
 store injured innocence ? Can they raise the mil- 
 lions of their slandered dead? The constancy of 
 Phocian's mind, mildness of disposition, and for- 
 getfulness of wrongs, conspicuous in his conduct 
 on that occasion, are above all his other praises, 
 and infinitely enhance their lustre, especially as we 
 shall see nothing comparable to him from hence- 
 forth in the Grecian history. His infatuated and 
 ungrateful country, not being sensible of their un- 
 worthy proceeding until some time after his death, 
 the Athenians then erected a statue of brass to his 
 memory, and honorably interred his bones at the 
 public expense. Rollin, vol. vii. Not one, but a 
 benevolent lady of Megara, shewed him the proper 
 honor ; and perhaps she, like Mary Magdalene, 
 
86 
 
 might have been rather a cast off; yet from such 
 (as at Simon, the whisperer's table) more mercy 
 and politeness is to be expected, than from one in 
 a hundred of our high eyed, proud porpoises, puf- 
 fing out their cheeks, moving like hogsheads, with 
 their Herculian bodies; yes, humped up twitte- 
 rers over cups, clattering religious gossippers, prat- 
 tling to preachers and all companies against their 
 betters ; more, we rejoin, is to be looked for from 
 such as Mary, than from fifty prating Peters cry- 
 ing, Who is that ? What has he or she done ? 
 What will, or Lord what shall this man do ? Poor 
 Phocian's countrymen would not contribute a sin- 
 gle stick of wood for his funeral pile, nor even suf- 
 fer his body to pollute Attica. And yet, strange 
 to tell, ingratitude was publicly punished in Athens 
 by law ! His accusers suffered a punishment equal 
 to their desert after his death ; but the chief men 
 escaped, as they generally do when they have ruined 
 poor natives and strangers, by raising a hue and 
 cry ! ! With all these things before us, confirm- 
 ing the assertion of the prophet, " in thee are men 
 that carry tales to shed blood," who is so blind as 
 not to see and acknowledge the national necessity 
 of a Be it enacted by the general assembly of each 
 state, that when by writing or speaking slanderous 
 or malicious words, with the intent of producing 
 death, such killing having thereby been produced, 
 and it appearing upon evidence that the said speak- 
 ers and writers wilfully, maliciously, feloniously, 
 and wickedly intended, and compassed the death 
 of the person or persons so killed ; that, therefore, 
 such malicious slanderer, or slanderers, shall be 
 deemed guilty of murder as accessories before the 
 fact, as though he or they had been accessories as 
 in other cases of unjustifiable homicide — Which 
 
87 
 
 brings us to the next thing to be considered. " In 
 thee have they taken gifts to shed blood" 
 
 This is the employment of these blood hounds 
 called informers, to receive half or whole of the 
 state reward ; such hellish harpies were banished, 
 whipped, and put to death by Titus Vespasian. 
 Corrupt times produced them, and none but mur- 
 derers delight in these "talcs to shed blood for 
 gifts." 
 
 When David fled to Naioth, and dwelt there 
 with Samuel, I Sam. xix. 18, although " it was 
 a school or college of learning or religion, in which 
 place the persons who were educated were devoted 
 to the service of God, whom the Scriptures call 
 prophets, which places, in those times, claimed the 
 privilege of a sanctuary ;" yet no place was safe or 
 secure from the effects of the slanderous informer's 
 love of gain. For it was told Saul, saying, " be- 
 hold, David is at Naioth, in Ramah" And who 
 knows, but that one of the priests who loved money, 
 was hired by Saul as a spy, and took gifts to shed 
 blood, as a national informer. Many, many such 
 there are that, to make money, will descend to be a 
 lickplate to a tyrant, and carry tales for gifts, to 
 shed the blood of slaves. Asia, Africa, and Eu- 
 rope furnish us with thousands of such cases. 
 
 Slander is an immeasurably deep and wide cal- 
 dron, into which millions of innocents, good, bad 
 and indifferent reputations are boiled, for food to 
 supply the "church of the malignants." Solomon 
 saith that " A hypocrite, with his mouth destroyeth 
 his neighbour." Prov. xi. 9. And Prov. xii. 6. 
 " The words of the wicked are to lie in wait for 
 blood" These two last texts have been, and are 
 amply fulfilled. A hypocrite, with his slandering 
 mouth and pen, destroyeth his neighbour's life by 
 
88 
 
 exciting jealousies, and his words lie in wait or 
 watch for blood ; but " a wicked messenger (saith 
 Solomon) falleth into mischief." Prov. xiii. 17. 
 This text is proved by the act of January 26th, 
 1810, entitled An act to suppress duelling in Vir- 
 ginia : 
 
 Be it enacted by the General Assembly (of Vir- 
 ginia) That any person who shall hereafter wilful- 
 ly and maliciously, or by previous agreement, fight 
 a duel or single combat with any engine, instru- 
 ment, or weapon, the probable consequence of 
 which might be the death of either party, and in so 
 doing shall kill his antagonist, or any other person 
 or persons, or inflict such wound as that the person 
 injured shall die thereof within three months there- 
 after, such offender, his aiders, abettors, and coun- 
 sellors, being duly convicted, shall be guilty of 
 murder, and suffer death by being hanged by the 
 neck ; any law, custom, or usage of this common- 
 wealth to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That if any person or 
 persons shall, for the purpose of eluding the ope- 
 rations of the provisions of this law, leave the state, 
 the person or persons so offending shall be deemed 
 as guilty, and be subject to the like penalties as if 
 the offence had been committed within this com- 
 monwealth, or of aiding or abetting, in giving or 
 receiving such challenge, and a duel shall actually 
 be fought, whereby the death of any person shall 
 happen ; or if any person shall fight a duel in this 
 state, or aid, or abet therein, whereby any person 
 shall be killed, and then flee into another state to 
 avoid his trial, in either case it shall be the duty of 
 the executive to pursue all legal steps to cause any 
 such offender to be apprehended and brought to 
 trial in the county where the offence was commit- 
 
89 
 
 ted. — Supplement to the second vol revised code, 
 page 43. 
 
 Mark well — the words " And shall kill his an- 
 tagonist, or any other person or persons, or injlict 
 such wound as that the person shall die thereof 
 within three months thereafter aiders, and abettors, 
 in giving or receiving such challenge, shall be guilty 
 of murder." Why not, then, by the same rule, 
 hang a person who would maliciously carry any 
 slandering tale as an aider and abettor to murder ? 
 Especially as the clause, or any oilier person or 
 persons, (we suppose bystanders, killed by chance 
 medly, is meant) indicates, that the blowers up of 
 discord are to be punished with death for killing by 
 chance. As we say, if the killing " his antago- 
 nist, or any other person or persons" not his an- 
 tagonist or antagonists, or inflict such wound as 
 that the person injured die within three months, be 
 punished with death, as also all their counsellors, 
 aiders, and abettors ; why not' equally, yea, more 
 justly, punish the sower of discord between man 
 and wife, and hang, in like manner, for awakening, 
 for stirring up the roaring, the murdering, the insa- 
 tiate tyger of suspicion, envy, jealousy, implaca- 
 bility, and revenge, intending by such mischievous 
 tales, the blood, the taking of the life of the person 
 or persons so slandered? Mark, we repeat, the 
 words " his antagonist, or any other person or per- 
 sons;" surely then, if u other person or persons" 
 beside the antagonists having been killed upon the 
 duelling ground by chance, v for so it seems to 
 mean by the words other or others J is just, good, 
 political cause of hanging principals, aiders, abet- 
 tors, and other counsellors, according to " whoso 
 slandereth his neighbour, will I cut off." Psalm 
 ci. 5. Certainly, then, by the same extention 
 
 a2 
 
90 
 
 of the same principle of David and our legislature, 
 those who fetch and carry tales to shed blood, to 
 shed blood for gain, ought equally to suffer the 
 same death upon the principle of equal or distribu- 
 tive justice. As in the tragedy of Othello by Iago, 
 in Shakespeare, wherein a man, by the instigation 
 of slander, was stirred up to jealousy, like a roaring 
 lion, against his wife, so as to take her life and that 
 of others ; as also in millions of other historical 
 cases, when men, women, boys, and girls destroy- 
 ed, and shall destro} , by malicious letters and 
 words, those who are the objects of their envious 
 malignity. What objection, then, could the com- 
 munity have to an act to the following purport : 
 
 AN ACT 
 
 Entitled an act to amend the several acts of the Le- 
 gislature of this Commonwealth, heretofore pass- 
 ed, and for the more effectual punishment of 
 murder, and supplementary to the act entitled 
 an act to suppress duelling. 
 
 [Passed January 26, 1810.] Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 \V HEREAS, in the several acts passed by the 
 legislature of this Commonwealth on the subject of 
 murder, the crime was denounced in general terms, 
 and the meaning and intent of all acts aforesaid 
 were, that all murderers in general, by whatsoever 
 means they compassed the unlawful death of any 
 good citizen or citizens of this Commonwealth, 
 -should be punished capitally ; and whereas, it is 
 doubted by some whether the person is liable to 
 such punishment who wilfully, wickedly, and of ma- 
 lice aforethought, slanders another that he be killed 
 thereby ; and whereas, we conceive that the crime 
 
91 
 
 of murder may be committed, lias been commit- 
 ted in millions of cases, and is just as detestable 
 and deserving of capital punishment, having more 
 accessories, spreading wider, and lasting longer, 
 when committed by the tongue and pen than by 
 any other, and every instrument of death ; and 
 whereas, the act to suppress duelling punishes 
 slandering accessories, not only when the antago- 
 nists are killed, but also •' any other person;" and 
 whereas, every good citizen of this commonwealth 
 is entitled, by the bill of rights, and the constitu- 
 tion of this state, to be secured in the enjoyment 
 of his life, liberty, property, and reputation ; and 
 whereas, these objects are thought not to have been 
 sufficiently guaranteed by the present state of so- 
 ciety, from the manner in which juries are often 
 picked and packed — as also, from many of their 
 decisions in cases of slander ; and whereas, statute 
 laws enacted by the whole representation of the 
 Commonwealth are more safe, being more collec- 
 tive, deliberative, uninfluenced, wise, defined, lim- 
 ited, and independent, than are those of such small, 
 and often unlearned bodies as are common county 
 courts and juries, possessing such vast and discre- 
 tionary powers. In order, therefore, to explain the 
 true intent and meaning of the legislature on the 
 subject — 
 
 Be it therefore enacted, by the Senate and House 
 of Delegates of this Commonwealth, audit is here- 
 by enacted by the authority of the same, That from 
 and after the passing of this act, if any person or 
 persons shall wickedly, wilfully, and of malice 
 aforethought, slander any person in the peace of 
 this Commonwealth, by means whereof the person 
 or persons so slandered shall come to their death 
 within a year and a day thereafter, they shall be 
 
92 
 
 considered as being guilty of murder in the first 
 degree, and suffer death by hanging by the neck 
 until dead. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That on the trial of the 
 issue on any indictment for murder aforesaid, it 
 shall not be admitted as a plea in justification that 
 the malicious words spoken were true, but that the 
 person having so maliciously spoken shall be held 
 equally guilty, and liable to hanging, as though the 
 words were false ; otherwise malice and malicious 
 murder by slander would be patronized, would be 
 legalized by statute. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That when any mali- 
 cious slanderer shall, by the raising or circulation 
 of false or true reports be the means of so operating 
 upon nice sensibilities, as that the person or per- 
 sons so slandered shall weep, lament, and hide 
 from society, so as by brooding over their help- 
 less, friendless, unsupportable load of grief and an- 
 guish of soul, they shall languish into the silent 
 tomb, no more to hear or feel the voice of the ma- 
 lignant oppressor, then shall such relentless ma- 
 ligner be banished from the society of the civilized 
 as a restless and implacable incendiary. 
 
 And be it further enacted, That all minor offen- 
 ces committed by slander, by which the suffering 
 party shall be injured in his or her good name, 
 fame, or property, it shall be the duty of the judge, 
 on the trial of the same, to ascertain, as nearly as 
 may be, the amount in money of the damage so 
 sustained, and the person or persons found guilty 
 shall be condemned to the penitentiary in the same 
 manner, and for the same length of time, as for lar- 
 ceny, theft, or robbery, committed by burglary, 
 arson, or otherwise : Always, nevertheless, taking 
 for their rule, the well known words of Shakes- 
 
93 
 
 peare, (as they do not seek redress by due course 
 of law, but by slander,) that other thieves are to be 
 considered as stealing but trash, when put in com- 
 petition with slandering thieves, character burners, 
 and murderers of soul and body, and estate. 
 
 Signed by the constitutional authorities, Speak- 
 ers and Governor, and tested by the Clerks, March 
 24th, 1 8 1 8 — Richmond. 
 
 A right to investigate " the conduct and charac- 
 ter of our public agents, who are the trustees and 
 guardians of the people, and who, at all times, are 
 amenable to their constituents," might, is, yea, 
 ought, nevertheless, to be left open, to guard against 
 innovation, and prevent our relapse into former es- 
 tablishments of church and state united. 
 
 " In the multitude of counsellors there is safety." 
 Prov. xi. 14. For we stand in need of not only 
 legislative statutes, but also judicial explanations. 
 "You are told, gentlemen of the jury," said chief 
 Justice Parker, (in the case of Phillips, for the mur- 
 der of Dennegri, at Boston,) "that you are the 
 judges of both the law and the evidence ; practi- 
 cally, gentlemen, you are so : that is to say, a gen- 
 eral verdict of guilty or not guilty embraces a de- 
 cision upon the facts, and upon the law applicable 
 to those facts. But you will not differ, gentlemen, 
 from the opinions and decisions of wise and learn- 
 ed men, as reported in our books of law, nor from 
 the direction of the court. The responsibility, in 
 regard to the law, rests upon the court. If the 
 court mistake the principles of law, and the jury 
 under that direction, bring in a verdict of condem- 
 nation ; the court, gentlemen, is responsible, and 
 you will stand acquitted to your consciences." 
 From the foregoing reasoning of the learned 
 
94 
 
 Judge Parker, we may discover first, the neces- 
 sity of statutary laws upon all cases, leaving it to 
 the jury to find a general verdict of guilty or not 
 guilty, embracing a general decision upon the facts, 
 and upon the law applicable to those facts ; second- 
 ly, that a jury never was designed to differ from 
 the learned reports of the books of law, as explana- 
 tory of the spirit and letter of the legislature ; 
 thirdly, that the responsibility of acting up to, and 
 explaining the law, devolves vpon the judges ; and 
 fourthly, that if the court mistake the true princi- 
 ples of the law, of which they are to be the judges, 
 then, consequently, the responsibility resting upon 
 them, the jury acts conscientiously by going ac- 
 cording to the direction of the court. " When- 
 ever, (saith Judge Parker,) a person attempts to do 
 another a great bodily harm, or to do any unlawful 
 act, and death ensues, he is responsible for all the 
 consequences." That is to say, any felonious > 
 unlawful act, we suppose he meant, which cer- 
 tainly slander is, and when it maliciously intends, 
 compasses, and produces death, ought to be pun- 
 ished with death, as it is a procurer thereof, and 
 that as an universal cannibal ! " An ungodly man 
 diggeth up evil, and in his lips there is a burning 
 fire. Prov. xvi. 27. Here is a never-failing sign 
 of an ungodly man or woman ; profess what you 
 may, shout, stamp, stare, cry, sing, yet if you are 
 digging up evil with the devil's grubbing hoe of 
 slander, recollecting and relating crimes which have 
 long lain under the ashes of the dead, in thy lips 
 there is a burning fire of hell. " A fro ward man 
 soweth strife, and a whisperer separateth chief 
 friends," verse 28. Who then dare deny that a 
 whisperer is a thief? " A wicked doer giveth heed 
 to false lips, and a liar giveth ear to a naughty 
 
95 
 
 tongue." Prov. xvii. 4. This text proves you to 
 be a wicked doer, even for giving heed to slander, 
 and liars, if we listen to bad, wicked, vile, corrupt 
 tales of our neighbour ; and verse 9, " He that 
 repeateth a matter, separateth very friends." So 
 that, to tell of drunkenness, private intrigue, and 
 other evils of which connections are guilty, sepa- 
 rates friends, produces quarrels, parts man and 
 wife, and consequently often produces death. A 
 wicked man taketh out a gift out of the bosom to 
 pervert the way of judgment. Yes, as our text 
 reads, " In thee have they taken gifts to shed 
 blood." Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous ; 
 but who is able to stand before envy ? (or jealousy, 
 as the marginal Hebrew hath it.) Prov. xxvii. 4. 
 Alas ! " Jealousy is cruel as the grave." Song viii. 
 6. The grave, the grave* cries the man or woman 
 when stirred up to direful vengeance against their 
 companions, by those who " carry tales to shed 
 blood for gifts." Certainly, then, as the slanderer 
 procures death, so should be the law of remunera- 
 tion. " As thou hast done, so it shall be done unto 
 thee; thy reward shall return upon thine own head," 
 Obad. xv. 
 
 As to accessories in crime, they are of two kinds, 
 first, before — second, after the fact. " An acces- 
 sory before the fact is defined to be one who, being 
 absent at the time of the crime committed, doth 
 yet procure, council, or command another to com- 
 mit a crime. An accessory after the fact, is when 
 a person, knowing a felony to have been commit- 
 ted, receives, relieves, and comforts or assists the 
 felon. Herein absence is necessary to make him 
 an accessory ; for such procurer to be present, he 
 is a principal." — 4th lilackstone, p. 36. 
 
 According to the foregoing reasoning, it appears 
 
96 
 
 that a slanderer is at least a procurer of murder, by 
 giving intelligence to a jealous, envious, vengeful 
 husband against his wife of having been, or of con- 
 tinuing to be in habits of adulterous love with one 
 or more, which, when told to such a jealous hus- 
 band, is full proof that the teller intends that the 
 husband should kill her and the adulterer or adul- 
 terers ; or, when told to the wife that the talebear- 
 ing murderer intends and compasses the life or lives 
 of those against whom they inform, and that when 
 a murder is, or murders are committed, through 
 such slanders, and thus the revengeful, jealous 
 husband or wife imbrue their hands in each other's 
 blood, as also in the blood of their carnal lovers, 
 then, in the fullest sense of the word, the slanderer 
 has been proved to have " carried tales to shed 
 blood," according to our text. But if he or she 
 received or receives a reward for the bloody watch- 
 ing for evil adulterers, as also for communicating 
 the information thereof to the blood thirsty husband 
 or wife, then the last part of our text is fulfilled, 
 " In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood. " 
 Alas ! these things have been produced millions of 
 times by the blood thirsty slanderer, not only be- 
 tween man and wife, but also between lovers of 
 various kinds, by which whole hosts have been 
 slain ; how often have malicious jealousies been 
 blown into a national flame against innocent for- 
 eigners, to the great scandal of the countries where- 
 in they have been insidiously raised and publish- 
 ed, and the relentless butchery of the poor stranger, 
 foreigner, and slave, of whom it is to be feared 
 that the blood of their ten thousands lay even at 
 our door, by the raisers and publishers of tales to 
 shed blood for gain, giving informations of private 
 intrigues, some of which are true, some doubtful, 
 
97 
 
 and more false — and this too by poor and rich, 
 from motives of gain, envy, malice,' and revenge ! 
 And all these things having been winked at, with- 
 out defined, limited statutes to justly punish the 
 slanderer, makes the voice of our brothers and sis- 
 ters' blood cry against the states from the ground, 
 whilst the murmuring zephyrs loaded, and fatigued 
 winds waft and blow along the voice of our jea- 
 lous, murdering Ramah, in lamentation, weeping, 
 and great mourning, upon the side of their slander- 
 ing oppressors, being bloody slanders ; but there 
 is no sufficient national restraint ! Merciful hea- 
 ven ! If policy stimulated the legislature of Vir- 
 ginia, in 1810, to pass a law which punishes all 
 aiders, counsellors, or abettors in a duel, with hang- 
 ing, when the " antagonist, or any other person or 
 persons" is killed ; without all controversy, then, 
 the malignant raiser and communicator of a tale of 
 adultery, intended for, and productive of murder ; 
 yea, the murder of a wife or husband by the hands 
 of their " one fie sh" as also that of thousands of 
 others, deserves equal legislative vengeance : more 
 especially, as the law against duelling- only takes 
 away cowardly assassins, gasgonading adulterers, 
 envious lovers, vain politicians, and the like ; 
 whereas, the slanders of which we speak, " exer- 
 cise their fury upon the good grain, equally as 
 upon the chaff, upon the sacred as well as the pro- 
 fane," the innocent as well as the guilty ! 
 
 " Curs'd sport that owes its pleasure to another's 
 pain, 
 
 And feeds upon the sobs and groans of dying na- 
 ture." 
 
 Such was Iago, in Shakspeare's Moor of Venice, 
 
98 
 
 who excited the jealousy of Othello against Desde- 
 mona his wife, and Cassio, which makes him cry 
 out, death and damnation ! Get me some poison, 
 Iago, this night ; — I'll not expostulate with her. 
 He cries to Desdemona — get you to bed on the 
 instant, I will be returned forthwith — dismiss your 
 attendant there — look it be done. Desdemona 
 cries, "I will my Lord." [Desdemona in bed, 
 asleep.'] 
 
 Othello enters with a light, and talks of killing. 
 Then heaven have mercy on me, cries Desdemona, 
 that death's unnatural that kills for loving. Alas I 
 why gnaw you so your nether lip? Some bloody 
 passion shakes your very frame — 
 
 O banish me, my Lord, but kill me not. 
 
 Othello cries, Down strumpet ! 
 
 Des. Kill me to-morrow — let me live to night, 
 
 Oth. Nay, an you strive — 
 
 Des. But half an hour. 
 
 Oth. Being done, 
 
 There is no pause. 
 
 Des. But while I say one prayer. 
 
 Oth. It is too late. \JIe smothers her, and stabs 
 her with a dagger.] 
 
 The slanderer's wife tells Othello, after he had 
 killed his wife, that her husband Iago accused Des- 
 demona falsely. Iago hears her, stabs his wife, 
 runs out, and she dies asserting Desdemona's inno- 
 cence. 
 
 The arch slanderer Iago had got hold of a hand- 
 kerchief which Othello gave his dear Desdemona 
 when they were married, as a perpetual love pledge. 
 
 jo said to Othello — 
 
 Tell me but this — 
 
 Have you not sometimes seen a handkerchief, 
 
 Spotted with strawberries, in your wife's hand ? 
 
 1m 
 
99 
 
 Othello said, I gave her such a one ; 'twas my 
 first gift. 
 
 lago. I know not that, but such a handkerchief 
 
 (I am sure it was your wife's) did I to day 
 
 See Cassio wipe his beard with. 
 
 Oth. If'tbethat— 
 
 lago. If it be that, or any that was hers, 
 
 It speaks against her, with the other proofs. 
 
 Oth. O That the slave had forty thousand lives > 
 
 One is too poor, too weak, for my revenge ! 
 
 Now do I see ; 'tis time. — Look here, lago, 
 
 All my fond love thus do I blow to heaven : 
 
 'Tis gone — 
 
 Arise, black vengeance, from thy hollow cell ! 
 
 Yield up, O love, thy crown and hearted throne 
 
 To tyrannous hate 1 Swell, bosom, with thy 
 fraught ; 
 
 For 'tis of aspick's tongues, 
 
 O blood, lago, blood ! 
 
 In short Othello enters his wife's chamber with 
 the handkerchief, which lago purloined to excite 
 the jealousy of the harpie. 
 
 He enters and cries — 
 
 That handkerchief, which I so loved, and gave 
 thee, 
 
 Thou gav'st to Cassio. 
 
 And so smothers, stabs, and kills his dear Des- 
 demona. 
 
 And shall such slanderers go unpunished ? 
 
 And if even Desdemona had been guilty, this 
 would not have exculpated lago, as his intention 
 was to shed bloody to raise an earthquake, an abom- 
 inable phenomenon of jealousy ; jealousy productive 
 of revenge, as cruel as the grave — of revenge 
 against the dear, the lamb-like Desdemona ! Thus 
 it was done, in another instance, against David, the 
 
100 
 
 Lord's anointed, and the priests, (for none are too 
 sacred for the slanderer) by Doeg, the Edomite, in 
 revenge for an old grudge ; we refer you to 1 Sam. 
 xxii. 22, and to the tragic poem of David, con- 
 demning the spitefulness of " Doeg, the chiefest of 
 the herdsmen that belonged unto Saul," which 
 Psalm lii. David dedicates "To the chief musician, 
 Maschil, a Psalm of David, when Doeg, the Edom- 
 ite, came and told Saul, and said unto him, David 
 is come to the house of Abimelech." The refer- 
 ing letter b, in this title, points to the words of our 
 text in Ezek. xxii. 9. " In thee are men that carry 
 tales to shed blood" David first asks, " Why 
 hoastest thyself in mischief, O mighty man?" 
 Alluding to slanderers who, when they are, or have 
 been the destruction of others, glory in it ; and im- 
 mediately denounces the divine vengeance upon 
 their slandering, murdering, guilty heads, by the 
 direful prediction that as the goodness of God en- 
 durethfor ever, il God shall likewise destroy thee 
 forever, and root thee out of the land ot the living ; 
 thy tongue cleviseth mischiefs, like a sharp razor, 
 working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than 
 Kood, and lying more than to speak righteousness ; 
 thou lovest ail devouring words, O thou deceitful 
 tongue." This makes him complain in Psalm 
 Ivii. when he dedicates it to the chief musician Al- 
 taschith, Michtam of David, when -he fled from 
 Saul and hid in a cave, in the wilderness of Pm-gedi ; 
 which Jl-taschith, Michtam means destroy not, 
 being a golden Psalm of David — He laments, "My 
 soul is even among lions, verse 4, and I lie even 
 among them that are set on fire, even the sons of 
 men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their 
 tongue a sharp sword." " The words of his mouth 
 were smoother than butter, but war was in his 
 
101 
 
 heart; his words were softer than oil, yet were 
 they drawn swords. 5 ' Psalm \v. 21. Surrounded, 
 yea, besieged upon all sides from the secret, sacred 
 bed chamber, up to the horns of the altar, with 
 these mighty, insidious, slandering murderers, ra- 
 zor tongued vvhisperers, putting on a fine edge, to 
 cut throats and marriages ; lion like slanderers, 
 who roar out, and tear in pieces ; deceitful, private 
 slanderers, who work under our garrisons, and 
 blow them up ; lying slanderers, who love all de- 
 vouring words ; sword slanderers, who slice, cut, 
 and pierce us through ; smooth butter slanderers* 
 who pump us, watch us, smile upon us, and stab 
 us ; soft, oily slanderers, who turn up their eyes 
 to the ceiling in half milk and rose winks, smile 
 upon us with dove's eyes, cooing turtle's voice, 
 hair of St. John, dimples of gold in silver cheeks, 
 teeth of sanctified ivory, lips of innocent coral, 
 tongue of holy sympathy, eyebrows and lids as the 
 light of the morning spread upon the mountains, 
 a tongue of oil immersed in love, fluttering and 
 faultering in pity, the body rocking in pensive de- 
 ception, while a prayer, tear, or a groan, the whole 
 length of the slow jawed slanderer's murdering 
 nature, seals the present and Future damnation of 
 their helpless and undone victims of irretrievable 
 sorrow, of eternal ruin ! Encircled, we lament, 
 with these hydras, why hesitate to attack slander 
 by statute, as it is the most universal thief, magni- 
 fied robber, and eternally insatiate, double refined 
 liar, hypocrite and murderer ? 
 
 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine ene- 
 mies ; (ought to be our prayer) for false witnesses 
 are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cru- 
 elty. Psalm xxvii. 12. A false witness is guilty 
 of murder in the sight of God, at the bar of con- 
 
102 
 
 science, and ought also to be at the tribunal of man, 
 when he swears away the life of an innocent per- 
 son. It is the opinion of Blackstone, that he is a 
 murderer injbro consciencia. At all hazards, we 
 may safely say, that such are as worthy of death as 
 those who carry a challenge to fight a duel ; and 
 such are accounted capital offenders in Virginia, if 
 one of the " antagonists" be killed, " or any other 
 person." " Draw me not away with the wicked, 
 and with the workers of iniquity, which speak 
 peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their 
 hearts." Psalm xxviii. 3. Would to God that 
 none but the professedly wicked would act thus ; 
 but alas ! alas ! brethren in the Lord, yea, in the 
 sanctuary of the altar, supplant, and that too in 
 their own community — yes, they often distress, 
 distract, and shipwreck even the poor stranger by 
 peace, peace, to the face, while mischief is in their 
 hearts, and sudden destruction from their slander- 
 ing tongues. " I heard the defaming of many, 
 fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will 
 report it. All my familiars watched for my halt- 
 ing, saying, peradventure he will be enticed, and 
 we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our 
 revenge on him." Jer. xx. 10. As this is the cur- 
 rent coin of every slanderer, whenever, therefore, 
 by such defaming, reporting, enticing, prevailing, 
 and revenging, death is maliciously and wilfully 
 produced, at the bar of the conscience of every 
 state, a statute law ought to exist to punish them 
 capitally ; otherwise the blood of the slain will lay 
 at our national doors for neglecting distributive 
 justice, and be required at our hands, according to 
 those well known words — " At the hand of man, 
 at the hand of every man's brother, xvill I require 
 the life of man, Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
 
103 
 
 man shall his blood be' k shed : for in the image of 
 God made he man ;" and, therefore, murder is trea- 
 son against God ; and therefore also, man is his 
 lawgiver, representative, and avenger. " For all 
 they that take the sword (unlawfully to kill either 
 by slander or otherwise) shaUfit is my mandate) 
 perish with the ( legal f sword." Matt. xxvi. 52. 
 %% If any man hath an ear, let him hear; he that 
 killeth, must be killed." Rev. xiii. 9, 10. In a 
 word, if the policy of the legislature of Virginia, of 
 1810, (who set themselves so much against di- 
 vorces, like Christians,) was levelled against duels, 
 fought mostly by the means of slanderers, so as to 
 work that august body up to hang some men who 
 are thought, by some, skilled in the law, not to 
 kill, nor intend to kill of malice aforethought. If, 
 we repeat, the "adversary, or any other person ," 
 being killed in a duel, brought down the vengeance 
 of the statute of January 26th, 1810, upon the 
 heads of principals, aiders, abettors, and counsel- 
 lors, even to hanging by the neck until dead ; or, 
 if not killed, that all principals, aiders, abettors, 
 and counsellors are disfranchised : Surely, then, 
 we see no reason to withhold our assent to a law of 
 equal penalty against malicious, slandering mur- 
 derers, when they intend, and it may have been 
 proved that he did kill by the effects of that crime 
 of crimes, called by James, " a world of 'iniquity /" 
 As also, that when the slanderer failed of his or her 
 end, he or she should be either, also, like the du- 
 eller, disfranchised, or confined to hard labor in the 
 penitentiary. No doubt population would proceed 
 as much faster then than it now does, as a swift, 
 thundering steed does an old spavin, galded, wind- 
 broken mule ; inasmuch as though it is now imped- 
 ed, by slander preventing marriages under whv: 
 
104 
 
 ing, lying, and interested /^retentions ; then we 
 should have the studden sails set, " and the wind 
 right aft." 
 
 In the second section/ of the act of March 16th, 
 1809. page 340, underAhe title Libel, abridgment 
 of the Laws of Pennsylvania, by John Purdon, 
 jun. we read, that "^n all actions or criminal pros- 
 ecutions for a libel, the defendant may plead the 
 truth thereof in justification, or give the same in 
 evidence. " 
 
 Yet, in page 109, of the act of the 31st March, 
 1806, we read, sect. 5. "If any person. or per- 
 sons shall presume to publish in any newspaper, 
 or post handbills written or printed, or otherwise, 
 any other person or persons as a coward or cow- 
 ards, rascal or rascals, liar or liars, or use any other 
 irritating or abusive language, for not accepting a 
 challenge or fighting a duel, such person or persons 
 shall, for such offence, being thereof convicted, be 
 subject to the same punishment as though he or 
 they had fought a duel, as provided by the first 
 section of this act." — Which act, in its first and 
 second sections, reads as follows : 
 
 Sect. 1 " If any person, within this common- 
 wealth, shall challenge, by word or writing, the 
 person of another, to fight at sword, rapier, pistol, 
 or other deadly weapon, or if any person so chal- 
 lenged, shall accept the said challenge, in either 
 case, such person so giving, or sending, or receiv- 
 ing any such challenge, shall, for Such offence, be- 
 ing thereof lawfully convicted in any court of re- 
 cord within this commonwealth, by the testimony 
 of one or more witnesses, or by confession, forfeit, 
 and pay the sum of five hundred dollars, and shall 
 suffer one year's imprisonment at hard labor, in the 
 same manner as convicted felons are now punish- 
 
105 
 
 cd ; and moreover, shall forfeit, and be deprived of 
 all rights of citizenship, within this commonwealth, 
 for the term of seven years." 
 
 Thanks to heaven, and to the immortalized le- 
 gislature of March, 1806, here is an overwhelming 
 exception to the justification of an infamous libel, 
 though true ; and herein we rejoice that they en- 
 force that part of our Lord's sermon on the mount, 
 " Whosoever shall say to his brother ttaca, (that 
 is, from the Hebrew word rack, saitjr A. Clarke ; 
 it signifies a vain, empty, worthless fellow, shallow 
 trains, a term of great contempt,) shall be in dan- 
 ger of the council." 
 
 And, Sect. 2. "If any person shall willingly 
 ami knowingly carry and deliver any message, 
 purporting to be a challenge, he shall pay five hun- 
 dred dollars, and suffer one year's imprisonment at 
 hard labor, and forever hereafter be incapable of 
 holding any office, &c. within this commonwealth." 
 " In the same manner as convicted felons," saith 
 the act. 
 
 If, then, to save the state from confusion, and 
 preserve such refractory gasgonaders as duel gladi- 
 ators from death, stimulated the enlightened legis- 
 lature of 1806, to make slanderous words, written 
 and circulated, amount to felonious acts, and pun- 
 ished them accordingly, by such an inimitable sta- 
 tute, (except that of V^inia, January 26th, 1810) 
 would it not be equally wise, politic, and just, to 
 make slanderous words spoken, written, and other- 
 wise uttered, to be also felony, when they shall 
 be proved to have been so spoken, written, or 
 otherwise uttered, of malice aforethought, to pro- 
 duce killing, and other losses to appetite, memory, 
 peace, health, property, life, conjugal harmony, ci- 
 vil losses, punishments, vexations, and deadly 
 
106 
 
 prosecutions, to which direful results we may add 
 the loss of heaven, and the damnation of hell ? 
 More especially, when we have discovered that 
 slander is the devil's compound mechanics, pro- 
 ducing perpetual motion in tongues, pens, fists, 
 cowskins, sticks, steel and lead, ropes, poisons, 
 cups, glasses, nods, winks, mysterious whispers, 
 ludicrous grimmaces, distrustful glances, earth- 
 quaking shrugs, and hydra headed signs, from the 
 stamping foot up to the stiff, surly, sly, palechin, 
 grinning jaw, serpentine upper lip, tossing nose, 
 winking, screwed up, and fiery opened lightning 
 eye, Vesuvius eyebrow, and harpie dishevelled 
 hair, propelled by the large boiler of Satan's steam 
 engine in hell, smoking, heating, tarnishing, and 
 bursting from a windy kitchen up to the horns of 
 the altar, flowing down upon society like vials of 
 the lowering heavens, inundating us as the sea 
 which shipwrecks from a canoe, up to a first rate 
 ship of the line ; in a word, slander being the over- 
 flowings of the highest rectified implacability of 
 hell, is the cholera morbus of that bottomless pit, 
 is its fiery bile raised to the greatest acme of irrup- 
 tive irritation, and disgorged over this (thereby) 
 shaking, tottering, putrescent fire and brimstone, 
 Sodom and Gomorrah — and should be punished 
 by statute law, referred to the jury. 
 
 " The sense in which words are received by the 
 world, is the sense which courts of 'justice ought to 
 ascribe to them in actions for slander. Slander 
 imports an injury, and the injury must arise from 
 the manner in which the slanderous language is 
 understood" 2 Dallas, p. 59. 1 Dallas, p. 114. 
 
 The Rev. William M'Kendree, senior bishop of 
 the Methsdist Episcopal Church, was told a vil- 
 lainous tale, slyly and slanderously, against one of 
 
107 
 
 the brethren"; and the good father of our itinerant 
 society, our Elisha, who walked with Elijah As- 
 bury until he received his senior itinerant mantle, 
 sent him oft' with a reproof worthy of St. James, for 
 he asked him, " brother y did you tell him of it ?" 
 Thus did our Joshua fulfil the Scripture, which ob- 
 serves, that " the north wind driveth away rain : 
 so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue." 
 Prov. xxv. 23 ; and we hope that the whole tri- 
 umvirate are of his mind. We wish to God that 
 all our preachers may follow herein his example. 
 
 Hear also the Washington of Methodism, we 
 mean John Wesley. " Hear evil of no man : if 
 there were no hearers, there would be no speakers 
 of evil. And is not the receiver as bad as the 
 thief? If, then, any begin to speak evil in thy 
 hearing, check him immediately ; refuse to hear 
 the voice of the charmer, charm he ever so sweet- 
 ly : let him use ever so soft a manner, so mild an 
 accent, ever so many professions of good will for 
 him whom he is stabbing in the dark, whom he 
 smiteth under the fifth rib ; resolutely refuse to 
 hear, though the whisperer complain of being bur- 
 dened till he speak. Burdened ! thou fool, dost 
 thou 'travail with thy cursed secret as a woman 
 travaileth with child V Go, then, and be deliver- 
 ed of thy burden, in the way the Lord hath ordain- 
 ed. Matt, xviii. Put ye away evil speaking, tale- 
 bearing, whispering ; let none of them proceed out 
 of your mouth. See that you ' speak evil of no 
 man ;' ot the absent, nothing but good. Let this 
 be the distinguishing mark of a Methodist. He 
 censures no man behind his back : by this fruit ye 
 may know him. Suppose having seen a man 
 drunk, or heard him curse or swear, I tell this 
 when he is absent, it is evil speaking. " So much 
 
108 
 
 for John Wesley. See how we, who are called 
 Methodists, imitate him ! 
 
 " Not to mention the faults of any behind his 
 back, and to stop those short that do ; reprove in 
 love and meekness of wisdom." — Directions to the 
 band societies, Dec. 25th, 1744, and again in 1812. 
 
 Our experience is a lie, if we are slanderers ; for 
 he that saith 1 know him, and keepeth not his com- 
 mandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 
 1 John ii. 4. 
 
 What are the negative commands on this point ? 
 
 Answ. Thou shait not go up and down as a tale- 
 bearer among thy people. Lev. xix. 16. 
 
 What is a talebearer ? 
 
 Answ. A pedler, a trader, saith the Hebrew. 
 
 A talebearer, then, according to this text, so far 
 from being a Christian, is the devil's pedler, or tra- 
 der ; and by not attending to the prohibitory com- 
 mand, Thou shalt not be a taiebearer, he, as our 
 text hath it, is a liar, he lies against God. 
 
 What ! if he or she got drunk, and I told a 
 preacher or leader, and I knew it to be a fact ? 
 
 Answ. Yes : The telling of the fact in a tale- 
 bearing, unscriptural way, is the lie against God's 
 truth. 
 
 Whew ! Then the truth is a lie, you say ? 
 
 Answ. Undoubtedly it is a lie against God's 
 truth ; that is the Scriptures of truth. 
 
 What dost thou mean by God's truth? 
 
 Answ. I have produced it in that emphatic ne- 
 gative) Thou shait not go up and down as a tale- 
 bearer : he then is a liar who does go up and down 
 as a talebearer, for he sins against the words of 
 truth, prompted by the father of lies. 
 
 But suppose a preacher or leader ask me — must 
 I not tell him of their crimes to keep up disci- 
 pline f 
 
109 
 
 Answ. When preachers ask such questions un- 
 scripturally and slyly, they arc suspicious turnkeys 
 for Lucifer, working his chain pump, to produce 
 by the sucker of the tongue, the putrescent bilge 
 water of hell, which they squirt through the syringe 
 of slanderous whispering, and contaminating des- 
 tructive oppression, by which hydraulic machine 
 the tree of defamation is watered and nourished, 
 Until by spreading its roots and boughs throughout 
 all the circles of society, the surrounding atmos- 
 phere is thereby rendered contagious, the respira- 
 tion of the churches poisoned, and the tongues of 
 all the brethren and sisters turned into infectious, 
 burning, hot, inquisitive, impertinent madness, re- 
 sulting in the direful hydrophobia of " a -world of 
 iniquity /" 
 
 When impertinent curiosity, that crosses the 
 lines in which other persons move, prompted Peter 
 to ask, Lord, and what shall this man do ? The 
 truth replied with sharpness, What is that to thee ? 
 follow thou me ; that is, mind thine own duty, Mr. 
 Slanderer. 
 
 Moreover, charity thinketh no evil, and, there- 
 fore is not a suspicious, busy meddler. 1 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
 But suppose I have lost ail faith in a brother, 
 what then can I do but blab it out? 
 
 Ansxv. Then charity comes in with its hope ; 
 for it hopeth ail things of the reformation of a bro- 
 ther, when faith in him fails, yea, and suffereth 
 1-o-n-g in this hope with its fallen sister ; it is not 
 vaunting, or rash, as the margin hath it, witlva bro- 
 ther or enemy. 1 Cor. xiii. 7. Charity rejoiceth 
 in, or,' as the margin has it, with the truth; for 
 charity is emphatically the truth in the concrete. 
 
 But if he curses, or she brawls, he fights, and she 
 K 
 
110 
 
 is a mischief maker, must I not go and tell the 
 preacher, or some ruler of the church ? 
 
 The truth does not authorise you, for it reads 
 thus : Put them in mind to speak evil of no man* 
 Titus iii. 1, 2. Here is no exception, but a posi- 
 tive negative in the indefinite, no man. This is the 
 truth — this is the apostolic precept ; when then you 
 speak evil of any man, you are a liar, though what 
 you say of a person is a certain fact, it being scrip- 
 turally true that he that keeping not the command- 
 ments is a liar, as saith our text, and the truth of 
 GocVs word is not in him. 
 
 But I will tell upon such wicked, sinful hypo- 
 crites; you encourage theft, adultery, drunken- 
 ness, fornication, uncleanness, lies, fighting, and 
 quarrelling, and all villainy, by such silence; speak- 
 ing of them is a virtue. 
 
 Answ. Set your foot there, and we shall prove 
 that all you have charged us with is openly levelled 
 at the lawgiver and the law. " Speak not evil one 
 of another, brethren ; he that speaketh evil of his 
 brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of 
 the law, and judgeth the law : thou art not a doer 
 of the law, but a judge." James iv. 11. So that 
 you, by telling the faults of your brother, so far 
 from being in the truth or your duty, are speaking 
 evil also of the law, and judging the law, not being 
 a doer of the law, which commands silence, for- 
 bearance, and lovingly to reclaim and forgive a 
 friend or foe, but a judge ; a judge of the law, and 
 a judge upon the law. You say, then, that the law 
 tolerates sin of every kind by your evil speakings ; 
 you blame also the lawgiver, you judge the Al- 
 mighty God himself, and thus slander Jah Jehovah 
 for commanding you to be silent ! No wonder, 
 then, that when you call the master of the house a 
 
Ill 
 
 favorer of sin, you would also apply the same slan- 
 der to those of his household. But thrice happy 
 for our subject, such are proved and found to be 
 liars, and not Jews in heart ; for he that saith I 
 know him, and keepeth not his commandments of 
 silence, forgiveness, and covering a multitude of 
 sins, is a liar according to God's truth, though he 
 or she tell ten thousand of the devil's tattling truths. 
 
 " Truth is the proper foundation for all credi- 
 bility ; and God's truth the only foundation of 
 Christian credibility, or faith. There can be no 
 foundation without truth ; and, consequently, no 
 faith without this foundation. 
 
 " But the foundation must be laid : that is, the 
 truth must be published, or faith cannot rest upon 
 it. God, therefore, hath revealed and published 
 his truth, which, before his revelation of it, must 
 have been hid in himself as its proper essence. 
 
 " As all truth proceeds from God, he is, and he 
 calls himself the truth emphatically : he is the 
 source of all reality. What, therefore, proceeds 
 from him must be true ; and thus the matters 
 which he hath declared or done, are manifestations 
 or revelations of his truth ad extra, or to his peo- 
 ple, and as such are to be received by them. 
 
 " These manifestations or revelations in the word 
 are real and immovable truths, necessary and cre- 
 dibley^rus, with us, and in us. 
 
 " They proceed from Him as their cause ; are 
 effected by Him as their agent ; and tend to Him 
 as their end. They descend for us as grounds of our 
 faith i are with us for strengthening our hope ; 
 and remain experimentally in us as the means, or 
 earnest, used for our salvation. 
 
 " When we say us, we mean that the house of 
 God is the Church of the living God, which some 
 
112 
 
 translate, pillar and ground, others better, the sta- 
 tion and seat of the truth. 1 Tim. iii. 15. God is 
 the truth; and so, subordinate \y, are the revela- 
 tions from him ; the church is the column raised 
 upon this truth, as upon its proper foundation, and 
 is also the scat or place where all these revelations 
 concentrate, and where only, as to the application, 
 they will ever be found. 
 
 " Christ hath taken the name of truth. Rev. iii. 
 14, and is become the basis or foundation of his 
 people. Isaiah xxviii. 16. 
 
 " The Gospel, which treats of both truth in es- 
 sence, and truth communicated, is the truth of God, 
 because it both proceeded from him as its cause, 
 and returns to him and to his glory as its end. 
 
 " Reason seems to show with what strict propri- 
 ety God hath assumed this name of truth. But it 
 was only the revelation of God himself which could 
 convince, how suitably and justly this bright attri- 
 bute operates for the eternal welfare and salvation 
 of sinners. 
 
 " In Deuteronomy, xxxii. near the beginning, 
 Moses publishes the name of Jehovah — and among 
 other titles, ascribes to him the remarkable one, 
 AL the TRUTH, which is rendered in our trans- 
 lation, God of Truth, but more justly by Monta- 
 nus, Deus Veritas, 4 God the truth.' But the apos- 
 tle John says, 1 John v. 6. It is the spirit that bear- 
 eth witness, because the spirit is the Truth. The 
 Spirit, therefore, is Jehovah, Alehim and AL, 
 which are among the titles given to the Truth in 
 Deuteronomy, above mentioned. 
 
 " In Psalm xxxi. God is styled Jehovah AL, 
 the TRUTH, or of truth, according to our trans- 
 lation ; but the Holv Ghost is named the Truth, 
 and Spirit of TRUTH." 
 
113 
 
 You ask, if a man hath cheated another out of a 
 dollar, don't you think I ought to tell upon such a 
 person to a preacher or magistrate ? 
 
 Ansxv. "Thou shalt not steal." Exod. xx. 15. 
 This don't mean not steal by the hands only, but 
 also by any means ; for instance, a man robs you 
 of a trifle, and you, by giving publicity thereunto, 
 may, in the devil's court, rob him of five thousand 
 dollars : that is, you prosecute him in Satan's court 
 of a world of iniquity, by the compound interest of 
 sleepless slander, to his or her entire undoing; and 
 even allowing that you could legally bring all such 
 culprits to justice, yet justice itself is a crime, 
 when opposed to the law of love, which we prove 
 by the following passage of Scripture. u The same 
 servant found one of his fellow servants who owed 
 him, and he took him by the throat and said, pay 
 me that thou owest, and cast him into the prison 
 till he should pay the debt ; so when his fellow 
 servants (whose mercy had overcome their justice) 
 saw what was done they were sorry ; then his Lord 
 said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave 
 thee all the debt, shouldst not thou also have had 
 compassion upon thy fellow servant, even as I had 
 pity on thee ? And his Lord was wroth, and de- 
 livered him to the tormentors (for doing justice) 
 till he should pay all that was due unto him. So 
 likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto 
 you, if ye, from your hearts, forgive not every one 
 his brother their trespasses." Matt. ix. 24 to 35. 
 
 Se was, therefore, condemned for doing justice, 
 r not imitating his Lord in compassion, and for 
 nothing else ; so also shall Goddamn us if we use 
 justice in opposition to mercy. For if ye forgive 
 men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will 
 also iorgive you ; but if ye forgive not men their 
 
 k2 
 
114 
 
 trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your 
 trespasses" Matt. vi. 14, 15. If we forgive not, 
 we shall be damned, is the truth of God, in oppo- 
 sition to which let every thing, system, and man be 
 a liar : otherwise, "Forgive us our debts, as we 
 forgive our debtors" would have no meaning ; for- 
 giveness of debts then, is the truth of God. Every 
 thing opposite to mercy is the malicious, unmer- 
 ciful truth of the devil — and that even although it 
 be supported by legislators, judiciaries, and execu- 
 tives ; yea, though bulwarked by severe sanctuary 
 caucuses, and delivering up to Satan unmercifully. 
 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that 
 hath shewed no mercy ; and mercy rejoiceth (or 
 glorieth, margin} against (or over) judgment. 
 James ii. 13. Justice rejoiceth in a church, or 
 court judgment, which is a lie, when coming in 
 competition with the truth as it is in Jesus, for giv* 
 ing the debt, and having compassion on our fellow 
 servants, by forgiving, from our hearts, every one 
 his brother their trespasses. 
 
 You ask, What ! not tell upon a lying thief, and 
 a hypocrite ? 
 
 Answ. Thou hypocrite ! first cast out the beam 
 of lying against the truth, < by slander) out of thine 
 own eye, the hell spot, stealing good, bad, and in- 
 different reputations, and then shalt thou see thy 
 dut) , clearly how to act in mercy with a stealer of 
 a purse, who is only a trash thief (as saith Shakes- 
 peare) when compared with thee. 
 
 But I am so tormented with wicked, lazy, dirty, 
 roguish servants and bad neighbours, that I can't 
 help talking loud, severe, and evil of them ; how 
 can I do ? 
 
 Answ. As John Wesley said, (when sailors rob- 
 bed him privately of his money on board the ship, 
 
115 
 
 after some search) " If 1 have lost my money, let 
 me not lose my senses" Don't go to the devil to 
 have work done. Whosoever shall say to his bro- 
 ther Baca, (that is, empty, vain, worthless fellow, 
 from the Hebrew. word Rack, saith A. Clarke) 
 shall be in danger of the council. Matt. v. 22 ; and 
 if you doubt whether a slave is your brother or not, 
 we refer you to Jer. xxxiv. 17. where you may 
 see something else that may open your brawling 
 eyes a little wider than they are. " Put them hi 
 mind to be no brawlers" Titus iii. 1, 2, is the truth, 
 according to loving, gentle goodness, in oppo- 
 sition to railing, brawling devilishness, " Thou 
 shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the 
 children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself." Lev. xix. 18. Here is a 
 double divine truth — Thou shalt not avenge, thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour with self- love. This ad- 
 mits of neither slavery, slander, nor shaving, nor the 
 severities of justice : this is the truth, the opposite 
 is error, falsehood, and lies, though it have the 
 semblance of policy, justice, church discipline, 
 and sacerdotal holiness for its basis ; we mean lies 
 against the Old and New Testament. " Yea, (says 
 Paul) let God be true, but every man a liar." Rom. 
 iii. 4. As it is written that thou mightest be jus- 
 tified in thy sayings, and clear when thou judgest, 
 or art judged. Psalm li. 4. As the result of Da- 
 vid's inspection hath it, I said all men are liars, 
 Psalm cxvi. 11, whenever, then, we seek our own 
 against the spirit of charity, we are liars against 
 Christian charity ; which, as St. Paul affirms, seek- 
 eth not her own. 1 Cor. xiii. 5. Why is it that 
 charity, or love, seeketh not her own sect, own 
 money, own country, own rights, privileges, ho- 
 nor, ease, pleasure, or profit ? Why because it loves 
 
116 
 
 its neighbor as itself. And from the same motive, 
 and for the same reason, St. Paul saith, u If any 
 man have a quarrel (or, as the margin Hebrew hath 
 it, a complaint) against any, even as Christ forgave 
 you, so also do ye." Ye, therefore, who wish to 
 know how to dispose of a quarrel, or a complaint 
 against a brother or sister, this is the more excel- 
 lent way, forgive it ; this is GocVs truth, and the 
 contrary is no, I'll tell a preacher, member, or lea- 
 der, is a lie against God, is the devil's malicious, 
 altarscraping, unforgiving, talebearing, truth ; not 
 God's loving, forbearing truth, of which, as Solo- 
 mon saith, that love covereth all sins. Prov. x. 12. 
 Our point is proved — he that keepeth not his com- 
 mandments is a liar, and the truth is ?iot in him. 
 Every practice or opinion opposite to the word of 
 God, is an error, an untruth, a falsehood, a lie ; in 
 proof whereof, read the following Scriptures : Let 
 God be true, and every man a liar. Rom. in. 4. 
 O Lord (saith Daviaj thy words be true. 2 Sam. 
 vii. 28; right judgments and true laws, good sta- 
 tutes and commandments. A eh. ix. 13. All other 
 sentences or judgments, whether from or by poli- 
 ticians or judges, either in the state or the church, 
 contrary to God's right judgments, are wrong, op- 
 posite to his true laws, are false, clashing with his 
 good statutes and commandments, are bad ; yea, 
 every, and all confessions of faith, articles of reli- 
 gion, codes of law , and forms of church govern- 
 ment or discipline, should be held in doubt and sus- 
 picion, and never be quoted nor practised but in a 
 secondary manner, to be an handmaid to truth. 
 The church of Rome saith, so says one, the creed 
 and articles, say others, our catechism, a third, and 
 the discipline, a fourth, and so th- point improved. 
 The evil is we all build a wall of injustice, doubt, 
 
117 
 
 errors, falsehood, and lies, in human heterodoxy, 
 which will be burned up in the miilenium of truth. 
 The judgments of the Lord (not of Luther, Cal- 
 vin, JVesley, or Whitefield, nor Leo the \Oth) are 
 true (or truth, margin) and righteous altogether" 
 Psalm xix. 9. Many malicious hearsays, produc- 
 tive of false and lying judgments, supported by un- 
 righteousness altogether, have been partially passed 
 in the purest societies, by being led by obscure, ill 
 drawn charts, and carried into effect by hearsay 
 bribery and sacerdotal intolerance. Thy word is 
 true from the begi?ini?rg. Psalm cxix. 160. And 
 we may safely say, that all other systems are lies 
 from their beginning, with all their aiders, abet- 
 tors, and counsellors, if they in one jot or tittle 
 fritter away mercy from truth, gentleness, long suf- 
 fering, and hoping the best. Master, thou art 
 true, and teachest the way of God in truth. Matt. 
 xxii, 16. Whenever, then, any man tells a truth 
 upon a brother, receives a backbiting truth as a 
 leader in a church, or acts upon it unmercifully 
 and unscripturally, every one who has, or has had 
 a hand in it, is a liar against our master's truth, 
 and that even though the person expelled be guilty, 
 and what was said of him true ; it being manifest 
 that all and every concurrence in an unscriptural 
 act, is a lie against the Word himself, and the word 
 of truth itself. What a lamentable state is that 
 church in, which is led by a system of rules not 
 fully founded in Gospel order and discipline, and 
 administered by inexperienced, unduly, influenced 
 youth, supported by prepossessed, revengeful old 
 age, who, turning away their ears from him who is, 
 and it which is the whole truth, mercy and truth 
 met together, are turned to fabulous or scandalous 
 truths, or hearsay truths, founded in talebearing, 
 
118 
 
 and not in the wholesome rules of Matt, xviii. Luke 
 xvii. Rom. xv. 1 Cor. xiii. and Gal. vi. ; not 
 governed by the true light, John i. 9, we wander 
 in the false thick darkness of scandalous letter writ- 
 ing, one member to another, against another ; one 
 preacher slandering and libelling to another, to annoy 
 his brother's way ; one telling a preacher, whining 
 and blubbering like the devil's mush pot, their tears 
 being enough to " scald a crockadile" — oh ! oh ! 
 sinking down, fainting, dying, and bursting with 
 slander, like the boilers on board his Luciferian, 
 slandering steam boat ; on we go, putting the 
 quicksilver of whispering into the family and 
 church caldron ; O man of God, there is death and 
 lies, instead of truth and love, in the pot ! True 
 worshippers worship the Father in spirit and truth. 
 John iv. 23. False worshippers worship the father 
 of lies out of the spirit of truth, by carrying Abnd- 
 don's post bag of defamation, with their backs 
 humped up like racoons, by the drawing strings of 
 hell, and their faces all drawn up into angles, tri- 
 angles, twists, winks, nods, lowers, puckers, and 
 grimmaces, as the middling of an old sow boiled 
 in alum, with hair and teats protuberant, or the 
 face tightened up like a drum head, but not equally 
 musical. 
 
 1 am the true vine. John xv. 1. Therefore, 
 every slandering branch in me, that beareth not the 
 fruit of mercy and truth met together, and mercy 
 rejoicing over justice, whosoever acts upon back- 
 biting truth, which is lies and Gospel truth mixed 
 together, as much as God and mammon, is lies 
 against thy truth, shall be taken away. Sanctify 
 them through thy truth : thy -word is truth. John 
 xvii. 17 j not through whispering and backbiting 
 truths, such as he got drunk, she had a quarrel, 
 
119 
 
 he cursed, she swore, I will tell the preacher — for 
 these are lies against God's truth, and every preach- 
 er who receives them, and acts upon them unscrip- 
 turally, is a liar. If he had said, sanctify them 
 through suspicion, through asking slandering, cun- 
 ning questions, through whispers, and the devil's 
 libelling love letters, through hearsay evidence, and 
 rash, unjust judging s, we should have long ere now 
 been slanderously sanctified. But blessed be God, 
 it is by love, joy, patience, forgiveness, and over- 
 coming evil with good. Thy word is truth — What 
 does that teach? Go and tattle to leaders and 
 preachers in the different sects' and parties, and act 
 upon tattles ? No, no ; cover a multitude of sins. 
 1 Peter iv. 8. Love cover eth all sins. Prov. x. 12. 
 Forgive seven times a day, if he repent, until se- 
 venty times seven, that is four hundred and ninety; 
 restore in the spirit of meekness, Gal. vi : not put 
 him out, if he is guilty of what would exclude him 
 from grace and glory ; but if he will not hear the 
 language of meekness, if he will not hear two or 
 three patient and gentle reclaimers, if he will not 
 hear the church, then put him out— this is the 
 truth : the contrary is lies, is oppression, though 
 practised contrary to the word of truth by Paul, 
 Apollos, and Cephas. Brethren, whatsoever things 
 are true, in conformity to God's truth, think on 
 these things. Phil. iv. 8. That is to say, read and 
 be led more by the law and the testimony, which 
 is the word of truth, than the best rules of church 
 government, explained and enforced by men. 
 Take care how ye trust good men with power. 
 Attend to the word of truth from him who is a 
 minister of the sanctuary, (or of holy thuigs, mar- 
 gin ) and of the true tabernacle, (not of our false 
 creeds and devil's pediing) which the Lord pitch- 
 
120 
 
 eth, and not man. Heb. viii. 2. Attend to this 
 word of truth, we beseech you, to the utmost ex- 
 tent of declared patience, forgiveness, justice^ and 
 mercy, upon all occasions rejoicing over justice, 
 then, and not until then, shall we belong to the true 
 tabernacle which God pitched, and not ?nan< who, 
 with his wisdom, which is not from above, forbids 
 them who follows not us — loves pre-eminence, 
 raises, hears, and sentences very, very often by ly- 
 ing truths : that is, truths mixed up with envy, 
 hearsays, doubts, and revenge. Many who know, 
 who are well acquainted with their false taberna- 
 cles, which man hath pitched in codes of church 
 government, are equally ignorant of the principles, 
 spirit, and rules of the true tabernacle of mercy 
 and truth met together, which God pitched, and not 
 man. O what a great damnation shall he have in 
 the great day, who has been a pompous, hard- 
 hearted church oppressor ! He shall have judg- 
 ment without mercy, whose mercy rejoiceth not 
 against judgment, xvhich thing is true in him and in 
 you. 1 John ii. 8. What thing, John ? A true 
 tale of drunkenness to a preacher or church, to 
 have the wicked curser or cheat put out or expel- 
 led with a snort, for the preacher to inquire for 
 tales, and paid by some for acting upon them ? 
 No, no, no ; but he that saith he is in the light, and 
 hateth his brother, by whispering and backbiting, 
 called hating of God, Rom. i. 29, 30, is in dark- 
 ness ; and that whether he tell preacher or others, 
 as also the preacher, whether the person is guilty 
 or not guilty, provided the steps directed by the 
 law and the prophets, by Christ and his apostles, 
 were not taken. " Do not think to excuse your- 
 self, (saith the immortalized John Wesley,) by 
 saying, why, I did not speak to any one until I was 
 
121 
 
 so burdened that I could not refrain. You was bur- 
 dened ! And what way have you found to unburden 
 yourseif ? You comfort yourself by telling your 
 brother's fault to another person ! Ease bought by 
 sin is a dear purchase." 4th vol. p. 69. Mark 
 Wesley — if you reject Christ, Paul, Cephas, Mo- 
 ses, and the prophets ! 
 
 Saith he that is true. Rev. iii. 7. The fountain 
 or foundation of truth. What truths? Why, that 
 whisperers and backbiters (are) haters of God, de- 
 spiteful, proud. Rom. i. 29, 30. And, Lord who 
 shall abide in thy tabernacle ? Who shall dwell 
 upon thy holy hill ? He that backbiteth not, nor 
 taketh up a reproach against his neighbour. Psalm 
 xvi. 3 ; in the margin, it reads or receivtth, or en- 
 dureth : That is to say, he that receiveth or end ir- 
 eth a backbiting tale, without reproving the devil's 
 pedler who tells it, is equally out of the church mi- 
 litant, as he who backbites, and he or she who 
 takes up the reproach which the backbiter drops ; 
 for David's good man will neither backbite, take up 
 a reproach, nor suffer others to backbite, nor take 
 up reproaches against others. This is the language 
 of him the holy and true,, the Holy Ghost, the spi- 
 rit of truth, whom the (slandering) world cannot 
 receive. John xiv. 17. Speak evil of no man. Titus 
 iii. 2, If thy brother trespass, go and tell him his 
 fault between thee and him alone, until severity 
 times seven. Matt, xviii. 15, 22. This is the lan- 
 guage of the spirit of truth — The comforter whom 
 I (saith Jesus) will send unto you, from the Father, 
 even the spirit of truth. John xv. 26. The con- 
 trary, which is to tell tales to churches, preach- 
 ers, and others is from the spirit of lies ; yea, and 
 all who receive such tales are liars and thieves, rne 
 receivers being as the other thieves. What do ye? 
 
 JU 
 
122 
 
 think ? What have ye to say for yourselves, ye 
 whispering, hissing serpents, ye generation of bit- 
 ing vipers, how can ye expect to escape the dam- 
 nation of hell ? O. but say you, he must repent if 
 we wait four hundred and ninety times. Matt, xviii. 
 Yes, and there is hardly one in four hundred and 
 ninety, but would repent if Messrs. Wesley, Blair, 
 Massillon, and Tillotson's methods were pursued, 
 but still more so, if the prophets, Jesus, and the 
 apostles were adhered to. / came into the world 
 (saith Chrisi) that I should bear witness tint o the 
 truth. John xviii. 57 ; not as some ministers of 
 slander do when they bear witness unto whispering 
 truth, mixed up of hearsays, malice, corruption, 
 and envy : he adds, Every one that is of the truth, 
 heareth my . voice ; that is, of God, of revealed 
 truth, which \s forgive, love, and restore in the spi- 
 rit of meekness. Gai. vi. 1 ; not have him up, like 
 a sailor to the gangway, or as a soldier to the guard- 
 house to whip, or put him out, but to cover a mul- 
 titude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8. Pilate said xvhat is 
 truth? Jesus saith, lam the truth, John xiv. 6. 
 J am the fountain, author, and doctor of truth, or 
 of my church, who teach them what course to take 
 to get to heaven ; he is opposed to all error, false- 
 hood, and lies. Whoever, therefore, teacheth, re- 
 ceiveth, or acteth upon any other system of opin- 
 ions than this truth, is a liar, even allowing what 
 he relates or receives to be a fact : For instance, 
 St Peter saith, honor all men, love the brotherhood. 
 1 Peter ii. 17 ; unless, then, that some slandering 
 Diotrephes, or devil's pedler can make it evident 
 that receiving sly, secret, malignant tales unscrip- 
 turaily, against a member, and acting unjustly by 
 exparte testimony thereupon, to the great oppres- 
 sion and damnation of thousands, is Gospel truth. 
 
123 
 
 is imitating him who is, who was, and who is fc> 
 come, to punish such upstart tyrants ; we hope 
 to be indulged with the liberty of sounding the fol- 
 lowing words in their ears, before their high might- 
 inesses get so much power from their wrong, irre- 
 verent father, the devil, in lies, as to render even 
 rational remonstrance impracticable : foolish Ga- 
 latians, (or slanderers) who hath bewitched you, 
 that ye should not obey the 'whole Gospel) truth. 
 Gal. iii. I ; which is to remonstrate lovingly, pa- 
 tiently, and faithfully, until seventy times seven y 
 that is, four hundred and ninety times, privately, 
 with thy brother, if he shew any signs of repent- 
 ance, before you tell even a receiver of stolen repu- 
 tations ! ! 
 
 And 1 saiv heaven opened, and behold a white 
 horse, (not the black horse of slanderous truth,) 
 and he that sat upon him was called faithful and 
 true. Rev. xix. i 1 . Of course, every whisperer 
 who differs from him is false, is a liar, even if he 
 tell nothing but the fact committed — such as to say 
 he fought, she scolded, he was intoxicated, or she 
 was a slanderer ; these things having been spoken 
 in an unscriptural way, mark the departure from 
 him who is true, who ha,th commanded us to love 
 our neighbour as ourselves, and first to cast the 
 beam out of our own eyes. He that is of a faithful 
 spirit concealeth the matter. Prov. xi. 13. All 
 the faithful are concealers ; those who act the con- 
 trary part are untrue, are unfaithful ; reprove in 
 love, forgive in charity, conceal in faith, restore in 
 the spirit of meekness, pardon as a God, sue as a 
 lawyer, or slander like your father the devil. Cha- 
 rity never faileth, this is the truth : whenever, 
 then, we begin to backbite, we are immediately de- 
 void of charity, and are liars against loving faith. 
 
124 
 
 For this cause also we thank God without ceasing \ 
 hecause when ye received the word of God, which 
 ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of 
 wen, but (as it is in truth) the word of God. 1 
 Thess. ii. 13. Are we so blind, then, as not to 
 see and confess that any and every departure from 
 this word of God, and consequently from this truth, 
 is a lie ? And that too, whether what we say in a 
 slanderous way be even acknowledged to have 
 been a fact, it being self-evident that God must be 
 true, and all backbiters liars, their truths having 
 no mercy or pity mixed therewith ; whereas God's 
 truth is mercy and truth met together. All the 
 paths of the Lord are mercy and truth. Psalm xxv, 
 10. Mercy and truth have met together; right- 
 eousness and peace have kissed each other. Psalm 
 Jxxxv. 10. How much mercy is mixed with ten 
 thousand whispering, envious tales to a preacher, 
 do you think ? Or wherein doth righteousness and 
 peace kiss each other, when we unscripturally tt 11 
 upon, instead of telling to our brother the fault in 
 which he is unfortunately overtaken ? As you can- 
 not answer in the affirmative, by proving what it is 
 impossible for any open mouthed or sly slanderer 
 to make evident, the consequence is plain, that al- 
 though you may have truth in the slander, either 
 ;;s the communicator or receiver, yet that truth be- 
 ing of a hellish nature, having for its basis the ma- 
 licious intentions of a slandering propagator, pros- 
 ecutor, and receiver, it is a lie coming in competi- 
 tion with the true rules laid down in Lev. xix. 
 16, 18; Psalm xv. 1, 3; Prov. x. 18; Matt. 
 xviii. 15, 22; Luke xvii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ; TitusYu. 
 2; Col. hi. 13 ; Gal. vi. 1 to 4 ; James iv. 11 ; 
 Eph.iw. 31. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and an- 
 ger. and clamor., and evil speaking, be put away 
 
125 
 
 from you with all malice. And be ije kind one to 
 another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even 
 as God, for Christ's sake, hath for given you. This 
 is (as Paul saith) the grace of God in truth. Col. 
 i. 6 ; the contrary is the devil's graceless lie against 
 the above revealed truths, even allowing what the 
 sly whisperer told the unscriptural receiver to be a 
 fact ; as it is manifest that all who act against the 
 word of revealed truth are liars, though angels from 
 heaven. Hear St. John, with John Wesley's com- 
 ment — If we say we have not sinned, we make 
 him a liar, and his word (of truth) is not in us. 
 1 John i. 10. " Still, if we say we have not sinned, 
 we make him a liar, who saith all have sinned, and 
 his word is not in us. We do not receive it ; we 
 give it no place in our hearts." So that any decla- 
 ration in opposition to his word of truth is a lie. 
 He that saith I know him, and keepeth not his com- 
 mandments is a liar, and the truth (of God's word) 
 is not in him. 1 John ii. 4. Here is a plain proof, 
 that when the truth forbids backbiting, he is a liar 
 who whispers, even granting his narration to be a 
 fact : it is a lie against the Holy Gospel. 
 
 But, may the objector reply, if the truth of God 
 hath abounded, has been more abunelantly shewn, 
 through my lie — If my lie, that is slandering prac- 
 tice, contrary to (Holy Ghost) truth, conduces to 
 the glory of God, why am I judged as a sinner ? 
 Can this be said to be sin at all? — Ought I not to 
 do what woulel otherwise be evil, that so much 
 slandering good may come ? To this the apostle 
 does not deign to give a direct answer, but cuts the 
 objector short with a severe reproof — Whose con- 
 demnation is just : the condemnation of all who 
 either speak or act in this manner. So the apostle 
 absolutely denies the lawfulness oidoing evil — any 
 
 l2 
 
126 
 
 evil, that good may come. Rom. iii. 7, 3. In short, 
 if slandering truths, such as he got drunk, she 
 dressed too fine, he is proud, she is vain, he quar- 
 relled, or she whispered, they, the slanderer's nam- 
 ing the person, promotes the glory of God, why are 
 we commanded negatively not to whisper, back- 
 bite, rail, or revile, throughout the Old and New 
 Testament? It would be better even to preach 
 Christ, as some anciently did, in pretence, under 
 color of propagating the Gospel in truth, Phil. i. 18. 
 than for us, who know the Gospel rules of loving m 
 mercy and truth met together, Psalm lxxxv. 10, 
 to turn patient, long suffering, scriptural truth into 
 slanderous lies against Christian chanty, which co- 
 vered! a multitude of sins. 
 
 But we speak all things to you in truth. 2 Cor. 
 vii. 14. The whole truth, a part of which is, re- 
 store thy brother in the spirit of meekness. Gal. vi. 
 1, by gentle reproof, instruction, and private ex- 
 hortation, lest thou also be tempted. " Temptation 
 easily and swiftly passes from one to another ; es- 
 pecially if a man endeavors to cure another, with- 
 out preserving his own meekness. But verily let 
 every man try his own work. Narrowly examine 
 all he is and all he doth : and then shall he have re- 
 joicing in himself; he will find in himself matter of 
 rejoicing, if his works are right before God, and 
 not in another — not in glorying over others." — 
 J. Wesley. 
 
 Read the following truths : I will be their God, 
 in truth and in righteousness. Zach. viii. 8. Not 
 sly or slanderous truth. Israel shall stay upon the 
 Lord, the Hoiy one of Israel, in truth. Isaiah x. 20. 
 Not upon the unholy one of whispering and re- 
 vengeful truth. For the word of the Lord is right, 
 and all his works are done in truth. Psalm xxxiii. 4. 
 
127 
 
 But the talebearing word of the devil to a church in 
 malice is wrong ; and all such slandering, malig- 
 nant works are done in lies against the right word 
 of truth. All his commandments arc sure : they 
 stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth 
 and uprightness. Psalm cxi. 7, 8. Contrary there- 
 unto, all talebearings are doubtful; they cannot 
 stand forever, and are done in lies and villainy. 
 Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth. 1 Sam. 
 xii 24. Not with the fearless slanderer's whipping 
 truths, malicious truths, truths to have a negro tied 
 up, a stranger blockaded, a match to be broke, or 
 a member to be put out of society ; but the truth 
 in love, to cover all sins, Prov. x. 12, the multi- 
 tude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8 ; to forgive seven times 
 in a day, Luke xvii, until four hundred and ninety 
 times. Matt. 18. Mercy is great unto the hea- 
 vens, and thy truth unto the clcuds. Psalm Ivii. 10. 
 But talebearing implacability is enviously small, 
 down to the hell of hells ; and the aiders, abettors, 
 and counsellors of such slandering truths are liars 
 against God's truth, which reacheth unto the hea- 
 ve?is. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 
 Psalm Ixxxix. 14. But the talebearer's truth hav- 
 ing no mercy accompanying it, is therefore a lie 
 against mercy and truth met together, and that even 
 though what they said was a fact, for the question 
 before us is not whether the thing spoken be a fact, 
 but whether that fact agrees with our duty, as laid 
 down by him who is the truth, arid that word of 
 life, which is the word of truth, in competition to 
 which all persons, every thing, and system are liars* 
 I will sing of mercy and judgment, saith David. 
 Psalm ci. 1. Not of unmerciful church slanders 
 too, and by unjust and exparte judgment. Let not 
 mercy and truth forsake thee. Prov. iii. 3. Not 
 
 I 
 
128 
 
 the unmcrcifulncss of slanderous, whispering truth, 
 but loving, reclaiming, patient, Gospel truth ; 
 which is as far removed from the iniquity of the 
 day as God from the devil, as heaven from hell ! ! 
 Do they not err that desire evil ? But mercy and 
 truth shall be to them that devise good. Prov. 
 xiv. :>2. If mercy and truth, or merciful, instead 
 of defamatory truth, was the religious topic, how 
 soon would our union result in the most heavenly, 
 instead of the at present direful results ? Alas ! 
 among the w 7 orks of the flesh, which are manifest, 
 the hydra slander stalks forward with its hellish 
 brood of hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, 
 sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, Gal. v. be- 
 ing nine out of seventeen damnable sins named by 
 the apostle, five of which are made plural to shew 
 their legion, namely, emulations, seditions, here- 
 sies, envyings and murders. Sanctify them through 
 thy truth : thy word is truth. John xvii. 1 7. How 
 long do you think it would take to sanctify them 
 through slandering truths, such as, O brother or 
 sister tell the preacher, I'll tell the church, he is a 
 drunkard, she is a tattler, which practice is con- 
 trary to Moses, Jesus, and St. Paul, all of which 
 forbid Gospel gossipping, which is, by the defam- 
 er, put in the stead of mercy and truth met togeth- 
 er, righteousness and peace kissing each other. 
 Psalm Ixxxv. 10. A certain proof this, that al- 
 though the church gossipper, or Luciferian pedler, 
 tells a truth, yet that truth not being mercy and 
 truth met together, righteousness and peace kissing 
 each other ; but on the contrary is unrighteous and 
 whispering truth, unmercifulness, productive of 
 discord, which is every where forbidden by the 
 law, prophets, Christ, and apostles, which makes 
 it a lie, it being manifest that whatever is opposed 
 
129 
 
 to the sanctification of Holy Ghost truth is an un- 
 holy ghost lie ! Yea, (saith Paul) let God be true, 
 but every man (opposed to his truth) a liar. Bom. 
 in. 4. 
 
 Mr. and Misses Truth lie, read the following 
 Scriptures : I have not written unto you, because 
 ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, 
 and that no lie is of the truth. 1 John ii. 23. What 
 truth? Why any Holy Ghost truth. Instance 
 one. Yes, we will, as follows : Who is a liar, but 
 he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ. He is an- 
 tichrist that denieth the father and the son. ver. 22. 
 Why is he a liar and an antichrist ? Ansxv. Be- 
 cause he denies what the word of truth affirms ; by 
 which general rule every intention, affirmation, or 
 practice which opposes divine truth is a lie, and its 
 propagator a liar, though a bishop, if he receive an 
 unmerciful slandering tale, instead of merciful Gos- 
 pel truth, peace and righteousness. Read the fol- 
 lowing truths : The wicked are estranged from the 
 womb : they go astray as soon as they are born, 
 speaking lies. Psalm Iviii. 3. Corrupt church 
 whispering, herein has its origin, namely, our birth; 
 — Where, then, is Felagianism ? For (saith Isaiah) 
 I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherous 1 }*, 
 and wast called a transgressor from the womb. Isa. 
 xlviii. 8; of a slandering family. Surely men of 
 high degree is a lie, Psalm lxii. 9, being pompous- 
 ly opposed to revelation and religion as it is in 
 Jesus, in the truth by the Holy Ghost ; which is 
 the case of the church pedler and devil's trader, 
 when they relate a truth unscripturally. 
 
 Ephraim compasseth me about with lies. Hosea 
 xi. 12. So have the world and church slanderers 
 who have the beams of malignity and religious hy- 
 pocrisy in their own eves. Matt. vii. 1 to 5 ; be • 
 
130 
 
 cause they received not the love of the truth ; for 
 this cause God shall send them strong delusion, 
 that they should believe a (slandering) lie, (to be 
 scriptural truth ;) that they all might be damned 
 who believed not the (scriptural) truth, but had 
 pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12. 
 God is not a man that he should lie. Num. xxiii. 
 19. And therefore all liars against revelation shall 
 have their part in the lake which burnetii with fire 
 and brimstone, which is the second death. Rev. 
 xxi. 8 ; as are all who tell preachers and leaders, 
 instead of reclaiming their brethren. For without 
 are whosoever loveth and makcth a ^slandering 
 truth, which is a Church) lie. Rev. xxii. 15, which 
 is a lie against the word of the Holy Ghost. But, 
 blessed be God, loving and forgiving Christians 
 are children that will not lie ; so he was their Sa- 
 viour. Isaiah Ixiii. 8. 
 
 Slanderers, as were the Cretans, Titus i. 12, are 
 all liars. I know thy works, and thy labour, (to keep 
 down whispering) and thy patience, (with backslid- 
 ing members of society) and how thou canst not 
 bear them which are (slanderously) evil ; and thou 
 hast tried them which say they are (loving, long 
 suffering, forgiving) apostles, and are not, (they 
 being receivers of stolen characters) and hast found 
 them liars. Rev. ii. 2. That is, liars against Lev. 
 xix. 16, 18. Psalm xv. 3. Prov. x. 12, 18. Matt. 
 vii. 1 to 5, and xviii. 15, to the end of the chapter. 
 Luke xvii. 3, 4, 5. Gal. vi. 1 to 5. If we say that 
 we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his 
 word is not in us. 1 John i. 10. Why ? Answer. 
 Because we deny what he hath asserted, namely, 
 that they are all gone out of the way. Rom. iii. 12. 
 So is a whispering truth a lie against God's word. 
 They that observe lying (slanderous) vanities, for- 
 
131 
 
 sake their own mercy. Jonah ii. 8. He that be- 
 lie veth not God (much less he that sets up whis- 
 pering for church government) hath made him a 
 liar ; because he believeth not the record that God 
 gave. 1 John v. 10. So that not to believe scripture 
 truth is a lie against God — much more so are those 
 who set up a slandering truth against mercy and 
 truth met together, righteousness and peace kissing 
 each other. Psalm lxxxv. 10. Trust ye not in 
 lying words, (which are spoken in opposition to re- 
 velation) saying the temple of the Lord, the temple 
 of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these. 
 (Church whisperers, who tell upon brethren to 
 preachers unscripturally.; Jcr. vii. 4. To con- 
 clude — Let God be true ^who hath enjoined 
 us to love our neighbour as ourselves, to tell 
 him between us and him of his faults, to restore 
 him in the spirit of meekness. Gal. vi. To cover a 
 multitude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8. To coverall sins. 
 Prov. x. 12. To do as we ivould be clone by. Matt* 
 vii. 12. and every man (who teaches or practices 
 otherwise) is a liar. Pom. iii. 4. Otherwise, let him 
 take the contrary course, and tell slanderous truths, 
 which are forbidden by God's truth, and then the 
 consequence of his disavowal will be, the making 
 of God a liar, according to 1 John i. 10. He that 
 believeth not God, hath made him a liar; because 
 he believeth not the record that God gave ! ! 
 
 As it is malice aforethought which constitutes 
 the crime of murder, it is immaterial how it is done, 
 whether by slander, lead, or steel ; poison, money, 
 or laudanum ; by biting dogs or biting men. 
 They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent, 
 (saith David) adder's poison is under their lips. 
 Psalm cxl. 3. They go astray as soon as they are 
 born, speaking lies. Psalm lviii. S. Their throat 
 
132 
 
 is an open sepulchre. Rom, iii. 13. Hatred stir- 
 reth up strifes ; violence covereth the mouth of the 
 wicked. Prov. x. 11, 12. Here is the source of 
 murder ; the natural and habitual aspishness of 
 man, adder's poison from the heart of malignity, 
 through the all infecting, all poisoning, universally 
 contagious throat, morally putrefactive, sharpened 
 into the tongue of a serpent, set on fire of hell, un- 
 til a diabolical gangrene defiles the whole body, 
 politic and religious, thus resulting in a world of 
 iniquity, each of whose malicious murderers is thus 
 described by the wise man : An ungodly man dig- 
 geth up evil, and in his lips there is a burning fire. 
 Prov, xvi. 27. You here see the true picture of a 
 slandering murderer ; they are the devil's miners, 
 digging up your ancestors out of their graves ; dig- 
 ging up from under the deep oblivion of time and 
 charity, the reputation of the objects of their ma- 
 lignity. In their lips, saith Solomon, there is a 
 .burning fire ; hot, burning slanderers, whose 
 tongues consume name, fame, property, life, and, 
 what is most ruinous, destroy souls in hell fire ! 
 whither their digging and burning is hastening 
 themselves. Why then leave it discretionary with 
 a jury without statute, whether such serpents, such 
 malicious murderers, such universal burners and 
 cannibals shall come off with honor from a jury, 
 one third of whom may be under undue influence, 
 the other third badly informed, and the other pot 
 valiant ? How much better would it be to make a 
 definitive statute upon such crimes, bringing those 
 slanderers, who commit murder of malice afore- 
 thought by their malignant pLns, whispers, and li- 
 bels, under the law of unjustifiable homicide, or 
 killing ? As also the slandering felon, who robs 
 us by slander, under that of felony ? Surely the 
 
133 
 
 whole representation of the state would be more 
 likely to feel and express the sense of Virginia, and 
 of justice, than ordinary or extraordinary juries; 
 more especially, as they well know by having ex- 
 perienced the effects of slander, how to stem the 
 " all devouring" plague — for, as a full proof of its 
 fountain, He that hateth his brother is a murderer. 
 1 John iii. 15 ; and to prove, beyond contradiction, 
 that men intend murder by slander we have the fol- 
 lowing inspired declaration, that m thee are inen 
 that carry tales to shed blood. Ezekiel xxii 9 ; or, 
 as the marginal Hebrew has it, men of slanders ; 
 so that tales are called slanders, bloody murdering 
 tales, or slanders. 
 
 Put them in mind to speak evil of no man, saith 
 Paul to Titus, iii. 1, 2. Observe, he don't say 
 speak lies of no man, evil speaking being the same 
 as backbiting — which, as the learned Adam Clarke 
 saith, is derived from two words, namely, against, 
 and / speak, that is, to speak against a person. 
 
 If a man has done any thing unchristian or un- 
 lawful, let the church proceed as our Lord directs. 
 Matt, xviii. 15. Let us sue, but not slander ; let 
 us not " revenge ourselves by the odious course of 
 libelling," or defaming by the tongue. Carefully 
 read the three first verses of the fifteenth Psalm, 
 and you will there plainly discover that to back- 
 bite, to take up what the backbiter drops in his or 
 her mad career of scattering firebrands, arrows, and 
 death, or, as the margin has it, or receiveth, or en- 
 dureth, places us in the devil's right, so that to 
 backbite, to take up the reproach which the back- 
 biter drops, or to endure it in our hearing without 
 reproof, excludes us, in David's opinion, from 
 God's tabernacle and his holy hill. Solomon saith, 
 that he that uttereth slander is a fool. Prov. x. 18. 
 
 M 
 
134 
 
 To utter is to uncover, reveal, circulate, or publish* 
 Would you give judgment of two punishments for 
 one crime, or two payments for one debt ? No, no, 
 say you. Well, then, is it not enough that a per- 
 son go to the penitentiary for stealing a horse, suf- 
 fer and work the worth of six horses, without us 
 slandering him the worth of twenty ? The word 
 slander, from ferlimedung or schaenden, (Teutonic) 
 signifies to cause shame, to scandalize, to reproach, 
 rail, revile, whisper against, to backbite, or speak 
 evil of a person. 
 
 The great lord Bacon saith, " It is no excuse at* 
 the bar of conscience, that the slanderous words 
 spoken are true." Thereby admitting that slan- 
 derous words spoken are true ; yea, maliciously 
 and inconsiderately true, with a wink and a smile. 
 " Smiling, very often, is the aspect, and smooth 
 are the words of those who inwardly are the most 
 ready to think evil of others. " And we may add, 
 that this smiling lip'd murder, belongs to some fa- 
 milies. 
 
 When Knox, the Scotch reformer, urged the 
 express declarations of the Scripture, which en- 
 joined conformity to the divine law in opposition 
 to human authority — " If so, (said Arbugkili) you 
 will leave us no church. " Yes, (rejoined Knox, 
 sarcastically,) in David I read, Psalm xxvi. 5, of 
 the church of malignants,* this church you may- 
 have without the word, and fighting against it." 
 This was also the church of Nero and Domitian ; 
 as St. Melito, bishop of Sardis, remonstrates with 
 M. Antoninus, A. D. 170 — " None but Nero and 
 
 * Odi ecclesiam malignantium : I hate, or have hated the 
 congregation (or church) of evil doers. Psalm xxvi. 5, or 
 nlalignants. 
 
135 
 
 Domitian, instigated by cruel and ill- minded men, 
 have attempted to reproach and calumniate our re- 
 ligion ; whence sprang the common slanders con- 
 cerning us, the injudicious vulgar, greedily enter- 
 taining such reports without any strict examina- 
 tion." 
 
 As murder, confiscation, banishment, and all 
 other rapines and vexations were produced in those 
 days against the innocent by slanderers ; so also is it 
 to this day, in church and state — Therefore, all 
 slanderers who belong to the church of the ?nalig- 
 nants are murderers : for he that hateth his brother 
 is a murderer. 1 John iii. 15 ; they are thieves of 
 reputation — u He who steals my purse is a trash 
 thief," when compared with him; he is a liar 
 against that charity which covers, bears long with, 
 and forgives the multitude of sins, 1 Cor. xiii. 4, 
 7. 1 Peter iv. 8, covers a multitude of sins. Prov. 
 x. 12. They are hypocrites with the beam of ill- 
 will ; if not, perhaps they are proud, vain, unmer. 
 ciful, ungrateful, bad to slaves, to the poor, haughty, 
 or double minded to the stranger, or always join- 
 ing the strongest side; are revengeful, unforgiving, 
 making a God of furniture, dress, high living, 
 grandeur, family, or beauty ; are gluttons, feather 
 bed drunkards, extortioners, bigots, or persecutors; 
 in a word, those who are living in any known sin, 
 are hypocrites, while they are whispering, cack- 
 ling, and circulating their villainies, and will not 
 make a concession, neither forgive their enemies. 
 Matt. vii. 1 to 5. 
 
 Ingratitude is damning, so also is revenge ; so 
 shall it be with the unforgiving, high eyed, haughty 
 maligners. Ingratitude is one of the basest crimes ; 
 nevertheless, it ill becomes any person to accuse 
 another of ingratitude, when they themselves pro- 
 
136 
 
 voke it by secret, sly intrigues, or otherwise doing 
 a greater injury to the person or persons to whom 
 they have been kind, than they have done them fa- 
 vors : more especially when those favors have had 
 for their objects either praise or gain, or, what is 
 equally as bad, that their benevolence was always 
 partial, double-minded, or reluctant. And certain- 
 ly to raise so high a tax as that of sleepless, per- 
 petual hatred, envy, railing, and revenge upon such 
 hypocritical friendship, with the epithets of rascal, 
 villain, ingratitude, Sec. discovers the devil's prin- 
 ciple, or capitol of implacability, and his compound 
 interest of perpetual motion, that is to say eternal 
 revenge; "I never, never will speak to them, to 
 him, or to her," say your high, hellish, puffed up, 
 double distilled, proud, sly, revengeful families and 
 individuals, bursting at last with w r ormwood and 
 gall, like the toad fish, or a bladder blown up with 
 the foul breath of slander from the lungs of a dae- 
 -;•-••!•. But, we ought ever to acknowledge favors, 
 although coming to us through such mediums ; 
 and it* we are even ill treated, and speak of it, we 
 should acknowledge our ingratitude, although we 
 have known those from whom we have received 
 them to have been our enemies. First- — To obey 
 God who hath said, " vengeance is mine." Se- 
 condly — To have the shew of gratitude. Thirdly 
 — To overcome evil with good. Fourthly — Not 
 to be overcome of evil. Rom. xii. 21. Fifthly — 
 To forgive, expecting forgiveness. Matt, xvhi. 
 35, and vi 15. But if ye forgive not, neither will 
 your father, which is in heaven, forgive your tres- 
 passes. Mark xi. 26 ; always endeavouring, if it 
 be possible, as much as lieth in us, to live peacea- 
 bly with all men. Rom. xii. 18. As there is hardly 
 a man or woman but what has a kick, start, stura- 
 
137 
 
 ble, balk, or fall in their gallop through life, we 
 should put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy 
 and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humble- 
 ness of mind, meekness, long suffering — if any 
 man have a quarrel (or complaint) against any, for- 
 give him even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. 
 Col. iii. 12, 13. 
 
 Let nothing be done through strife or vain glo- 
 ry, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other 
 better than themselves. Phil. ii. 3. And instead 
 of whispering, railing, and lordly severity, let us 
 hear the wise master builder — " Brethren, if any 
 man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, 
 restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, con- 
 sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted ; bear 
 ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of 
 Christ. Gal. vi. 1, 2. The cowardly, sly tale- 
 bearer, and all who act upon hearsay evidence, 
 should put about ship, and hear the following 
 words — Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass 
 against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee 
 and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
 gained thy brother. And if impatient, haughty 
 Peter should ask, How oft shall my brother offend 
 against me and I forgive him ? Till seven times ? 
 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee until se- 
 ven times, but until seventy times seven. Matt. 
 xviii. How can we expect that God will forgive 
 us the ten thousand talents, when we will not for- 
 give an hundred pence? After all our boasting and 
 pride, our judging and censure, we must be wiih- 
 out sin if we throw a single stone ; therefore, ye 
 who think you never can be delivered from sin in 
 this life, ought not to throw one, and those who 
 believe they can be saved therefrom, ought to be 
 first made perfect in love, and then they would 
 
 m2 
 
138 
 
 love their neighbour as themselves, and work no 
 slandering ill to them ; they would then enter in at 
 the straight gate of universal charity, and in the ful- 
 filment of " Therefore, all tilings whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye even so 
 to them, for this is the law and the prophets." 
 Matt. vii. 13. In the fulfilment, we repeat it 
 again, of this universally benevolent precept, there 
 wiii be no place left for malice, guile, envy, whis- 
 pering, ingratitude, supplanting, talebearing, pride, 
 exclusive privilege, lording over God's heritage, 
 haughtiness, implacability, or revenge. 
 
 Any man or woman who, having a murderous 
 disposition against another, is continually writing 
 and speaking ill of those whom they hate, to every 
 person that they can bribe to join with them in their 
 little, proud, envious, vain, talkative, lying, malice 
 and revenge ; especially to those whose jealousy is 
 as cruel as the grave ; we say, that when by malice 
 aforethought this has been, is, and probably shall 
 be, until the person or persons of whom the slan- 
 derers speak and write are either killed, or otherwise 
 suffer as much as the loss, or more than the loss of 
 an house or plantation, by the effects of such bitter 
 railings ; then, the slandering murderer having 
 intended to take the life of the person, having pro- 
 duced killing by slandering them, ought to be 
 hanged ; or, if having, by a continued course of 
 defamatory reviling, produced other losses to the 
 sufferers, they ought to be punished in proportion 
 to the sufferings and losses produced. And as 
 these ends of distributive, equal justice cannot be 
 obtained so well by leaving it to a jury to give 
 something, or nothing, or more slander, to the 
 plaintiff, than he or they had before they sued for 
 their characters, statute law might produce more 
 
139 
 
 reformation in society, leaving it to the jury, under 
 the direction of the court, to bring them under the 
 purview thereof who are found guilty ; or, if the 
 jury bring a verdict contrary to the law, or contra- 
 ry to evidence ; then the court is to order a new 
 trial, and so continue until the statute in such case 
 made and provided, have the effects, and answer 
 the ends intended by the legislature. 
 
 This end may be obtained without " abridging 
 the freedom of speech, or of the press." Hear the 
 declaration of the General Court, Richmond, June, 
 1811, before judges JSl'elson, White, Holmes. Bro- 
 kenborough, Johnston, Carr, and Smith — " The 
 adjourned case of the commonwealth against 
 Morris was thus decided." It is the unani- 
 mous opinion of the court, that by the common 
 law, truth is no justification of a libel, and cannot 
 as such be given in evidence on an indictment or 
 information for the offence. In this case the se- 
 cond article of the bill of rights, having declared 
 that " AH power is vested in, and consequently 
 derived from the people, that magistrates are the 
 trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to 
 them." It follows, as a necessary consequence, 
 that the people have a right to be informed of the 
 conduct and character of their public agents. 
 
 In the case of an indictment, or information for 
 a libel against public officers or candidates for pub- 
 lic office, truth is a justification, and may be given 
 in evidence as such under the general issue ; and 
 this forms an exception to the general rules estab- 
 lished by the courts of law ; but even in such a case 
 any libellous matter, which does not tend to sheW" 
 that the person libelled is unfit for the office, can- 
 not be justified, because it is true. In the case of 
 
140 
 
 individuals, who are neither officers nor candidates 
 for office, truth is no justification of a libel. 
 
 In no case is it necessary or proper that the de- 
 fendant, against whom there is an indictment or 
 information for a libel, should plead the truth. 
 
 Who does not here discern the difference be- 
 tween " -written scandal" called a libel, against a 
 public and a private person ? 
 
 The word libel, s. from [libellous, Lat.] is, lst.« 
 A satire ; defamatory writing ; a lampoon ; decay 
 of piety, 2d. [In the civil law"] A declaration or 
 charge, in writing, against a person in court. 
 
 To LIBEL, v. n. [from the noun~\ To spread 
 defamation generally, written or printed. — Donne. 
 
 To LIBEL, v. a. To satirize ; to lampoon. 
 
 A LIBELLER, s. [from libel] A defamer by 
 writing ; a lampooner. — Dryden. 
 
 " Whatever (saith the common law, approved 
 by Judge C.) renders a man ridiculous, or lowers 
 him in the* esteem and opinion of the world, amounts 
 to a libel ; as to call a person an itchy old toad was 
 held in that case to be a libel. For men not being 
 able to bear their having their errors exposed to 
 public view, were found by experience to revenge 
 themselves on those who made sport with their re- 
 putations." 
 
 Take care of your love letters, of letters libelling 
 one another ; of smile and stab letters ; of letters 
 under the lying, covetous, hypocritical pretences 
 of church government, of putting the innocent 
 upon their guard, of punishing the wicked, while 
 you have a beam of whispering in your own eye, 
 and boasting of producing good to society thereby, 
 when, as slanderers, you are not only its worst ci- 
 tizens, but most profligated church members, by 
 the evil habit and example of producing a world 
 
141 
 
 of iniquity. Parting man and wife, breaking up 
 matches, when we so much need population, ruin- 
 ing strangers, fatherless, and widows, driving man- 
 kind more into infamy, and proportionally to re- 
 venge, disappointment, and suicide, into poverty, 
 and breaches of the peace — are the great boasted 
 good resulting from such double distilled felony 
 and murder. 
 
 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, saith 
 Solomon, Prov. xxv. 2. Yet your rasp tongued, 
 winking, cackling, tossing nosed slanderers, make 
 their boast of having revealed the thing ; hereby 
 imitating their father, the devil, who is emphati- 
 cally called the accuser, or slanderer. 
 
 You say that you only put the innocent upon 
 their guard, when you whisper. You lie — you put 
 them off their guard, by imposing upon them by 
 hypocritical pretentions of friendship, until you 
 make them open the gates of confidence to you and 
 the devil, your father, by whom, joined to your 
 malevolence, they are set on fire of hell by evil 
 speaking and revenge. Why don't you put them on 
 their guard against backbiting, against the company ^ 
 and confidence of railers, revilers, and those who 
 justify their slanders, as much as against the com- 
 pany of murderers, adulterers, drunkards, horse- 
 thieves, house breakers, and money or trash steal- 
 ers ? Surely the slanderer is a murderer, not only 
 of character, but often of men, women, and chil- 
 dren; " he who steals my purse steals trash," but 
 he or she who pilfers from me my reputation, or 
 sinks it lower by whispering, is a greater enemy to 
 society than other criminals, inasmuch as " a world 
 of iniquity" is greater than a few criminal acts. 
 Search ancient history in proof of these things, and 
 you will find that nineteen wars out of twenty have 
 
142 
 
 been produced by slander, prompted by envy, de- 
 bate, deceit, backbiting, coveteousness, and re.- 
 venge. Read ecclesiastical history of the Trinita- 
 rians and Antitrinitarians, with all the slanders be- 
 tween Catholics (so called) and Protestants. Turn 
 over the biography of modern Europe, of states, 
 churches, and colleges, look at the slanders of the 
 officers, of armies, and navies; behold with shame 
 in the very bosom of our own inimitable republic, 
 the political emulations which often burst out into 
 open violence. Mark the bar — but more especially 
 the secret contentions and public controversies 
 which have been the laughing stock and 6tumbling 
 block of infidels, among the different sects of Chris- 
 tians ; add to the catalogue the effects of slander 
 recorded in the Bible, and you will see the amount 
 to be this : Other criminals have slain their thou- 
 sands, but slanderers their ten thousands. 
 
 What an abominable spectacle do tradesmen and 
 merchants display by their competitions, emula- 
 tions, supplantings,and slanders against each other? 
 How ridiculous is it to behold, an envious ma- 
 ligner, with his mouth, nose, and eyes gaping, 
 pinching, and winking ; his red gums and white 
 teeth grinning, his tongue lashing out like a bark- 
 ing, snapping quadruped, with outstretched neck 
 like a rattlesnake, eating up the misfortunes of dis- 
 tressed debtors, whose notes have been protested 
 in bank ! 
 
 The deluge of malignity, which is every day 
 sweeping bond and free before it, has became so 
 formidable as to retard population ; many delicate, 
 nice sensibilities are afraid to make known their 
 esteem for the objects of their affections amongst 
 the opposite sex, for fear of a storm sinking their 
 vessel before they hoist all the sails to leave the 
 
143 
 
 port of celibacy. More especially old bachelors 
 and old maids turn back the white of the eye, like 
 kicking horses, and groan with the spleen, when 
 they behold a fine fish caught by a shining bait, 
 particularly when they have the mortification to 
 see widows and widowers going through their se- 
 cond, third, fourth, or fifth epistles. What an un- 
 merciful group of cacklers and gobblers are often 
 collected together, over a smoking sacrifice of high 
 sounding, sweet cented tobacco, strong drink, 
 wine, tea, coffee, &c. all bawling together against 
 bound boys and girls ; against my Fan, my Jen, 
 my Pat, my Jack, Joe, Chloe, Doll, and Nat, until 
 after some going kaw, like crows, others haeck, 
 like snipes, twitter like swallows, uatil all give a 
 concluding volley of indignant laughter together, 
 making the slandering liquor fly all over the table 
 and floor of Lucifer's liquid pandemonium. 
 
 It is a universal maxim in law, that one who can 
 only witness by hearsay, is not a lawful accuser 
 within any legal statute. It is also another maxim 
 that a man is not to be believed until confronted 
 by his adversary, and the witnesses cross examined. 
 How abominable, then, is the conduct of those 
 who, when they are the least offended, circulate 
 what they slanderously call negroes' news ; while 
 the credulous receiver, as the wise man's simple 
 one, " believeth every word." 
 
 The honorable Judge White, of Frederick, Vir- 
 ginia, informed us, that for thirty years at the bar, 
 and on the bench, he had learned to call hearsays 
 lies. Go thou and do likewise, sir Slaughter Slan- 
 derer. 
 
 Suppose your reputation was tottering upon its 
 base, (as it assuredly will, unless you bridle your 
 tongue) as a house almost without its foundation ; 
 
144 
 
 and a foul tongiied, hard hearted devil's pedler 
 picked away silently, by his or her slandering bill, 
 the last scrap of its support ; would you not say and 
 think very hard things of such a one ? And as you 
 would, so do ye ; as ye would not, abstain there, 
 at the peril of your good name, fortune, life, and 
 heaven, all of which may be lost by giving your- 
 selves up to the fashionable slanders of the times. 
 To slander a sinking reputation is the same as to 
 rob a poor person of their last cow, for it is all they 
 have left. Did you ever think of that ? To tram- 
 ple upon lost characters, when some are endeavor- 
 ing to bring them back again to God, to society, 
 and to the church, is like the elder son in the Gos- 
 pel slandering his younger brother to his father, 
 who rejoiced (not like our pinch faced slanderers,) 
 that this my son was dead, and is alive again, he 
 was lost, and is found. Such defamers, we re- 
 peat, are like a parcel of murderers gathering round 
 a consultation of laborious physicians, (which, by 
 the bye, are the most still tongued men) who are 
 trying every experiment of the faculty to bring a 
 drowned man to life, and are making every effort 
 to cut off the man's head, to prevent the success of 
 the doctors ; or, what is as bad, doing their best to 
 down with him or her, to everlasting infamy, like 
 men running a boat over a man who is just sinking 
 under the water the third time, while a number of 
 active, benevolent sailors are drawing him up by 
 the hair, a foot from below the surface of the wa- 
 ter. To sink the poor, or the stranger, for the 
 purpose of ingratiating ourselves into favor with 
 the envious, malicious, the proud, and the revenge- 
 ful, is to go about as a talebearer, which in Lev. 
 xix. 16, is called a pedler, a trader, (in the Hebrew 
 word, saith A, Clarke ;) and what a dear bought 
 
145 
 
 gain must it be to purchase human favour at the 
 expense of a guilty conscience, the oppression of 
 the needy, and the curse of God, in time and in 
 eternity ? 
 
 When a backbiter, who has long acted under a 
 license from the devil, the father of lies, to raise, 
 receive, or publish a slander, directed by Lucifer's 
 book of defamatory signals, such as winks, grim- 
 maces, shrugs, irowns, turning up the white of the 
 eyes, with a prayer, such as L-o-r-d p-i-t-y t-h-e-m, 
 quivering the voice like the devil's lightning rod, 
 pretending to kiss, while Joab's dagger enters the 
 heart ; we say, that when you oppose the slanders 
 of such, they justify themselves by an extraordi- 
 nary case of putting the innocent upon their guard. 
 We certainly owe a higher duty to God, society, 
 and the innocent individual cautiously to put them 
 on their guard, and save them from the artful and 
 the designing, than to hide such faults ; yet even 
 here our knowledge of the designing person ought 
 to be perfect before we act ; and how often when 
 you inform upon them, will they inform the person 
 against whom we put them on their guard ! But 
 what have these extra cases to do with suspicion ? 
 With doubtful hearsays ? With a match which we 
 break, through envy or talkativeness? With slan- 
 dering a poor negro, or bound boy or girl ? With 
 such a poor girl having an illegitimate chiid ? 
 With a private or public difference between man 
 and wife ? With a person getting drunk at night ? 
 Or with the disputes between householders and 
 their domestics? &c. Although a slanderer teiis 
 the truth, as a matter of fact, that such a one drank 
 to excess, or had a quarrel ; yet it is a lie against 
 that revealed truth which saith, " if thy brother 
 trespass, tell him of his fault between thee and him 
 
 N 
 
146 
 
 alone ;" it is a lie against that charity which cov- 
 ereth a multitude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8 ; against 
 doing unto all men as you would they should do 
 unto you, Matt, vii. 13 ; against that love (which) 
 worketh no ill to his neighbour, and which is the 
 fulfilling of the law. Rom. xiii. 10. For the law 
 teacheth, Lev. xix. 18, Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bor as thyself. Gal. v. 14. Matt. xxii. 39. If ye 
 fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. 
 James ii. 8 ; if not, ye do ill. 
 
 We must doubt and disregard the railing insin- 
 uations of a precipitate, talkative, unfeeling, envi- 
 ous, revengeful generation of murdering revilers, 
 idle, gadding, unforgiving sowers of discord, if we 
 would be just and merciful : For, as they lie in 
 nvait to deceive, and carry tales to shed blood, of 
 malice prepense, for gain, as they go up and down 
 to supplant, they are the devil's advance guard, 
 pushing forward upon all flesh as universal canni- 
 bals, deputed from his pandemonium of head quar- 
 ters in hell, from whom the backbiter receives his 
 or her commission to produce " a world of inU 
 quity." 
 
 O how wicked, how pityless is the slanderer's 
 baleful breath, which mildews, blasts, and nips ; 
 -which scorches friend and foe, even its own mo- 
 ther's son ; which raises a private and public 
 storm, to toss, shipwreck, and finally destroy the 
 peace, property, life, and soul of the poor girl or 
 boy, stranger, fatherless, widow, or slave 1 View 
 them lamenting, prostrate on the ground, speaking 
 out of the dust, helpless and forsaken, with their 
 eyes stedfastly fixed behind upon the past loss, the 
 present shipwreck, and the future chaos ! Behold 
 how rivers of waters gush out of, and run down 
 
147 
 
 their eyes, while they feed upon nothing but grief, 
 and indulge naught but hopeless misery. Ten 
 thousand excuses are produced by the malevolent, 
 envious, ungrateful, revengeful whisperer, (who 
 divides chief friends) for his all consuming slan- 
 ders, one of which is to produce public good, ano- 
 ther to reform the guilty. As to the public good, 
 its chief enemy is the disturber of the peace, name- 
 ly, the devil's letter writers, like those of Napo- 
 leon, love the Americans, and take six hundred 
 ships from them ; and how comes it that cacklers, 
 winkers, punners, nodders, breakers of the harmo- 
 ny of society, cup and wine slanderers, have turned 
 out to produce so much good in church and state, 
 when they break up nineteen matches out of twen- 
 ty, part man and wife, and, in a word, are sowing 
 the tares of discord among the wheat of law, mo- 
 rality, and religion, out of slandering Apol- 
 lyon's black, hell singed, winding sheet of calum- 
 ny ! The devil's whispering pedler and trader 
 does too much for God ; he loves his neighbor 
 better than himself by going to the devil to slan- 
 der him, that he may save him ; he commits the 
 crime of supererogation, and goes to hell for public 
 spirit. 
 
 Suppose a universal, destructive combination 
 were to be formed against the health, prosperity, 
 and life of man, resulting in the direful effusion of 
 fire into our houses to consume them ; scalding 
 water effused through a diabolical squirt upon our 
 flesh ; mad dogs let loose throughout all public 
 places, with intention to produce a general hydro- 
 phobia ; contagious substances insidiously intro- 
 duced into our bed chambers to poison respiration ; 
 spiders and ratsbane, including all noxious, ve- 
 nomous, and poisonous reptiles, artfully and mali- 
 
148 
 
 ciously intermingled with our provisions, includ- 
 ing an attempt to dissolve civil society, level pro- 
 perty, morality, religion, and all government ; 
 would it not wake up and arouse all the dormant 
 and active energies of every lover of social order 
 into a prompt phalanx of firm, zealous, and perse- 
 vering opposition, until the hydra should fall a sa- 
 crifice to the public safety ? And shall we stand 
 all the day idle, with folded and rusty arms, while 
 the compound mechanics of hell and earth are 
 making the streets run with gore, staining every 
 threshold with blood, and clothing all flesh in crape, 
 by slanderous results, into an universal aceldema, 
 and make no attempt to restrain, stop, or punish its 
 promoters? Alas! we are ruined by the tongues 
 and pens of those who, through moral and hypo- 
 critical pretences of producing civil and religious 
 good, are, for the momentary gain of mammon, 
 insuring to themselves a gold and silver damnation, 
 and, by their foul, putrescent breath, are peopling 
 the regions of hell by the tortured victims of their 
 defamation ! 
 
 A ivorld of iniquity is the tongue, saith James 
 iii. 6 ; a fire, a consuming flame, an insurrection, 
 a national, a continental war, a world of noise, of 
 arms, anxiety, fatigue, sickness, battle, and blood, 
 a world of slain as " Xerxes' world in arms," as 
 the sea roaring, so are the ragings of the multi- 
 tudes, the heart of each individual being set against 
 all flesh, bursts out into malicious slanders, and 
 when joined together by an evil report of the 
 " tongue, becomes a fire, and the xvorld of iniquity 
 is like a xvood;" and as fire increases in a large dry 
 forest, burning up saplings and trees, roots, 
 branches, and earth, so also does the fire of slander 
 burn up appetite, peace, health, and life, conjugal 
 
149 
 
 happiness between man and wife, devours popula- 
 tion by preventing marriages, and perpetuates con- 
 tinual quarrels and bloodshed throughout the 
 churches all over the globe, setteth on fire the 
 course of nature, "or the wheel of life." ( 
 
 " St. James does not intend to express the whole 
 circle of human affairs, so much affected by the 
 tongue of man, but rather the penal wheel of the 
 Greeks, and not unknown to the Jews, on which 
 they were accustomed to extend criminals, to in- 
 duce them to confess, or to punish them for 
 crimes ; under which wheels, fire was often pla- 
 ced, to add to their torments. They cast him on 
 the wheel over which they extended him ; they put 
 coals under it, and strongly agitated the wheel." 
 Just so do malignant slanderers distend us : they 
 circulate a mischievous tale in solemn conclave or 
 malicious madness, among the murderous crowd 
 in civil and religious society ; then stretch the 
 man or woman's character, soul, body, and estate 
 thereupon, to induce them, by pumping, by cun- 
 ning, villainous questions, to confess false judg- 
 ment, still continuing to torture them under the 
 murdering excuses of known, suspected, or un- 
 known criminality ; they put the hot burning coals 
 of hell fire slanders under, i^pon, and all around 
 them, they agitate the wheel of public and private 
 opinion in and out of the churches, writing libel- 
 lous, cunning, murderous letters against them, pri- 
 vately shooting at them, publicly laughing, mock- 
 ing, and persecuting them, in all pumping, pun- 
 ning, groaning, and grinning circles, by nods, grins, 
 winks, foreboding shrugs, baboon grimmaces, and 
 white eyed laws, of solemn, hypocritical astonish- 
 ment ; by malicious, partial church censures, for 
 the glory of God they say, grievous, vexatious, and 
 
 * 2 
 
150 
 
 groundless state privations, accusations, prosecu- 
 tions, condemnations, and malicious punishments ; 
 thus bringing the whole circle of the wheels of the 
 devil's steam engine, slander, against one, against 
 each, against all, every man's tongue being a sword, 
 a fire, a world o,f iniquity, cuts, wounds, slays, 
 burns, scorches, pains, and consumes name, fame, 
 property, life, and salvation ! Yet still we leave it 
 to a jury to punish them, without a fixed, defined, 
 penal statute ! " They brought him to the wheel, 
 on which having distended his limbs and broken 
 his joints, they scorched him withj^r^, placed un- 
 derneath, and with sharp spits, (saith history) heat- 
 ed in the fire, they pierced his sides and burned his 
 bowels." 
 
 Thus, and thus publicly and privately do slan- 
 derers immolate or murder the unsuspecting and 
 unprepared victims of their envy and malice ; they 
 stretch their reputations to dislocation, as those 
 distended the limbs of the tortured sufferer ; they 
 feast their fiery eyes and malefic ears upon their 
 cries and obloquys ; they eat up their sins ; they 
 are food for their insatiate ambition and revenge : 
 as those rejoiced at the snaps of the broken limbs 
 and joints of the writhing, raving, hopeless victim, 
 so these cry out ' ha, ha, so would w r e have it,' when 
 the object of their malevolence is privately and 
 publicly disgraced and ruined ! As those scorched 
 the sufferer with the fire placed underneath the 
 wheel, so also do slanderers with the pokers, sho- 
 vels and tongs, of letters, winks, balls, words, set 
 on fire of hell by recapitulations of the past, and 
 new creations and additions of accumulated ca- 
 lumny, stir up the fire of hell to scorch and burn 
 up injured innocence ! As with sharp spits, heated 
 in the fire, they pierced the sides and burned the 
 
151 
 
 bowels, so also do hot burning, hell fire slanderers 
 heat their spit fire tongues in the devil's furnaces 
 and forges of defamation, by the coals of hatred, 
 and the breath or bellows of slander, and pierce the 
 sides, breast, and souls of the slandered by their 
 seven times heated and hissing tongues and pens ! 
 " The fire and the wheel (saith A. Clarke) are 
 mentioned by Achilles Tatius. Having stripped 
 me of my garments, I was carried aloft — some 
 bringing scourges, others the Jive and the wheel. 
 Now, as the Greek word often signifies life, then 
 the wheel of life is to increase a man's torments ; 
 and to be set on fire of hell, implies having these 
 miseries rendered more active by diabolical agency, 
 or, in other words, bad men instigated by the de- 
 vil, through lies and calumnies, make life burden- 
 some to the objects of their malicious tongues." 
 Yes, as those tyrants stripped, and fired the wheel, 
 raising the poor man aloft, so also do whisperers, 
 backbiters, and haters of God strip you of reputa- 
 tion, health, appetite, friends, senses, life, and sal- 
 vation, and expose us naked, upon high places of 
 obloquy, to the increase of torments insupporta- 
 ble, inexpressible, and eternal ! They enviously 
 and maliciously strip us of civil and religious soci- 
 ety, of honor, confidence, and genius, of conjugal 
 happiness, of the favor of parents, brethren, chil- 
 dren, servants, masters, and benefactors ; they be- 
 reave us of a home, exposing our naked or hidden 
 foibles to a host of maligners, and prevent the pop- 
 ulation of our country by breaking up millions of 
 marriages ; the stranger is tortured upon this uni- 
 versal wheel, so is the poor oppressed slave, until 
 the hideous, bloody voice of Ramah becomes in- 
 supportable ; the whole course of the blood and 
 spirits, the concrete of violent passions, and the 
 
152 
 
 whole malevolence of the universe, since Cain en- 
 vied Abel, is, and has been, set on fire of hell — 
 and shall \vc not rise up in universal opposition 
 thereunto, by statutory enactments, defined, limit- 
 ed, stern, firm, and persevering restrictions in the 
 churches, before all character, order, happiness, 
 union, interest, and salvation is broken and con- 
 sumed ? 
 
 HE belch'd his bilious slanders up, 
 And bawl'd aloud of faith and hope ; 
 And yet the slowjaw'd, huffish mope, 
 Let fly upon St, Peter's Pope. 
 Away he went, both head and tail, 
 A butting ram, with peacock's tail, 
 With strut and butt, to rail and sail 
 All through the stormy, surging gale. 
 
 They beat the revellie, tattoo, 
 And told on Jack, and Beet, and Lew ; 
 Then gave a wild grimmalkin mew, 
 When off the wool and scarf skin flew ; 
 They point the loving, narrow way, 
 Yet sink the feeble in a day ; 
 They bay, and pray, and fray, and slay, 
 And blight your fame to dire dismay. 
 
 A group of hearts, as hard as steel, 
 Play'd up a peddling, gadding reel ; 
 And dane'd a wheel within a wheel, 
 Well pleasing to old Sam Ordeal ; 
 They hump the shoulders, back, and face, 
 While each pursues the highest place ; . 
 Like Samson's foxes in the chace, 
 They scorch their brethren with disgrace. 
 
 Like eagles on their prey they flew, 
 When patronage their bills renew ; 
 
153 
 
 As large blue flies the mutton blew, 
 The many sunk beneath the few. 
 The wisdom coming from above, 
 They neither fear, nor hope, nor love ; 
 Driving, as formerly, they drove, 
 While for the upper place they strove. 
 
 They whisper, write, and pump, and plod, 
 And peep, and wink, and frown, and nod, 
 And mutilate the word of God, 
 While smooth or soft, they ride rough shod : 
 Pursuing hard for holy gold, 
 They bow to mammon in the fold ; 
 O let it not in Gath be told, 
 They lord and rail, revile an4 scold. 
 
 A wheel within the wheeling games, 
 Envelopes- all the fold in flames ; 
 They're set on fire of hell, saith James, 
 They publish crimes, and dates, and names ; 
 Rivers of water drown our eyes,* 
 While earthquakes burst out inward sighs, 
 For despots treasure in the skies, 
 Their neighbor's sobs, and groans, and cries. 
 
 To slander through revenge, is equally as damn- 
 ing as though we had done it of mere malignity. 
 44 Be patient towards all men ; see that none render 
 evil unto any man," 1 Thess. v. 14, 15, is tire 
 apostolic precept. Hear also the Jewish lawgiver — 
 ** Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge." 
 Lev. xix. 18. Mark also the dissuasion of Solo- 
 mon — " Say not thou I will recompense evil." 
 Prov. xx. 22. " Recompense to no man evil for 
 
 i: Psalm cxix. 1SG. 
 
154 
 
 evil." Rom. xii. 17. Stop the mouth and still the 
 tongue upon the prospect of life and good days ; 
 " Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing ; 
 but, contrary wise, blessing: for he that will love life 
 and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from 
 evil." 1 Peter iii. 9, 10. Hear the words of the 
 Lord Jehovah, who is said by Paul, Rom. ix. 5, 
 to be a over all, God blessed for ever" — " Ye have 
 heard, love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy ; 
 but I say unto you, love your enemies* ." Matt. v. 
 43, 44. As to the double distilled villainy of un- 
 grateful slander, hear the voice of the wise man — 
 " Whoso rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not 
 depart from his house." Prov. xvii. 13. Finally, 
 be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of 
 another ; love a. ci 'brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. 
 
 I Peter iii. 8. When, in the green years of youth, 
 how often is the bud, the flower, and the fruit cut 
 off by the two edged sithe of church and state 
 slander ! And this too, without a fair trial, and very 
 frequently against evidence, justice, and mercy, 
 and against the conscience of the defamer. As 
 
 II the wisdom which is from above is without par- 
 tiality," James iii. 17, therefore, it requires of us, 
 before we pronounce guilty, that there be a legal 
 and impartial examination, which cannot be had 
 without two or three sworn witnesses before the 
 judiciary, confronted by the accused party, all sides 
 being cross examined without exparfe testimony. 
 Doth our law judge any man, (saith Nicodemus) 
 before it hear him and know what he doeth ? John 
 vii. 51. This word hear, and that word know, 
 have no relation to whispering and backbiting, 
 which is neither hearing nor knowing morally or 
 legally. One witness shall not rise up against a 
 man for any iniquity, or for any sin ; at the mouth 
 
155 
 
 of three witnesses, shall the matter be established-. 
 JDeut. xix. 15. Not, surely, hearsay, cup, wine, 
 or grog witnessing with a cackle. 
 
 The testimony of two men is true. John viii. 17. 
 If, then, it takes the testimony of two men to make 
 up the legal truth, what must we say of those whp 
 believe the cackling tale of one flirt of a girl y old 
 maid, sordid old man, hating old bachelor, or, as St. 
 Paul observes, an old wife \y fable? In the mouth 
 of two or three witnesses every word may be esta- 
 blished. Matt, xviii. 16. A witness, according to 
 that Samson in the law, Giles Jacob, " is one 
 that gives evidence in a cause ; an indifferent per- 
 son to each party, sworn to speak the truth, the 
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth ; and if he 
 will be a gainer or loser by the suit, he shall not be 
 sworn as a witness." Surely the above definition 
 of a witness differs as far from slandering hearsays 
 as hell from heaven. Whisperers mix among 
 some truths a gross of lies and absurd stories for 
 gain, not like " indifferent persons," as witnesses 
 should be, but expecting either revenge, or to lose 
 if they are silent in their backbiting ; or, what is 
 most common, to get well paid by tea, wine, mo- 
 ney, bacon, &c. to oil the wheels of the devil's 
 slandering chariot, in which they are driving like 
 Jehu, to hell fire ! In the mouth of two or three 
 witnesses every word may be established. 2 Cor. 
 xiii. 1. Not, certainly, pulpit slanderers of the op- 
 posite sect, not of an Edomite against an Israelite, 
 nor an ambitious, envious Hainan against an inde- 
 pendent Mordecai. He that despised Moses' law, 
 died without mercy under two or three witnesses. 
 Heb. x. 28. He certainly does not mean the devil's 
 pedlers, of whom Moses speaks, Lev. xix. 16; 
 nor that of those who, when you doubt their defa- 
 
156 
 
 mations, immediately say, a lady told me, I had it 
 from a gentleman, just as if by virtue of being of a 
 jealous, suspicious mind and tongue, gave them a 
 right to be called a lady or a gentleman. What ? a 
 slanderer a lady? a backbiter a gentleman ? No, no ; 
 they are rogues, maligners, murderers. As, then, 
 Moses, Jesus, Paul, Coke, Becaria, Montesquieu, 
 and all the books, require two or three witnesses, 
 what shall we think of the almost infinite diversifi- 
 cations of malicious and inconsiderate slander, with 
 the breasts of its partial votaries heaving up fiery 
 lava, eyes up, nose sharpened, shoulders shrug- 
 ging, praying Lord pity them, still pouring gall 
 and wormwood ; but the tail of Satan's slandering 
 daemon is most ruinous when it receives the pa- 
 tronage of priests and Levites. 
 
 A slanderer may be, yea, they often have been, 
 the cause of murder ; some by deliberate, volun- 
 tary malice prepense, others by casual killing 
 without any desire to kill. 
 
 In this, (killing) saith Jacobs' Law Dictionary, 
 the ofFender ought to be of the age of discretion, 
 and compos mentis. Almost uncounted instances 
 of killing have been produced and recorded in an- 
 cient and modern history, scripture, and conversa- 
 tion by slander, inconsiderately and maliciously. 
 
 " By murder, at this day, we understand the 
 wilful and felonious killing of any one whatsoever, 
 upon malice aforethought ; so as the party wound- 
 ed or hurt die xvithin a year and a day after the 
 fact. 3 inst. 53. H. P. C. 55. If one lays poison 
 to kill a person, and another takes it and dies ; if a, 
 person stir up a dog accustomed to bite, knowing it 
 to be such, and it kills a person, these are murder. 
 Ii is malice makes the crime of murder, which is 
 either express or implied; it is express when it 
 
157 
 
 may be evidently proved there was formerly some 
 ill will, and the killing is with a sedate mind, and 
 formed design of doing it; and implied, where 
 one kills another suddenly, having nothing to de- 
 fend himself — as going over a stile, or the like."— 
 3 Inst. 51. H. P. C. 47. Giles Jacobs' Law Dic- 
 tionary. 
 
 Here let us apply these principles to murdering 
 slanderers, and they are found equally guilty. 1st, 
 It is malice makes the crime of murder — Thus, 
 then, it is no matter whether the murderer done it 
 by poison, steel, lead, or whispering, railing, reviling, 
 detraction, or in any wise giving a mortal wound, 
 U so as the party wounded or hurt, die within a 
 year and a day after the fact," it is murder, saith 
 Jacobs. Or if, 2dly, one lays poison to bill a person, 
 (and slander is poison) and another takes it and 
 dies, it is murder — Apply this to the raising an evil 
 report of a man, for which another suffers death, 
 and you are an assassin, if guilty. Or, 3dly, if a 
 person stir up a dog, (and what dog is ^o bad l.s a 
 slanderer?) accustomed to bite, knowing it to be 
 such, and it kill a person, these are murder — As, 
 therefore, it is malice makes the crime of 'murder , 
 and slanderers, of consequence, by malice afore- 
 thought, being guilty thereof, the legislature would 
 do well to define it by statute, leaving it to the jury 
 to find the culprit guilty under such statutes, and 
 the courts to explain the law, without infringing 
 the constitution. 
 
 Slander, \_JWlimedung, Teutonic] is to scandal- 
 ize ; a reproach, scandal, backbiting, speaking evil 
 of, railing at, detracting from, or traducing in any 
 way. 
 
 Slander — 1. A false accusation; 2. a forged 
 crime ; 3. a malicious slander or detraction ; a ca* 
 
 O 
 
158 
 
 vil, a quirk, a calumniator, a litigious plaintiff, a 
 malicious interpreter. — You rig's Latin Dictionary. 
 
 Medisance, s. [French] slander, or slandering, 
 obloquy, detraction, evil speaking, railing, reviling, 
 vilifying, backbiting, traducing. — Boyer's French 
 Dictionary. 
 
 So that, according to the meaning of the Teuto- 
 nic, the French, and the English, the word slander 
 means any kind of evil speaking of, or against ano- 
 ther, as the ancient German has it, signifying to 
 cause shame, or to slander. Which doctrine is 
 further proved by lord Bacon, who saith — " It is 
 no excuse at the bar of conscience, that the slan- 
 derous words spoken are true ; for malicious slan- 
 der is the relating of either truth or falsehood, for 
 the purpose of creating misery." Bacon, vol. vi. p. 
 201. He hereby admits that " slanderous ivords" 
 may be true. 
 
 Slander (saith Espinasse) is the defaming a man 
 in his reputation, by speaking or writing words 
 from whence any injury in character or property 
 arises, or may arise, to him of whom the words are 
 used. — Digest, p. 496, ch. x. 
 
 How plain, then, must it appear to any man of 
 reading, that to slander is to relate truths, as well 
 as falsehoods, to injure the reputation ! The word 
 backbite, according to A. Clarke, comes from two 
 Greek words, against audi speak, to speak against; 
 so that to speak against a person is backbiting, and 
 backbiting is called hating of God. Rom. i. 60, and 
 excludes us from God's tabernacle and holy hill. 
 Psalm xv. 1,3. The slanderer, therefore, belongs 
 to the church or congregation of the malignants, as 
 appears from Psalm xxvi. 5. : ' I have natto the 
 congregation of evil doers ;" thai is to say, of the 
 malignants, of slander 'ers y or backbiters. 
 
lo9 
 
 Slander, in Greek, is the same as devil, saith 
 Buck. Such men and women make up in David, 
 then, the church of the malignants. 
 
 Slanderers are the worst of all murderers, inas- 
 much as they act under so many more hypocriti- 
 cal pretexts than other assassins, and have more 
 accomplices and accessories. " The glory of God, 
 the public good, to save the innocent, to do jus- 
 tice, to reform and punish the wicked, and for self 
 defence," are their lying, hypocritical excuses for 
 digging up evil with slandering pickaxes, scatter- 
 ing firebrands with their burning, fiery lips, and 
 black ratsbane out of their sepulchral, mortifying 
 pens. The words of the wicked are to lie in wait 
 for blood. Prov. xii. 6. With such testimonies 
 before us, let the public justice of the states, 
 " awake in thunder, and with one avenging blow, 
 crush the dire authors of its country's woe." And 
 they lay wait for their own blood ; they lurk privily 
 for their own lives. Prov. i. 18 ; the britches of 
 their slandesing guns often burst, fly out, and kill 
 the whisperer, as was the case of Haman. As thou 
 didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of 
 Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto 
 thee : Thou shalt be desolate, O mount Sier, and 
 all Idumea, even all of it. Ezek. xxxv. 15 ; which 
 is the general, the universal, the just, the providen- 
 tial principle of Obadiah — As thou hast done, it 
 shall be done unto thee : thy reward shall return 
 upon thine own head, verse 15. For with the 
 same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be 
 measured to you again, Luke vL 31, slander for 
 slander. A wicked (slandering) messenger falleth 
 into mischief, Prov. xiii. 17; he falleth into in- 
 gratitude, lies, bribery, into wounds, bruises, cor- 
 ruption, retaliation, death, and damnation ; this is 
 
160 
 
 the portion of the devil's pcdler and postrider, he 
 or she shall be well paid, eternally paid, for break- 
 ing up confidence, dissolving marriages, for white 
 eyed, long prayers, such as L-o-r-d, oh h-o-w 
 s-o-r-r-y I am that they will do so, and at the same 
 instant slandering like thunder and lightning, 
 grunting and groaning, lamenting I'm grieved they 
 are so bad hurt, yet smiling, stabbing, blowing, 
 grinning, biting, barking, and supplanting, whim- 
 pering, whiffling, peeping, punning, rocking, law- 
 ing, jawing, and clawing in double distilled, sati- 
 rical, backbiting delight, with the nose often sticking 
 out like the bowsprit of a leaky old schooner, their 
 teeth open and sharp as a rat trap, their lips ready 
 sharpened and screwed up as a vice, their faces like 
 kettle drums, the deviVs kettle drums, with voices 
 as the whizzing grape or langrage, hissing rocket, 
 eyes snapping, eyebrows lowering, while a volca- 
 nic eruption of desolating calumny gushes out of 
 their mouths, scattering firebrands, arrows, and 
 death. 
 
 It is a manifest sign of badness and injustice to 
 be ready to believe evil of our neighbour. The 
 simple, fsaith Solomon) belie vcth every word. 
 Prov. xiv. 15. The simple inherit folly. Prov. 
 xiv. 18. They are fools for believing evil — yea, 
 they are always ready to believe the smallest sign 
 orJJag hung out from the devil's signal book, such 
 as a long wink, with the one eye closed up like a 
 screw, under which ten thousand fiends hold a pan- 
 demonium for ten or twelve minutes, while the 
 simple are taking aim with their slandering guns 
 to " shoot in secret (as saith David) at the per- 
 fect." A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh 
 with a froward mouth ; he winketh with his eyes, 
 he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fin- 
 
161 
 
 gers ; he deviseth mischief continually ; he soweth 
 discord. Prov. vi. 12, 13, 14. Winking back- 
 biters are sowing discord throughout the church, 
 state, and bar, over cups, glasses, and plates — He 
 that winketh with his eyes causeth sorrow. Prov. 
 x. 10 ; let winkers mark this. What an abomina- 
 ble reaping do we see, have we heard of, and shall 
 we see from history, experience, and the final 
 judgment from such sowing ! It is worthy of re- 
 mark, that there are some winking families, they 
 are the old Apollyon's sharp shooters with a proud 
 look and lying tongue, that shed by whispers in- 
 nocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked ima- 
 ginations, feet, that be swift in running to mis- 
 chief between friends, sowing discord among bre- 
 thren in the flesh and in the Lord. Prov. vi. 16 to 
 19. Why doth thine heart carry thee away ? And 
 what doth thine eyes wink at? Job xv. 12. Nei- 
 ther let them wink with the eye that hate me. 
 Psalm xxxv. 19. You see it is a proof of hatred 
 thus to wink, plodding mischief. Yea, saith Da- 
 vid, they opened their mouth wide against me, and 
 said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it. verse 21. Let 
 them be desolate for a reward of their shame that 
 say unto me aha, aha. Psalm xl. 15; so that de- 
 solation is to be the reward of simmers, or, which 
 is the same, slanderers. To excite jealousy against 
 a man or woman is to design their death, is mur- 
 der of malice prepe?ise : For, saith Soior.ion, jealou- 
 sy is the rage of a man : therefore, he will not spare 
 in the day of vengeance. Prov. vi. 35. He will 
 not accept, raith the marginal Hebrew, the face of 
 ami ransom. It is sport to a fool to do mischief. 
 Prov. x. 23. How dare, then, how can any one 
 justify their slanders because they arc true, when 
 the narrating of an adulterous truth intends and 
 
 o2 
 
162 
 
 produces murder, of malice aforethought ? Yes, 
 the telling of the truth is often murder, treason, 
 felony ; it makes man and wife kill others, and kill 
 each other ; makes them kill the seducer and the 
 seduced ; it was treason in Arnold to tell the truth, 
 and felony when we lose as much by a slandering 
 tale as a horse is worth ; and, therefore, ought to 
 be punished under the same rules and statutes as 
 other murderers and felons are by the laws of ho- 
 micide, arson, burglary, and felony, which cannot 
 be accomplished by a jury without special, penal 
 statute. To consent unto slander is stealing — 
 When thou sawest a thief (of reputation) then thou 
 consentedst with him. Psalm 1. 18. Consented 
 to rob husbands and wives, friends and sweethearts 
 of each other ! 
 
 He that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. 
 Prov. xi. 27. Psalm vii. 15, 16, and lvii. 6. The 
 froward tongue shall be cut out. Prov. x. 31. The 
 Gentoos cut out the slanderer's tongue. Would 
 it not be just for the law to adjudge the devil's 
 letter writers to have their hands cut off? More 
 especially when, as Solomon saith, An hypocrite, 
 with his mouth, destroyeth his neighbour. Prov. 
 xi. 9, and verse 11, The city is overthrown by the 
 mouth of the wicked. Why, then, do not all men 
 rise up against and forsake slander, instead of do- 
 ing as Paul saith of gadding widows, And withal 
 they learn to be idle, wandering about from house 
 to house ; and not idle only, but tattlers also, and 
 busy bodies, speaking things which they ought 
 not. 1 Tim. v. 13. There are some which walk 
 among you disorderly, working not at all, but are 
 busy bodies. 2 lliess. iii. 11 ; a busy body in 
 other men's matters. 1 Peter iv. 15. What abom- 
 inable villainies are effected even in the very bosom 
 
163 
 
 of the sanctuary, by preachers lending ears, feet, 
 tongues, and hands to those gadders, adders, idlers, 
 wanderers, wadlers, tattlers, and busy bodies ! 
 How much better would it be to do as Paul hath 
 done, namely, to warn our young Timothy 'sagainst 
 such cacklers and mischief makers ? A talebearer 
 is without or hath lost the faith. A talebearer re- 
 vealeth secrets ; but lie that is of a faithful spirit 
 concealeth the matter. Prov. xi. 13. Here is one 
 scriptural mark of a faithful spirit — it concealeth 
 the matter. How did it come about to be right, 
 then, for one to tell with a pinched up face, a 
 wrinkled nose, and lowering forehead, that such a 
 one got drunk, another to bawl out they had a fight, 
 or played some terrible trick, whilst a third tale 
 produces killing between chief friends, mak- 
 ing, at the same instant, a smile, a stab, a hy- 
 pocritical prayer, with eyes up to heaven and heart 
 down to hell, within the zenith of dissimulation and 
 the nadir of murder, crying out " Lord ! Lord! 
 Lord pity them, him, or her/' like a man choking 
 another with a running noose, secreted by trapish- 
 ness, and praying for them, pitying them, blaming 
 and choking them ! O how well they love them 
 Avhile they let loose the devil's threshing mill upon 
 them. 'Tis a manifestation of a want of under- 
 standing to speak ill of our neighbour, and an evi- 
 dence of the highest w T isdom, upon the other hand, 
 to hold our peace, as appears from the following 
 Scripture: He that is void of wisdom, despiseth 
 his neighbour : but a man of understanding holdeth 
 his peace. Prov. xi. 12. Will you dare, then, to 
 stand up for a gentleman, a lady, or a Christian, by 
 virtue of cackling, whispering, and evil speaking, 
 when the wise man declares you void of wisdom 
 for your railings, reviiings, contumelies, and oblo- 
 
164 
 
 quies ? " The words of his mouth were smoother 
 than butter, but war was in his heart ; his words 
 were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords." 
 Psalm Iv. 21. Yes, there is a destructive cur- 
 rent of this kind of butter and oil, in political, re- 
 ligious, and conjugal courtships, with serpentine 
 whispers, bendmg, leaning, looking soft, and sigh- 
 ing affectedly, turning up and down the eyes, as if 
 they were immersed in the milk of roses ! 
 
 It is a full evidence of our being liars, when we 
 give heed to tales, whispers, detractions, evil re- 
 ports of others, backbitings, &c ; as is manifest 
 from the Scripture which follows : A wicked doer 
 giveth heed to false lips, and a liar giveth ear to a 
 naughty tongue. Prov. xvii. 4. Is it not a mor- 
 tifying drawback upon receivers of stolen reputa- 
 tions to be accosted with such vexatious taxes as 
 malignity and lying upon their hellish, political, 
 moral, wise, cautious, and very Christian joint 
 funds of malicious, innocent, necessary, question 
 asking, pumping, hearing, receiving, publishing, 
 purloining, murdering slanders ? Especially as 
 they have gained so much by holy whispers, de- 
 vil's letters, and necessary divisions in the church, 
 between man and wife ; have broke up ninety-nine 
 matches in a hundred, and put in the old serpent's 
 nest egss; of defamation for his windy, cackling, 
 cluckers to hatch — which leads us to consider a 
 conversation between two preachers of the same 
 sect : One of the ministers urged that we ought to 
 be cautious of expelling a member, without bear- 
 ing as long as possible ; to which observation the 
 other subjoined — " But, brother, what would you 
 do if a complaint was laid in ? To which he re- 
 plied — ^Have them up for laying in ;" and then 
 immediately called such church whispering by the 
 
165 
 
 opprobrious name of laying in, and that the devil 
 was the midwife. I join cordially with him, and 
 shall now produce a few Scriptures in full proof of 
 such laying in — and first, let us hear the patient 
 king Job . For the congregation (or church) of 
 hypocrites shall be desolate, and fire shall consume 
 the tabernacles of bribery ; (then, after bribery, 
 eomes the devil's layings in) they conceive mis- 
 chief and bring forth vanity, (or iniquity, margin) 
 and their belly prepareth deceit. Job xv. 34, 35. 
 They wink, plod, and bring forth slander. Here 
 is a laying in with a witness. O how distressed 
 they are ! How they grunt and groan, pray and 
 weep, sister, brother, brother, it lays upon my 
 mind, until out comes the slander, out comes the 
 devil, or as it was said when Gad was born, a troop 
 cometh. Behold, (saith David) he travaileth with 
 iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought 
 forth falsehood. Psalm vii. 14. He hath brought 
 forth falsehood ; yes, as Paul saith of the Cretans, 
 They are all liars, evil beasts, sloxv bellies, Titus i. 
 12; that is, gluttons. None calleth for justice, 
 (upon the slanderer) nor any pleadeth for truth ; 
 they trust in vanity and speak lies ; they con- 
 ceive mischief and bring forth iniquity ; they hatch 
 cockatrice (or adders, margin) eggs, and weave the 
 spider's web : he that eateth of their eggs dieth, 
 and that which is crushed by (whispering and 
 backbiting hatching) breaketh out into a viper. 
 Isaiah lix. 4, 5. When a flock of Lucifer's ped- 
 lcrs and postriders in tattling, lay a nest full of 
 slandering eggs, all his clucking, cackling, gad- 
 ding gossippers, from the preacher down to the 
 infant kitchen walloper, fly into the nest and hatch, 
 crush, and whisper, until, as the text hath it, that 
 which is crashed breaketh out into a viper. A fiery, 
 
166 
 
 flying serpent, " a world of iniquity," setting on fire 
 the whole course of nature ! 
 
 If slanderers were classed by statute law, as are 
 other and smaller criminals, then justice, in such 
 cases, would no longer be doubtful, but certain, 
 distributive, and equally remunerative. As, for 
 instance, in the crime of burglary, which word is 
 derived from the German burg and larran, from 
 the Latin latro ; and, according to judge Hale's 
 definition, burglary is a felony at common law, in 
 breaking, entering the mansion house of another in 
 the night, with intent to commit felony within the 
 same, whether the felonious intent be executed or 
 not. — Hale^s Pleas, 79. By the same principle 
 would a slanderer be justly deemed guilty of worse 
 than burglary or house breaking, by breaking in 
 upon the reputation, which is equal to five hun- 
 dred mansion houses, with all their appurtenances. 
 Hale saith " that an actual breaking is opening the 
 casement or breaking the glass window, picking 
 open the lock of a door." 1 H. H. 552. Without 
 controversy there is no casement in this world so 
 valuable as the reputation, no glass window so ea- 
 sily broken in as character, and no lock so danger- 
 ous to pick as private and family secrets, or the 
 lock of true affectionate promise of marriage, 
 the breaking up of which ought to be punished 
 with worse than that for burglary or house break- 
 ing ; and as this cannot be done by the common 
 law, it certainly should be provided for by statute. 
 " George Gibbo?is was indicted at the Old Bailey, 
 1752, for burglary (or house breaking) in the 
 dwelling house of John Allen, for cutting a hole in 
 the window shutter of the prosecutor's shop, which 
 was part of his dwelling house, and putting his 
 hand through the hole, took out watches and other 
 
167 
 
 things which hung in the shop within his reach ; 
 but no entry was proved, otherwise than by put- 
 ting his hand through the hole. This was held to 
 be burglary, and the prisoner was convicted. " — 
 Judge Foster y 107. Certainly, then, without it 
 can be made to appear that cutting a hole through 
 shutters, taking out a few watches and other things 
 amounts to more loss and criminality than break- 
 ing in upon and stealing the character, you cannot, 
 yea, we ought not to withhold our assent to a law, 
 under which the slanderer would be subjected to 
 at least an equal penalty with the house cutter ; 
 watch, and trash stealer. Arson or burning houses, 
 " it done by mischance or negligence, is no felony." 
 3 inst. 67 ; but if done " maliciously, by night or 
 by day., is felony at the common law," if the house 
 be that of another. 1 Hawkins, 105. Why not, 
 then, equally punish the slanderer for maliciously 
 setting a character on fire, and burning it? More 
 especially as he hath more accessories in the vil- 
 lainy, and his tongue sets on fire the whole course 
 of nature, being set on fire of hell ! 
 
 " Felony is supposed to be derived from the 
 Saxon word fell, which signifies to be fierce or 
 cruel-, of which the verb fell signifies to throw 
 down or demolish, and the substantive of that name 
 is used to signify a mountain, rough and uncultiva- 
 ted, or, more generally an offence at large ; and the 
 Saxon word fallen, signifies to offend, i\\\dfiilnisse t 
 an offence ov failure." — Starke'' s Virg. Justice. 
 
 In this sense it is LARCENY. This word 
 comes from Latrocinium, Latrociny, and by con- 
 traction — Larceny, 3 inst. 107 ; which is stealing 
 and carrrying way feloniously with evil intention. 
 
 41 Grand larceny is a felonious and fraudulent 
 taking and carrying away, by any person, of the 
 
168 
 
 mere personal goods of another, always accompa- 
 nied with an evil intention, and therefore shall not 
 be imputed to a mere mistake." — 1 Hawkins, 65, 
 82. You will undoubtedly pronounce, that no fell- 
 er, thrower down, stealer, or carrier away, of evil 
 intention, is the one hundredth part as great a feller, 
 thrower down, or demolisher as the feller, thrower 
 down, and demolisher of reputation, resulting in the 
 most direful damnation — who, therefore, ought to 
 be brought under the full force and punishment of 
 the statute of felony, when his or her slanders shall 
 have produced, " of evil intention ," as much dam- 
 age as the worth of a common horse ; and certainly, 
 without controversy, it requires but a small wink, 
 whisper, or nod from a pedler or trader of his Lu- 
 cifer ian majesty, to produce as much felony and 
 real injury as horse stealing. 
 
 "Homicide, k oy killing) to make it justifiable, it 
 must be owing to some unavoidable necessity, to 
 which the person who kills another must be redu- 
 ced, without any manner of fault in himself" — 1 
 Hawkins, 69. 
 
 " And there must be no malice coloured under 
 pretence of necessity ; for wherever a person, who 
 kills another, acts m truth upon malice, and takes 
 occasion, from the appearance of necessity, to exe- 
 cute his own private revenge, he is guilty of mur- 
 der. — ibid. 
 
 Malice being almost always coloured under the 
 appearance of necessity by slanderers, ought also 
 to be met by the appearance of necessary statute 
 law, under which the church of the malignant s 
 could not colour malice by an hypocritical neces- 
 sity. And this is the more necessary at this time y 
 for, in thee are men that carry tales to shed blood. 
 (or men of slanders, margin; Ezek. xxii. 9. So that 
 tales are slanders in EzekieL Mark that ! ! ! 
 
169 
 
 Indictment for high treason, against the Lord 
 our righteousness. 
 Commonwealth of Israel, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of church and 
 state, upon their oath, present — That long before 
 and until the first year y r our Lord, there was 
 open war between the *eed of the woman and 
 Abaddon, or the angel of the bottomless pit, and 
 that the said war continues until this first of Janu- 
 ary, 1817, and that for ail the time aforesaid, the 
 said Abaddon and his slanderous subjects were, 
 and at present are, enemies of peace, meekness, 
 and gentleness ; and that during all the time of the 
 war, aforesaid, between the church of God and the 
 said angel of the bottomless pit, late of the parish 
 of defamation, in the county of a world of iniquity, 
 a host of men, women, boys, and girls, of differ- 
 ent occupations, operations, trades, countries, lan- 
 guages, complexions, manners, customs, profes- 
 sions, religions, &c, professing themselves to be 
 subjects of well regulated governments and reli- 
 gions, yet being traitors and rebels against the said 
 commonwealth of universal charity, not having 
 the fear of God before their eyes, but being moved 
 and seduced by the instigation of the devil, and al- 
 together withdrawing that true and due obedience 
 and cordial love, which every faithful subject and 
 citizen of the said commonwealth toward the same 
 should, and by right, and by the law of love ought 
 to have and bear, and the said war, with all their 
 slandering strength, and as much as in them lay 
 against the said commonwealth of loving friends 
 and foes, designing and intending to prosecute and 
 assist, at all favorable opportunities, in every place, 
 with force of tongues and slanderous pens, falsely, 
 maiiciouslv, wickedlv, and traitorously were adhe- 
 
 P 
 
170 
 
 rent to the aforesaid enemies of the said common- 
 wealth, of Christian union, love, silence, forgive- 
 ness, and oblivion upon the past, within the same, 
 to wit, at the horns of the altar, at the communion 
 table, in private council, and public conversation ; 
 in the temple of justice, and the ark of state ; over 
 cups, glasses and plates ; in houses, vessels, and 
 streets ; on beds, couches, and chairs ; in coaches, 
 chaises, park phaetons, whims, gigs, carts, and 
 upon horseback ; in the places, aforesaid, mali- 
 ciously and traitorously giving to them, the said 
 enemies of the said commonwealth, backbiting, 
 detracting, whispering, letter libelling, nodding, 
 winking, laughing, shrugging, peeping, punning, 
 grunting, groaning, controversial preaching, weep- 
 ing, bribing, and circulating aid and comfort in 
 the said commonwealth of the state and church, to 
 wit, at the church aforesaid, the bar, the pulpit, the 
 press, the tea, coffee, wine, and grog table, also in 
 private conclaves of priests and Levites, by plans 
 of " theoretical vengeance" against other religious 
 societies, by receiving traitorous, sly, interesting, 
 partial communications, by solemn mummeries, 
 the offspring of rebellious enmity, and productive 
 of confusion, and the aggrandizement of the rich 
 and influential ; and furthermore, by a strife in the 
 church who shall be greatest in the places afore- 
 said, and that in execution and performance of be- 
 ing so traitorously adherent to the said enemies of 
 the said commonwealth, within the same civil and 
 Christian bodies, as aforesaid ; they, the said slan- 
 dering maligners, at the said every favorable place 
 and time, within the said commonwealths of state 
 and church, to wit, at church, bar, statehouse, by 
 preaching, pleading, plodding, and writing, as also 
 over hot cup slander, walking, standing, riding, 
 
171 
 
 and sitting, in the commonwealths aforesaid, mali- 
 ciously and traitorously were in arms against the 
 said commonwealth, with divers other backbiting 
 rebels and whispering traitors, and did then and 
 there shoot oft* and discharge ten thousand slander- 
 ing guns, one of which was called truth, very slyly, 
 then and there charged with murdering, lying, ma- 
 licious, and inconsiderate defamations upon and 
 against every person, especially all those who were 
 not conducive to their fancy, interest, or pleasure, 
 not excepting even their superiors or equals in other 
 churches or their own communities, and men too 
 raised up as trained militia, volunteers, and regulars, 
 located and itinerant, under the command of the 
 generals, colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, cap- 
 tains, subalterns, &c. assembled under due autho- 
 rity from the Holy Ghost, for the purpose of sub- 
 duing them, the said lords over God's heritage, 
 and the other altarscraping, covetous, cringing, 
 whining, whispering, sly bribing, and being bribed, 
 secret letter writing, winking, cackling, grunting, 
 groaning, pinching, high eyed frowning, tossing 
 nosed, pale lip'd, angle eyed, sharp tongued, stiff 
 looking, calf eyed blaters, and other slandering re- 
 bels and traitors associated with them as aforesaid, 
 they, the said devil's pedlers and traders, thereby 
 traitorously and boisterously endeavouring to sub- 
 vert and destroy the independence of the said com- 
 monwealth of Christian silence, love, forgiveness, 
 and forbearance, and the present constitution and 
 government thereof, and to restore the power, au- 
 thority, jurisdiction, and domination of the said 
 slandering Apollyon, the old serpent, and his host 
 of public and private, male and female, bond and 
 free, old and young, pulpit and press, cup and 
 wine, whining and groaning, peeping and winking 
 
172 
 
 backbiters, against the duty of the allegiance of 
 them, the said ministers of the sanctuary and its 
 faithful members, to the evil example of all others 
 in the like cases offending ; against the form of 
 sound words contained in the royal law of the gen- 
 eral assembly of the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the 
 prophets, the Lord's Gospels, and the epistles, in 
 such cases made and provided, and against the 
 peace and dignity of the said commonwealth of 
 the Israel of God and these United States ! 
 
 " Every offence immediately affecting the pre- 
 rogative or dignity" of a government, consequent- 
 ly of God, is, in some degree, a breach of our al- 
 legiance to it and to him — such as judging our 
 brother by rules founded upon injustice, not war- 
 ranted by, but protested against in the Scriptures. 
 Psalm 1. 18, 19, 20. 
 
 " Treason, proditio, in its very name (which is 
 borrowed from the French) imports a betraying, 
 treachery, or breach of faith. For treason is a gen- 
 ral appellation made use of by the law to denote 
 not only offences against the government, but also 
 that accumulation of guilt which arises whenever a 
 superior reposes a confidence in a subject or infe- 
 rior, between whom and himself there subsists a 
 natural, a civil, or even a spiritual relation, and the 
 inferior so abuses that confidence as to forget his 
 obligations." — 4th Blackstone, 75. 
 
 "If a man be adherent to the enemies of his 
 country, or by surrendering a fortress, or the like. 
 By enemies are understood the subjects of foreign 
 powers." 
 
 If a man counterfeit the king of heaven's privy 
 seal, or God's current coin, that is to say, his 
 word of truth, or bring in false money into the 
 church, not only by importing the devil's coin, 
 
173 
 
 that is, slander and false rules of judgment, but by- 
 uttering or circulating it in the church, this is trea- 
 son ; as though in the United States we had done 
 the like against the law of the land. 
 
 Let us apply these principles to the preceding 
 indictment, 1st. Unlawfully judging, while we 
 have a beam (or splinter) in our own eye, thus act- 
 ing as one culprit trying another, Matt. vii. 1, 2, 
 3 ; that is, a beam slanderer judging a mote drunk- 
 ard ! ! ! 2dly. A breach of faith. Whenever, in 
 church government, we shew respect to persons, 
 a thing very common say you, by having the faith 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, inclining us to know any 
 person after the flesh on account of church favors 
 or blood, we are guilty of treason. James ii. 1, 9. 
 Look at what we do to poor Cush. 3diy. If we 
 are adherent to the enemies of God, such as whis- 
 perers, backbiters, talebearers, maligners, &c. we 
 are guilty of treason. JRom. i. 30. 4thly. When 
 we surrender the fortress of justice, which admits 
 of no hearsay evidence from bishop, presbyter, el- 
 der, levite, or any other devil's pedler ; or of mer- 
 = cy, which rejoices over justice, attending to the 
 spirit and habit of evil speaking, we are justly 
 charged with treason. Matt, xviii. 15 to 55. 5thly. 
 When we counterfeit the current coin of charity, 
 (by religious conclaves) which rejoices in hope of 
 a fallen brother's recovery, where our faith in him 
 is lost, we act treasonably. Rev. xxii. 19 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 7. Mark this, my Lord Pope Diotrephes. 
 Gthly. Or if we import the false coin of partiality, 
 or lording, by religious struts, over God's heritage, 
 by being the first to introduce a public church 
 censure, Rom. i. 30, without first striving pri- 
 vately to reclaim a brother ; or if we permit the 
 devil's pedlers to pay us so well by buttering both 
 
 p 2 
 
174 
 
 sides of our bread, as to produce upon us, Judas 
 like, a money, meat, drink, honorable or ambitious 
 result, we are then not cash proof, and are but a 
 few steps from the highest treason. 1 Peter v. 2, 
 3. But 7thly. When we shall have the wicked- 
 ness to be men stealers, or, which is as bad, to be 
 accessories to man stealing, that is to say, to be 
 led by the nose by sly, slandering grunters, groan- 
 ers, whisperers, and reviling weepers, or make their 
 houses our prejudging hotels, with silver, china, 
 cut glass, line carpets, nice beds, sweet meats, 
 smooth words, shining tables, select companies, 
 polite introductions, agreeable parties, sweethearts, 
 and backbiting bills of fare — Death is in the pot. 
 
 Indictment for slandering a man into despera- 
 tion, and provoking him to hang his friend and 
 himself. 
 London, to wit; 
 
 The jurors for the kingdom of Great Britain, 
 upon their oath, present — That Tom Talkative 
 and Goose Gabble, late of the parish of company 
 cackle, in the county of Talebearing, idlers ; who 
 are not yet taken, (preachers, churches, and legis- 
 latures not having done their duty) not having the 
 fear of God before their eyes, but being moved and 
 seduced by the instigation of the devil, on the 25th 
 day of December, 1 790, with force of tongues set 
 on fire of hell at the parish aforesaid, in the county- 
 aforesaid, in and upon one A. M. a sincere lover 
 in the peace of God, and of the said kingdom, 
 then and there being, feloniously, wilfully, and of 
 their malice aforethought, did make an assault ; 
 and they, the said Tom Talkative and Goose Gab- 
 ble, with both the tongues of them, the said Talk- 
 ative and Gabble, the said A. M. sincere lover, in 
 
175 
 
 and upon the family, character, and religion, (as 
 two assassins would do upon the head, back, face, 
 stomach, sides, and breast) of him, the said sincere 
 lover, then and there wilfully, and of their malice 
 aforethought, did wound and bruise, by tongues 
 and pens, secretly giving to the said sincere lover 
 by the slanderous beating and wounding of him, 
 the said sincere lover, as aforesaid, several mortal 
 wounds and calumniating bruises ; and also that 
 the said Tom Talkative and Goose Gabble drove, 
 by their malicious invectives, the said sincere lover, 
 into such disappointment, grief, and desperation, 
 that sinking at last under a heavy load of vexation 
 and melancholy, he, the said true lover, killed his 
 beloved and then dispatched himself; and thus 
 they, the said Talkative and Gabble, by slandering 
 the said sincere lover, did then and there felonious- 
 ly, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, did 
 tie and make fast the said beloved Mary Ann, with 
 the cord aforesaid, unto a branch of the length of 
 six feet, and of the thickness of four inches, and of 
 the height of ten feet, of a certain weeping willow 
 then and there growing, feloniously and wilfully, 
 and of their malice aforethought, did tie, make fast, 
 suspend and hang, at the height of two feet above 
 the earth ; and the said innocent, dove-like Mary 
 Ann, by the suspension and hanging then and 
 there feloniously, wilfully, and of their malice 
 aforethought, by the effect of whispering, did stran- 
 gle and suffocate, and the neck of her and him, the 
 said Mary innocent and sincere lover, did break 
 and dislocate, of which bruises, strangling, and 
 breaking of the the necks of them, the said true lo- 
 ver and Mary innocent, they, the said true lovers, 
 then and there instantly died. And so the jurors 
 aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do say that the 
 
176 
 
 said Tom Talkative and Goose Gabble, the said 
 innocent lovers, in manner and form aforesaid, felo- 
 niously, wilfully, and of their malice aforethought, 
 did kill and murder against the peace and dignity 
 of the aforesaid kingdom of Great Britain, and 
 against the peace and dignity of the Lord our 
 righteousness, his crown and kingdom. 
 
 " The cause of a cause is the cause of its effects." 
 As, for instance, to throw a shovel full of hot burn- 
 ing coals upon a heap of any exploding or fulmi- 
 nating substance, as a magazine of powder, mixed 
 with destructive engines of war, makes us justly 
 chargeable with the consequences of the explosion, 
 whatever they may be. 
 
 Man, in his corrupt composition, contains a ho- 
 rific mass of combustibles, such as envy, hatred, 
 revenge, hypochondriac, melancholy madness, &x ; 
 whenever, therefore, the tongue which is set on 
 fire of hell is let loose, its destructive power is such 
 that, like a match, although it cannot load, yet it 
 discharges the combustible materials of which en- 
 vy, hatred, love, and revenge are composed, and 
 upon whomsoever it may drop, it is as destructive 
 in general as an earthquake tearing a country, un- 
 less we are much upon our guard, which often we 
 cannot be. If it fall upon the great they may out- 
 ride the storm, and ruin their maligners who, in tak- 
 ing revenge, give themselves up to a habit of malev- 
 olence, lay a foundation for another injury, and trea- 
 sure up wrath against the day of wrath for assum- 
 ing the prerogative of God ; but let this calumny 
 descend like the vertical lightning upon the head of 
 a poor, friendless stranger, or orphan, or, as our 
 indictment implies, a man whose disappointment 
 of his love is to him as the shadow of death, he now 
 has lost his almost possessed delight, but, like a 
 
 
177 
 
 man who has, or imagines he has, lost his last vo- 
 lition to buffet the waves, after having long strug- 
 gled against the gaping surge, he instantly medi- 
 tates the damnable deed, and first, through disap- 
 pointed, mad love, envy, and ambition, he blights 
 the former flower of his joys, and then kills himself 
 through wild chaotic pity, malicious insanity, and 
 eternal revenge ! Whose fault? No doubt that of 
 the malicious slanderer. Great God ! what will 
 not men do when driven on by the fierce passions 
 of disappointment and despair? The cunning 
 supplanter may repent : but what can weeping do ? 
 Can it restore ruined confidence, innocence, and 
 happiness ? No. Can it raise the dead, or redeem 
 the souls which it has damned, back again to salva- 
 tion ? No, no, no ! ! 
 
 Indictment for murder, by tongue lashing a 
 stranger. 
 Maryland, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Maryland, 
 upon their oath, present — That Peep Chatter and 
 Tea cups, of the county of Still cap, Lucifer's ped- 
 Jers ; not having the fear of God before their eyes, 
 but being moved and seduced by the instigation of 
 the devil, on the 17th of March, in the year of our 
 Lord 1788, with tongue lashing force and backbit- 
 ing arms, in the county aforesaid, in and upon one 
 patriotic stranger and foreigner in the peace of God, 
 and of the said commonwealth, then and there be- 
 ing, did make an ill-natured, sly, oral, and written 
 assault ; and that the said Peep Chatter and Tea 
 cups cackle, with a eertain axe called " put the in- 
 nocent upon their guard," and punish the wicked 
 under pretence of glorifying God and producing 
 public good, which axe they, the said Peep Chat- 
 
178 
 
 ter, Poll Plot, Sail Slander, and Tea Topnot, in all 
 their slandering might, with hands, hearts, and eyes 
 hypocritically lifted up to heaven, groaning, grunt- 
 ing, praying, weeping, and pitying the poor stran- 
 ger for whom they were mixing up the poison of 
 asps, in the presence of two white eyed, stiff look- 
 ing preachers now and then smiling and throwing 
 up their eyes like dying calves, in and out of the 
 pulpit, which slandering axe, I say they, the said 
 suspicious, jealous, sly, cunning, railing and revil- 
 ing babblers, then and there held, in and upon the 
 head of him, the said stranger, by raising up ene- 
 mies ; they, the said devil's pedlers, whining, 
 weeping, peeping, and, like foxes, creeping, did 
 then and there feloniously, wilfully, and of their 
 malice aforethought, privately and slanderously 
 strike and wound the reputation, giving to him, 
 the said patriotic stranger of nice sensibility, ten 
 thousand mortal, scandalous wounds and blows, se- 
 cretly and publicly timed and placed through envy, 
 covetousness, pride, infidelity, and religious ambi- 
 tion, some of which were inflicted at the pulpit, of 
 which said mortal wounds and blows he, the said 
 innocent, patriotic stranger and foreigner, slowly, 
 politically, religiously, naturally, and eternally died. 
 And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths, afore- 
 said, do say that the said sly, civil, and religious 
 backbiters, the aforesaid stranger, in manner and 
 form aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, and of their 
 malice aforethought, did kill and murder, against 
 the peace and dignity of the commonwealth of 
 Maryland. 
 
 " Lastly, (saith Blackstone) the killing must be 
 committed with malice aforethought to make it the 
 crime of murder. And this is malice prepense, 
 not so properly spite or malevolence to the deceas- 
 
179 
 
 ed in particular, as any evil design in general, the 
 dictate of a wicked, depraved, and malignant heart ; 
 and it may be either express or implied in law. Ex- 
 press malice is when one with a sedate, deliberate 
 mind and formed design doth kill another, which 
 formed design is evidenced by external circum- 
 stances discovering that inward intention, as lying 
 in wait, antecedent menaces, former grudges, and 
 concerted schemes to do him some bodily harm. 
 Also, if even upon a sudden provocation, one beats 
 another in a cruel and unusual manner, so that he 
 dies, though he did not intend his death, yet he is 
 guilty of murder by express malice ; that is, by an 
 express, evil design, the genuine sense of malitia" 
 4th Blackstone, 198, 199. 
 
 Consequently, by the application of these two 
 principles of express and implied malice to the 
 slandering murderer ; he is equally an assassin. 
 He intends, he designs, he compasses the death, 
 he lies in wait to slay with the tongue ; he or she, 
 and both poison the public mind and the minds of 
 the members of the church ; he or she by their 
 tongues, form ambushes, make, load, and sharpe» 
 guns, poinards, bayonets, knives, and razors ; 
 shoot, stab, wound, and kill by creating reports and 
 jealousies, publicly and privately, by accusing 
 strangers of treasons, felonies, insurrections, and 
 other high crimes and misdemeanors. He that 
 hateth his brother is a mxtrdcrer. 1 John iii. 15. 
 
 " And it is no excuse at the bar of conscience" 
 to say I only said this or thus, upon a sudden pro- 
 vocation, for this is (saith Blackstone) " murder 
 by express malice, that is, by an express evil de- 
 sign, the genuine sense of malitia ?> Horse stealing 
 is virtue and honesty compared with it. 
 
180 
 
 Why then do not legislatures imprison and hang 
 the slandering murderer as well as other assassins, 
 it being the same principle ? as it is immaterial to 
 poor, feeble strangers, whether they are killed by 
 the slow jaw'd maligner or the sharp shooter, only 
 that the former is most malignant and destructive ! 
 
 Indictment for passing forged Gospel notes. 
 Pennsylvania, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Pennsylva- 
 nia, upon their oath, present — That Bill Bribeall, 
 and Sacerdotal Being bribed, late of the parish of 
 religious swindling, in the county of Gospel gos- 
 siping, church brokers, unlawfully and unjustly 
 contriving and intending one poor, moneyless, 
 slighted orphan to aggrieve and impoverish in cha- 
 racter, on the 30th day of July, in the year of our 
 Lord 1815, and with force and arms of a bought 
 group of plattermongering whisperers, convenient- 
 ly brought over by meats, drinks, clothes, compli- 
 ments, honors, favors, &c. at the parish of religious 
 swindling and county of Gospel gossipping afore- 
 said, of the wicked mind, intention, and imagina- 
 tion of them the said church brokers, one certain 
 forged and counterfeit Gospel receipt, partly print- 
 ed, partly written on paper, partly signified by signs, 
 such as tossing up the head, assenting by a wild 
 duck nod, a shrug of reserved abhorrence, a toss 
 of the nose, a frown of the eyebrows, a grimmace, 
 a groan, a high look of justice, all purporting to be 
 true receipts, subscribed by patriarchs and pro- 
 phets, Jesus Christ and the apostles, to wit : C. & 
 J. they, the said T. C. and J.J. being inspectors of 
 church government (as inspectors of tobacco are 
 upon James' river) in the house of God, anciently 
 on the river of Gospel discipline, all the time of 
 
181 
 
 their merciful and just ministry, that is to say, the 
 said church notes of the first fruits of the spirit 
 having the following marks, to wit : Thou shalt 
 love thy neighbour as thyself. Lev. xix. 18. All 
 things whatsoever ye would that men should do 
 unto you, do ye even so unto them. Matt. vii. 12. 
 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour. Pom. xiii. 
 10. If thy brother trespass, tell him of his fault 
 between thee and him alone. Matt, xviii. 15. If 
 thy brother trespass seven times a day, and repent, 
 thou shalt forgive him. Luke xvii. 4. If any be 
 overtaken in a fault, ye who are spiritual, restore 
 such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering 
 thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Gal. vi. 1. I 
 charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and the elect angels, that thou observe these things 
 without prefering one (or without prejudice, mar- 
 gin) before another, do nothing by partiality. 1 
 Tim. v. 21. And also having the following num- 
 bers, to wit: Chanty suffereth long and is kind; 
 charity envicth not ; charity vaunteth not itself, for 
 is not rash, margin) is not puffed up, is not pro- 
 voked ; secketh not her own ; thinketh no evil ; 
 beareth all things; hopeth all things, where faith in 
 a brother fails ; endureth all things, even the faults 
 of a Peter. And also having the following weights : 
 Charity covereth a multitude of sins. 1 Peter iv. 8. 
 Love covereth all sins. Prov. x. 12. He that iov- 
 eth another hath fulfilled the law. Mom. x ii. 8. 
 And being of the species of religion seripturally 
 called fervent charity, fas we say, sweet scented 
 leaf ) And the said forged and counterfeited re- 
 ceipts also purporting that the said management of 
 church government was to be deiivered by them, 
 the said prophets, Jesus, and apostles, to the said 
 jolt headed juggler, lord over God's heritage, and 
 
 Q 
 
182 
 
 blating broker, for exportation from one slandering 
 conclave to another when demanded, feloniously 
 did pass in payment to the sleepy, barking, greedy, 
 partial, slandering shepherd, the sly lord over God's 
 heritage, the said devil's pedler, on the said 13th 
 day of July, in the year aforesaid, at the parish 
 aforesaid, in the county aforesaid, and especially at 
 the times and places of so passing the said coun- 
 terfeit receipts of hearsay evidence, by sly letters, 
 whispers, shrugs, groans, hypocritical tears, adding 
 aggravated and envious motives, emulations, &c. 
 in payment of Gospel discipline to the said organi- 
 zed church of God, knowing the same to have been 
 forged and counterfeited, from their own sensibility 
 of not being willing to have the like villainies prac- 
 tised upon themselves, to the evil example of all 
 others in like cases, offending against the law of 
 love and form of sound doctrine, as contained in 
 the Old and New Testaments, in such case made 
 and provided, against the peace and dignity of the 
 commonwealth of Israel, and these United States. 
 When ministers of the sanctuary have been 
 brought up honestly and politely in their father's 
 houses, before their induction into the priestly of- 
 fice, what a blessing is it to the congregations 
 among whom they labor ! And when superadded 
 thereunto they have had a religious education, like 
 Timothy, whose grandmother Lois, and whose 
 mother Eunice had, and no doubt taught him, un- 
 feigned faith, 2 Tim. i. 5, the oufit is doubly bless- 
 ed. And we ought not to forget, that to he brought 
 up and nursed in the lap, and to inhale the sincere 
 milk of equal liberty, is to have another and very 
 shining qualification for the pulpit. Subjoined to 
 these, a general knowledge of history would be 
 very necessary to enlighten his understanding with 
 
183 
 
 biography, chronology, geography, and heraldry ; 
 his mind thus enlarged, would indignantly look 
 down upon little church whispering as an eagle 
 upon a grasshopper, or poisonous creeping reptile. 
 But on the contrary, if a man has been born of 
 low-bred, cunning parentage, that is, a covetous, 
 malicious, envious, revengeful, double minded, 
 partial, slandering breed ; O house of God, death 
 is in the pot — for what he sees he circulates ; if he 
 goes into a house he gazes, listens, and reports ; 
 when he beholds a poor brother or sister overtaken 
 in a fault, instead of restoring such a one in the spi- 
 rit of meekness, considering himself lest he also be 
 thus tempted and overcome, Gal. vi. 1, he either 
 thunders and lightens upon them, and to justify his 
 austerity, quotes some raspish scripture, with a 
 snap, a stamp, and a frown, answerable to his 
 haughty, lordly mind, or informs, witnesses, tries, 
 overrules, condemns, reviles, and expels, as one of 
 his compeers once did, who said — " Go out and 
 take the sound of damnation with you ;" and strut- 
 ting triumphantly offhe boasts, " I'll be bound that 
 I, pronoun I, myself, will exercise church disci- 
 ple ;" or he frequents the table of corrupters, whose 
 every hospitality has for its object an unlawful 
 usurpation in the church, an undue influence over 
 its teachers, overseers, rulers, &c. Mark him up- 
 on almost all occasions, either openly or slyly, (how- 
 ever he may profess to the contrary) sitting, talk- 
 ing, counselling, walking with, caressing, or re- 
 ceiving bribes and unlawful influences from some 
 point of Satan's parti il compass, to wit, from let- 
 ters, sweet meats, fine clothes, elegant lodgings, 
 where the furniture has more antinomianism en- 
 signed upon it than ten thousand gold rings upon 
 nice, affected fingers, or four or five ruffles or tuck- 
 
184 
 
 ers from the stiff chin to the humped shoulders, 
 projecting over the head, like the male pheasant of 
 the wild woods. 
 
 Instead of forgiving seven times a day, Luke 
 xvii. 4, " What (say they) always sinning and al- 
 ways repenting;" thus manifestly making an at- 
 tempt to corrupt, to counterfeit the word of God, 
 as a man would to counterfeit or forge a sweet 
 scenteel tobacco note, by imposing in its stead a 
 hogshead full of decaying vegetables of the most 
 poisonous species. Like Peter, talking and med- 
 dling, instead of telling your brother between thee 
 and him alone. Matt, xviii. 15, they tell the rulers, 
 or without, and contrary to all just rule, hurl and 
 force them out by hearsay, partial, envious, mali- 
 cious, revengeful, or ambitious evidence ! Instead 
 of our Lord's seventy times seven, verse 22, their 
 patience, their rule of church discipline amounts to 
 only seven times. In the place of our Redeemer's 
 ten thousand talents, seven hundred and fifty cun- 
 ces of silver, or as Whitby hath it, " eight hun- 
 dred and seventy-five thousand pounds sterling," 
 these selfish, religious misers and swindlers have 
 only one hundred pence, or about three pound two 
 shillings and sixpence English, or choke money, 
 they imprisoning like him, verse 30, in the jail of 
 private and public disgrace, sin, and defamation ! 
 
 An indictment for an assault, with intent to mur- 
 der the character. 
 Virginia, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Virginia, 
 and for the body of the district composed of the 
 counties of Henrico, Hanover, Chesterfield, Gooch- 
 land, and Powhattan, upon their oath, present — 
 That Evil Envious, Mad Malevolent, and High- 
 
185 
 
 eyed Haughty, late of the parish of Pale Dog in a 
 Manger, in the county of Implacability, supplanters, 
 on the 1st clay of May, in the year 1807, with force 
 of arms, that is to say, of tongues, pens, money, 
 meats, drinks, washings, lodgings, and friends, 
 bribes, &c. at the parish of Cup Evidence, with se- 
 veral aiders in whispering, which they, the^ said 
 Evil Envious and Mad Malevolent, in their influ- 
 ence then and there had and held, in and upon one 
 poor, helpless female beauty, in the peace of God 
 and the commonwealth, then and there being, did 
 make an assault with an intent her the said Female 
 Feeble then there, feloniously and of their malice 
 aforethought, to kill and murder, by black hints of 
 secret intrigues between her the said nymph and 
 certain married men, whose wives were of suspi- 
 cious and revengeful families, and other wrongs 
 of the like nature to the said dove-like, weeping 
 Mary, then and there did, to the great damage of 
 the said broken hearted and already emaciated in- 
 nocent, and against the peace and dignity of the 
 commonwealth of Virginia, And the jurors afore- 
 said, for the body of the district aforesaid, compos- 
 ed of the counties aforesaid, do further upon their 
 oath present — That the said Envious, Malevolent, 
 and Hgheyed Haughty, late of the parish of Pale 
 Dog in a Manger, in the county of Sleepless Hatred 
 and ill will aforesaid, supplanters* on the 1st day of 
 May, in the year 1807, and the year of slander 5811, 
 with force and arms of Satan's pedlers and post rid- 
 ers in obloquy, at the parish afore&iid, in the county 
 aforesaid, in and upon one Female Feeble, in the 
 peace of God and the commonwealth, then and 
 there being, did beat, wound, and ill treat, by whis- 
 pers, letters, and revilings, so that her life was 
 greatly despaired of, being intended murder, and 
 
 q.2 
 
186 
 
 other wrongs, such as leaving her brooding over 
 them, which hastened and completed her dissolu- 
 tion, that is to say, to the said nymph then and there 
 did, to the great damage of the said helpless girl, 
 in time and eternity, against the peace and dignity 
 of the commonwealth of Virginia, and the royal 
 law of love. 
 
 " In many cases where no malice is expressed, 
 the law will imply it ; as where a man wilfully poi- 
 sons another, in such a deliberate act the law pre- 
 sumes malice, though no particular enmity can be 
 proved. And if a man kills another suddenly, 
 without any, or without a considerable provoca- 
 tion, the law implies malice ; for no person, unless 
 of an abandoned heart, would be guilty of such an 
 act, upon a slight- or no apparent cause." — 4th 
 Blackstone, p. 200. 
 
 Ten thousand times ten thousand cases of such 
 malice aforethought may be proved against old 
 maids and bachelors against several married would- 
 be ladies, would-be gentlemen, would-be Chris- 
 tians, would-be preachers, and millions of such 
 murders are committed of malice aforethought, by 
 young unmarried would-be gentlen^n, either be- 
 cause of one reason or another ; and hy young 
 nymphs through envy, they not having been ac- 
 counted so neat, so learned, so acceptable compa- 
 nions, as the poor ridiculed girl, the object of their 
 obloquy ; but yet, moreover, for the most damn- 
 ing sin of being, and of having been generally re- 
 puted greater beauties than their whiffling, flirting, 
 cackling, whispering, and haughty traducers., who, 
 what they fell short of in integrity, wisdom, meek- 
 ness, gentleness, and beauty to her whom they stab- 
 bed in the dark, by every cunning and keen arti- 
 fice, they made up by riggles, sly families, and other 
 
187 
 
 V 
 
 means of supplanting. And no wonder, when St. 
 Paul observes that their throat is an open sepul- 
 chre ; with their tongues they have used deceit ; 
 the poison of asps is under their lips ; their feet are 
 swift to shed blood ; destruction and misery are in 
 their ways. Rom. iii. 13, 14, 15, 16. They have 
 sharpened their tongues like a serpent ; adder's poi- 
 son is under their lips. Psalm cxl. 3. Their poi- 
 son is like the poison of a serpent ; they are like the 
 deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. Psalm lviii. 4. 
 And they lay wait for their own blood ; they lurk 
 privily for their own lives. Prov. i. 18. So that 
 they often, by their slanders, bring on their own 
 ruin not only here, but it is to be lamented that 
 they lay a foundation for their future and eternal 
 damnation. We repeat it again and again, no mat- 
 ter how we murder another, whether by the tongue, 
 lead, steel, or poison, we are equally guilty. 
 
 An indictment for malicious stabbing and shoot- 
 ing. 
 North Carolina > to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of North-Ca- 
 rolina, and the district of the counties associated 
 with Halifax, upon their oath, present — That Sharp 
 nosed Snipebill, Glibtongued Hotstill, Drumhead 
 Ill-will, Thin lip'd Whipperwill, Fat faced Large- 
 swill, and Sunkeyed Siowkill, late of the parish of 
 loud mouth babble and county of open sepulchre, 
 slanderers ; on the 7th day of March, in the year of 
 our Lord 1808, with force and arms at the said par- 
 ish and county as aforesaid, and within the jurisdic- 
 tion of the court holden for the district aforesaid, 
 in and upon one minister of the Gospel named Run 
 to and fro, in the peace of God and the common- 
 wealth, then and there being, feloniously, wilfully, 
 
183 
 
 maliciously, and of purpose, did make an assault ; 
 and that the said Sharpnosed Snipebill, Glibtongue 
 Hotstill, Drumhead IlUwill, Thin lip'd YVhipper- 
 will, Fatfaced Bigs will, and Sunkeyed Slowkill, 
 with a certain gun called truth, (though a lie 
 against revealed truth) loaded with hot shot, made 
 up of envy, cunning, guile, pride, bigotry, whis- 
 pering, malice, railing, revenge, brawling, and am- 
 bition, which said slandering gun they the said 
 ragamuffins in their right hands then and there had 
 and held to, against and upon the said preacher of 
 peace, righteousness, and Christian forbearance, 
 then and there feloniously, wilfully, and malicious- 
 ly, and of purpose, did shoot and discharge ; and 
 that the said ill bred, slowjaw'd backbiters, with 
 red hot slanderous shot aforesaid, out of the gun 
 aforesaid, then and there, by force of the malevo- 
 lent gunpowder aforesaid, whispering and sly, ma- 
 licious shot sent forth as aforesaid, the aforesaid 
 Gospel minister, in and upon his person, property, 
 and character of him the said Gospel minister, with 
 the shot aforesaid, by force of the gunpowder 
 aforesaid, out of their slandering guns aforesaid, by 
 the said selfish maligners, (the gun kicking them 
 after the shot ) one or two of whom were preachers 
 ot his own fold, so, as aforesaid, shot sent forth pri- 
 vately, slyly, and discharged feloniously, wilfully, 
 maliciously, and of purpose, did shoot, strike, pen- 
 etrate and wound the feelings, the character, the 
 talents, the health. And the jurors aforesaid, up- 
 on their oath aforesaid, do present — That the said 
 pulpit, press, cup, glass, weeping, nodding, peep- 
 ing, angie eyed, tossing footed, high eyed whis- 
 perers, then and there with a certain bayonet, made 
 up of razors, rasps, two edged swords, barbed ar- 
 rows dipped m poison, gall, and wormwood, and a 
 
189 
 
 heart of adamant, which said deadly bayonet was 
 fixed by implacability to the said slandering gun, 
 which they the said lords over God's heritage, up- 
 start lady chatter, a few altarscrapers, some cup 
 and wine gabblers, with a host of scornful Sabbath 
 breakers, oppressors, shavers, fops, butterflies, 
 cranes, bull dogs, and little snarlers, in their right 
 hand then and there held, in and upon the right 
 side of him the said Gospel minister, (they smiling 
 and stabbing) then and there feloniously, mali- 
 ciously, wilfully, and of slandering purpose, did 
 strike and stab, with an intent by the said libellous, 
 backbiting, shooting, and stabbing aforesaid, the 
 said minister of the Gospel to maim in character, 
 disfigure in society, disable to do the work of the 
 Lord, or kill, against the form of the act of the 
 general assembly, in such case made and provid- 
 ed, and against the peace and dignity of the com- 
 monwealth of North Carolina, and the whole church 
 of God. 
 
 One faithful runner to and fro, is worth three 
 who fight negroes, cheat, and shine in domestic 
 grandeur, Dan. xii. 4. A minister of the Lord 
 who is gentle unto all men, free from selfish, pros- 
 elyting, ill tempered zeal, is apt to be persecuted 
 by all who envy his character for patience and 
 meekness, the overbearing and insultingly bigot- 
 ed, hard, selfish stiff heads of all parties, hold pri- 
 vate whispering councils, exparte upon him, and 
 according to their usual, double mindedness, smile 
 and stab under the partial influence of sectarian 
 conclave, now and then riding as the devil's ped- 
 lers, postriders, and letter writers, libelling and 
 orally slandering him for the glory of God and the 
 good of the church, if you will believe them — 
 which being a deviation from that charity which 
 
190 
 
 covereth a multitude of sins, 1 Peter iv. 8, and 
 the all therefore of our Lord, Matt. vii. 12, is conse- 
 quently a violation of the law and the prophets, and 
 amounts to hating our brother, which is accounted 
 murder. 1 John iii. 15. Upon the other hand, 
 when he firmly, like a man and a Christian, sup- 
 ports his own tenets rationally, cooly, steadily, and 
 with effect ; the bigots of the opposite opinion lay 
 wait for his soul, like the devil, their father, they 
 are grieved at the force of truths which they wish 
 were lies, they mock him as he preaches, slight 
 him as he passes, slander him as he travels to and 
 fro to spread knowledge, circulate what they hear 
 against him, multiply and magnify all the weak- 
 nesses they know of him, contrary to Solomon's ad- 
 vice. Love covereth all sins, Prov> x. 12 ; and St. 
 Paul, Speak evil of no man. Titus iii. 2. In short, 
 slander, malice, and murder aforethought, are the 
 genuine offspring of the monopolizing zeal of reli- 
 gious bigots, and none more ready to lead the van 
 than a thin headed, stamping, staring,, rocking, 
 clapping, thumping, white eyed babbler, who, 
 what he wants in ministerial qualifications, he 
 makes up in peeps, puns, sarcasms, grins, turning 
 up the white of his eyes, sly letters, calling his an- 
 tagonists Pharisees, if a Calvinistic thunderer ; 
 Antinomians, if a loud Armenian bawler ; heritics, 
 if a Catholic ; and Popish idolators, if a rigid Pro- 
 testant. Great God, save us from the appalling, 
 murdering, secret inquisitions, and public detrac- 
 tions of an innumerable groupe of religious assas- 
 sins, whose souls are inflated with storms and hur- 
 ricanes, raised by the intemperate zones of the de- 
 vil's two poles, religious frigidity and hell fire 
 zeal, producing the cold plague of the frozen zone 
 of the north, blowing from the rough boreas of ha- 
 
191 
 
 trcd, paved and pointed with the icy gangrene of 
 implacability, and the vertical rays of their all des- 
 troying fire of discord, turning over our fruitful 
 Eden into a desolate wilderness, cursed with ste- 
 rility, like the mountains of Gilboa and the miry 
 and marshy places of Ezekiel, which are given up 
 to salt. Ezek: xlvii. 11. But we can expect no 
 quarters from a host of haughty, highflying, scof- 
 fing infidels, walking after their own lusts, 2 Peter 
 iii. 3, 4, called mockers, Jude xviii ; men who stu- 
 dy and teach the doctrines of Voltaire, Volney, 
 \Veishaup, D'Alembert, Diddero, Godwin, Gib- 
 bon, and Hume ; when these, we say, are read and 
 taught by those modern imitators, we are come to 
 St. Paul's last days, 2 Tim. iii. wherein perilous 
 times should come, when men should be heady, 
 high minded, and deny the power of Godliness, op- 
 posing and persecuting, publicly and privately, 
 any, and every religion not answerable to their un- 
 believing opinions, who, playing off one religious 
 society against another, turn every man's sword 
 against his feliow, or set all other societies who are 
 under their influence, against highway and hedge 
 meetings. 
 
 Indictment for robbery. 
 Virginia, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Virginia, 
 and for the church of God. composed of honest 
 men, weighing crimes according to their evil in- 
 tentions and effects, upon their oath, present — That 
 John Hellfire, late of the parish of selfishness and 
 injustice, in the county of Manstealing, whisperer ; 
 on the spur of every favorable opportunity, with 
 force and arms of defamation, at the parish afore- 
 said, in the said county of Manstealing, in the cha- 
 
192 
 
 racter or every individual there situate, within the 
 fangs of his consuming tongue, and within the ju- 
 risdiction of this commonwealth, holden for the 
 punishment of crimes (according to their magni- 
 tude) in and upon the said every character within 
 his defamatory reach, in the peace of God and the 
 said commonwealth, then and there being, feloni- 
 ously did make an assault by the tongue to rob the 
 character of her, one of the said number, in bodily 
 fear and danger of her life, in the said dwelling 
 house, her character having been robbed by said 
 slanderer, who did then and there feloniously put, 
 and one person whose good name contained more 
 value than twenty chests of gold, of the stuff named 
 in indictments, called goods and chattels, of the 
 said invaluable good name from the person, and 
 against the will of the said invaluable character in 
 the soul of the aforesaid, then and there violently, 
 silently, slyly, and feloniously did steal, take, and 
 carry away the character, more valuable than twen- 
 ty horses, against the form of the eighth command- 
 ment of the commonwealth of the kingdom of hea- 
 ven, in such case made and provided, and against 
 tht peace and dignity of the commonwealth of 
 Virginia and the royal law of God. 
 
 " In proportion to the importance of the crimi- 
 nal law, (saith Judge Blackstone) ought also to be 
 the care and attention of the legislature in properly 
 forming and enforcing it. It should be founded 
 upon principles that are permanent, uniform, and 
 universal, and always conformable to the dictates 
 of truth and justice, the feelings of humanity, and 
 the indelible rights of mankind." — 4th Blackstone, 
 p. 2,3. 
 
 Give the application of these permanent, uni- 
 form^ universal, true, just, feeling, humane, and 
 
193 
 
 indelible principles their full force, and the charac- 
 ter breaker will be found guilty of ten fold more 
 punishment than a house breaker — in the propor- 
 tion as a man thief inflicts more private injury up- 
 on an individual young widow, than a house thief. 
 " A crime, or misdemeanor, is an act commit- 
 ted or omitted in violation of public law, either for- 
 bidding or commanding it. Crime is made to denote 
 such offences as are of a deeper and more atrocious 
 dye ; while smaller faults and omissions, of less 
 consequence, are comprised under the gentler name 
 of ' misdemeanors only.' In all cases, the crime 
 includes an injury : every public offence is also a 
 private wrong ; it affects the individual, and it like- 
 wise affects the community. Thus murder is an 
 inj ury to the life of an individual ; but the law of 
 society considers principally the loss which the 
 state sustains by being deprived of a member, and 
 the pernicious example thereby set for others to 
 do the like. Robbery may be considered in the 
 same view — it is an injury to private property ; 
 but were that all, a civil satisfaction for damages 
 might atone for it ; the public mischief is the thing, 
 for the prevention of which our laws have made it 
 a capital offence. In these gross and atrocious in- 
 juries, the private wrong is swallowed up in the 
 public." — 4th Blackstone, p. 5, 6. 
 
 Here we may note four things — First, crimes ; 
 second, misdemeanors ; thirdly, private injuries ; 
 and fourthly, public. First, crimes of the deep 
 atrocious dye, of secret spleen, envy, hatred, ma- 
 lice, guile, and revenge, letting loose tongues and 
 pens set on fire of hell, feloniously, wilfully, and of 
 malice aforethought, are styled murder bv St. 
 John; horsestealing, housebreaking, and house 
 burning are but misdemeanors, when put in com- 
 
 R 
 
194 
 
 petition therewith — especially when practised upon 
 a poor, handsome, young widow, or an old, straight 
 upright, well-bred, delicate, or friendless old maid. 
 The injuries accruing in such cases are loss of so- 
 ciety, of a husband, happiness, fortune, appetite, 
 life, and, we have no doubt, the loss of life eternal 
 in many instances ; and, as a public offence, it is 
 styled treason by Blackstone. " In all cases, (saith 
 he) the crime includes an injury ; Thus treason, 
 in imagining the king's death, (here we say the 
 death of the chief magistrate) involves in it con- 
 spiracy against an individual, which is also a civil 
 injury ; but as this species of treason in its conse- 
 quences principally tends to the dissolution of go- 
 vernment, and the destruction thereby of the order 
 and peace of society ; this denominates it a crime 
 of the highest magnitude. — 4th Blackstone, p. 5, 6. 
 And all this villainy may be perpetrated by a 
 L-o-r-d p-i-t-y t-h-e-m, (every word three feet 
 long) they are the worst foes to themselves, turning 
 up their devout, slandering eyes to fifty degrees 
 above blood heat, and below frozen cold, like a 
 garrison firing a salute in honor of a razee or an old 
 first rate coming into port from their last cruise, 
 and putting in a fifty -four between wind and wa- 
 ter, Rickasha fashion. 
 
 What a legal and physical blessing is it to soci- 
 ety that lawyers and doctors are not backbiters. 
 And what a shame, blame, and curse is it when 
 ministers, magistrates, or politicians are slanderers. 
 
 Indictment for murder, committed by shooting. 
 Virginia, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Virginia, 
 and for the district composed of the counties of O, 
 &c. upon their oath present — That Moll Malevo- 
 
195 
 
 lent and Purseproud Pratter, late of the parish of 
 Hue and cry, in the county of report and we will 
 also report it again, murderers ; not having the fear 
 of God before their eyes, but being moved and se- 
 duced by the instigation of the devil, the father of 
 lies, malice, envy, and revenge, on the 16th day of 
 April, in the year of our Lord 1803, with force of 
 tongues and pens, at the parish of Hue and cry 
 and county of report and we will report it again 
 aforesaid, (and within the jurisdiction of this court 
 holden for the district aforesaid) in and upon one 
 peaceable, public spirit, in the peace of God, and 
 of the said commonwealth, then and there being, 
 feloniously, wilfully, deliberately, premeditatedly, 
 and of their malice aforethought, did make an as- 
 sault ; and that they the said Moll Malevolent and 
 Purseproud Pratter, a certain gun of the value of 
 indefinite and irreparable ruin, then and there load- 
 ed and charged with suspicion, slander, calumny, 
 defamation, malice, envy, hatred, anger, cunning, 
 and obloquy, and a destructive kind of langrage, 
 double headed round shot and grape, called gen- 
 tlemen and ladies' news, preceded by a hell fire 
 volley of rockets, called it is true, I tell you the 
 truth, I have it from a source to be relied upon, 
 write, print, publish the rascal, said they ; which 
 gun they the said Moll Malevolent and Purseproud 
 Pratter in their right hands, then and there and 
 every where had and held to. against, and upon the 
 said peaceable public spirit, ruining his character, 
 a jewel which he almost starved himself to obtain 
 and preserve, then and there feloniously, wilfully, 
 deliberately, and of their malice aforethought, did 
 shoot, discharge, and send forth a destructive load 
 of rancor ; and that the said Moll Malevolent and 
 Purseproud Pratter, with slandering lead of ma- 
 
196 
 
 lice and backbiting as aforesaid, the aforesaid 
 peaceable public spirit, in and upon the person, pro- 
 perty, character, life, and soul of him the said in- 
 nocent man (as though they had shot him in the 
 neqk) then and there, and every where, with the 
 worse than leaden shot of destructive and all de- 
 vouring slander, out of the whispering gun falsely 
 called truth as aforesaid, by the said slanderers in and 
 out of the sanctuary, shot off, discharged, and sent 
 forth feloniously, wilfully, deliberately, premedi- 
 tatedly, and of their malice aforethought, did strike 
 with pens and tongues, penetrate and wound the 
 character, giving to the said stranger, fatherless, or 
 widow, then, there, and every where with the lead- 
 en shot of sly, cunningly devised slander aforesaid, 
 so as aforesaid calumniating, shot, discharged, and 
 sent forth out of the slandering guns aforesaid, by 
 the said would-be called ladies, gentlemen, honest 
 ladies, gentlemen, christians, &c. in and upon 
 thousands of persons who have received such mor- 
 tal wounds that some have instantly died, others 
 were put to death privately or publicly, as the ef- 
 fects of evil reports could operate in the commu- 
 nities of which they were members; some were 
 shot publicly, others hanged for treason, murder, 
 &x. all being innocent ; others dwindled away with 
 grief, sorrow, and loss of appetite , many were dri- 
 ven into lunacies, others to the rope, to the pistol, 
 to the pond, the ratsbane, the laudanum, and all 
 died, slowly or instantly ; matches were broken up, 
 wife and husband parted, and merchants broke. 
 And so the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath afore- 
 said, do say, in the true language of justice, that 
 the said slanderers, them the said in manner and 
 form aforesaid, feloniously, wilfully, deliberately, 
 premeditated ly, and of their malice aforethought, 
 
197 
 
 did kill and murder against the form of the spirit 
 of the act of the general government of equal jus- 
 tice, in such cases to be made and provided by yet 
 future legislatures, when slanderers shall be tried 
 as murderers, manthieves, &c. &c. as offending 
 equally against the peace and dignity of the com- 
 monwealth of Virginia, as murderers, manstealers, 
 and lordly novices. 
 
 Many prophets and wise men have been ruined 
 by the hellish artillery of public and private slan- 
 der, through envy and gain ; and also thousands of 
 brave patriots. 
 
 " Agis, one of the kings of Sparta, who was 
 not twenty years old, who reigned jointly with 
 Leonidas, wishing to restore the laws of Lycurgus, 
 was seized by the ephori, by slanderous informers, 
 condemned and executed. Theramenes suffered 
 death by the juice of the hemlock, by means of 
 slander, for opposing the tyranny established by 
 Lysander, of the thirty tyrants of Athens. Archi- 
 lochus, who was born in the island of Paros, about 
 the 29th olympiad, to whom the invention of Iam- 
 bic verse is, though very unjustly, attributed, it 
 being of a much more ancient date. Lycambes 
 having refused to give him his daughter in mar- 
 riage, according to his promise, Archilochus wrote 
 such keen and bitter invectives against him, that 
 both the father and daughter hung themselves by 
 the effects of calumny. Cleomenes, who possess- 
 ed great spirit and abilities, who conquered the 
 Archaens, who were very strong and powerful, and 
 who carried their victorious arms over the Pelo- 
 ponnesus, Was suspected by Philopater, the reign- 
 ing king of Egypt, and taken into custody, by 
 means of slander ; escaping from this confinement, 
 and wandering up and down in Alexandria, he, in 
 
 r 2 
 
198 
 
 despair, slew himself in the third year of his escape 
 from the battle of Selasia. When the great Epa- 
 minondas, who was a descendant of the kings of 
 Boetia, was about to be put to death by the envy 
 of his enemies, (who were blown up by slanders 
 into a flame) although he deserved crowns for his 
 services, before his death he said — " Permit me to 
 make one prayer. Let posterity, in learning my 
 punishment, learn also the cause. I die for having 
 successfully conducted you into Laconia, where 
 no enemy had power to penetrate before. I die for 
 having carried into their cities and countries that 
 desoiation which your army only then first knew 
 how to spread. I die for having re-established the 
 Messinians, re-united the Arcadians, and ruined 
 the Lacedemonians. I die, in a word, for your 
 victories, for your conquests, and for having in- 
 creased your power and extended your dominion. 
 Behold the crimes for which I am condemned. I 
 regret not the loss of life, provided you leave me 
 only the glory of my actions, by consecrating to 
 posterity a monument that shall acknowledge these 
 deeds were done by me without your permission. 
 All his judges remained silent and confused, as 
 cowardly railers, while Epaminondas went from 
 this tribunal, as he was accustomed to go from 
 combat, covered with glory and universal ap- 
 plause. Socrates fell a sacrifice to envy and slan- 
 der, having more virtue, candor, and honesty than 
 Athens could bear." But, like other imprudent, 
 slandering, pulpit, press, wine, and tea mansteal- 
 ers and murderers of property, person, character, 
 and soul, in time and in eternity, they repented 
 too late ! ! 
 
 Indictment for stealing the character of two lov- 
 ers, which felony was worse than that of five thou- 
 
199 
 
 sand sheep thieves. How like sheep-killing dogs 
 they look, with wool and blood upon their mouths. 
 Virginia, fourth judicial circuit, Henrico county, 
 to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Virginia, 
 duly summoned to attend the superior court of 
 law directed to be holden for the said county of 
 Henrico, being one of the counties composing the 
 fourth judicial circuit aforesaid, upon their oaths 
 present — That Laughing Twitterer andSlowjawed 
 Glutton, late of the parish of Talking families, in 
 the county of Secret spleen, slanderers, on the 17th 
 day of November, in the year of our Lord 1808, 
 with force and tongues at the parish aforesaid, in 
 the county aforesaid, [and within the jurisdiction 
 of this court, holden in the said county and said 
 circuit for the county aforesaid] two beautiful and 
 unsuspecting, true hearted, juvenile lovers, named 
 Tom Trueheart and Prisciila Pureheart, of the 
 goods and chattels of Freeborn Faithful, Rebecca 
 Religious, Isaac Industrious, and Catharine Con- 
 tentment, all of whom were united ; and that the 
 said slanderers, then and there found, feloniously 
 did steal, take, and carry away the characters of 
 the said newly-to-be- married couple, producing 
 thereby a general load of distress to all parties, but 
 especially to the said juvenile disappointed lovers, 
 by breaking up the match and all confidence in 
 each other for ever, against the form of the act of 
 the general assembly, and the " all therefore" of 
 our Lord's royal law of working no ill to our 
 neighbour, in such case made and provided, and 
 against the peace and dignity of the commonwealth 
 of Virginia, and of Israel. 
 
 What have you got to answer to the aforesaid 
 indictment ? A woman once told her husband af. 
 
200 
 
 ter marriage, that a preacher of another society ve- 
 hemently pressed and poisoned her mind against 
 him before marriage ; for which, the husband, be- 
 ing also a preacher, returned to the aforesaid de- 
 vil's pedler, the most unwavering kindness, and 
 conquered him by love. Thousands and millions 
 of unhappy lovers are at this moment wringing 
 their hands, and tearing their hair through grief^ 
 and worn down by lamentation, weeping, and 
 great mourning, dying under the poisonous con- 
 sequences of meddling parents and relations, con- 
 nections and neighbours, hypocritical friends, pri- 
 vate and public foes, and by the introduction of 
 the devil's nest egg of slander, hatched by his 
 whispering cup bearers and swillers. 
 
 Indictment for aiding and abetting whisperers, 
 in stealing the affections of man and wife from each 
 other — a thing too common, say you. 
 Virginia, fourth judicial district, H. county, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Virginia, 
 duly summoned to attend the superior court of 
 law, directed to be holden for the said county of 
 H. being one of the counties composing the fourth 
 judicial district aforesaid, upon their oath present 
 — ThatMr. Movinghogshead Hardheart, old Miss- 
 es Quiver Slingdart, Misses Thinlip'd Looktart, 
 young Mr. Looksmart, and Miss Rainbow co- 
 qutte Doubleheart, late of the parish of Skipping, 
 sipping, brawling, and whipping, and in the county 
 of Dress and cackling, devil's pedlers, on the 17th 
 day of November, 1808, with whispering, laugh- 
 ing, and backbiting force and arms, at the parish 
 aforesaid, in the county of Dress and cackling 
 aforesaid, (and within the jurisdiction of this court, 
 holden in the said county and said circuit for the 
 
201 
 
 county aforesaid) a man and his wife, named Union 
 For life, both of the goods and chattels of each 
 other, then and there found by said slanderers, who 
 feloniously did steal their hearts by whispering and 
 obloquy, take and carry away all their conjugal 
 comforts, creating gall, wormwood, and death 
 among their children and all their connections, and 
 all this under the devilish pretence of church dis- 
 cipline, and telling the truth for God's sake, al- 
 though a barefaced lie against divine truth, which 
 commands us to cover a multitude of sins, and to 
 be peace makers, which said conduct is against the 
 form of the act of the general assembly, which for- 
 bids man and wife to be brought in evidence 
 against each other, in such cases made and provid- 
 ed, against the whole tenor of scripture, and against 
 the peace and dignity of the commonwealth oi Vir- 
 ginia, and all well regulated governments. And 
 the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do 
 further present — That several skipping, brawling, 
 tart, smart, gluttonous, wine drinking, tea cack- 
 ling, and religious calumniators, late of the parish 
 aforesaid, in the said county of whispering and de- 
 vil's pedling, on the said 17th of November, 1808, 
 at the parish aforesaid, in the said county of hell- 
 fire defamation, (and within the jurisdiction of this 
 court holden as aforesaid) feloniously were pre- 
 sent, aiding by whispers, and abetting by approv- 
 ing smiles, forbidding frowns, sly, insinuating, and 
 insidious artifices, and assisting the said first mov- 
 ers of family divisions, in and out of the churches 
 in feloniously stealing and carrying away the lov- 
 ing couple's affections from each other, against the 
 form and spirit of all well regulated governments, 
 but especially the general assembly; in such cases 
 made and provided, and against the peace and dig- 
 
202 
 
 nity of the commonwealth of Virginia, and of the 
 church of God. 
 
 Immediately after the happy consummation of a 
 marriage, a brother-in-law told the bride, " now 
 had you married a farmer, how much better would 
 you have been off;" thus beginning early under 
 the hypocritical guise of pity. An empty meddler, 
 who had increased his fortune by marriage and ex- 
 tortion, informed an old, selfish, slandering lady 
 that she had injured her reputation by hiding her 
 husband's faults ; of which saying the wife, through 
 triumphant revenge, told her husband, (being off 
 her guard) ; thus laying a foundation for perpetual 
 enmity. The husband had to stoop, and by stoop- 
 ing conquered himself and his enemies. A thought- 
 less young woman being much abused by a mar- 
 ried lady of low, high, hot blood, took revenge by 
 telling her, in the presence of her husband, you 
 walked privately through the old field pines with 
 ; to which the husband giving ear, im- 
 mediately produced a quarrel. Such girls have no 
 title to a husband, but rather to a workhouse. An 
 old Jezebel, who had a daughter married to a man 
 of affluence, persuaded her not to make his clothes ; 
 of which, when he complained, she, the arch dae- 
 mon, advised her daughter to elope from her hus- 
 band and sue for a separate maintainance, which 
 advice she followed ; but the husband having van- 
 quished her in the law suit, she not being able to 
 obtain her revenge, came home again to him, who 
 received her kindly — he being convinced of the 
 unlawful interference of the old sly lady. There 
 was a witch of Endor plot ! A young gentleman 
 just wedded to a pure girl, took a long voyage to 
 sea, leaving her to board with a lady who kept a 
 public house, with an injunction to watch her, (he 
 
203 
 
 being of a jealous disposition ;) in. less than a year 
 be returned, met, caressed, and kissed his dear 
 wife and little son ; then stepping into a room with 
 the landlady to inquire of the manners of his wife 
 during his absence, she told him that she had kept 
 much noise and company in her house since he 
 had been gone. The moment he received the 
 contents of her abominable budget, he departed in 
 silent, disappointed distraction ; and being a man 
 of pity, education, family, and fortune, determined 
 " not to make his wife a public example." The 
 poor slandered, forsaken innocent sunk under the 
 load, and (like many others) fell into a consump- 
 tion, communicated it to her infant, first born to 
 sorrow ; when she found her soul and the soul of 
 her child passing the rubicon into the shades of 
 eternity, she wrote to her jealous, disappointed, 
 credulous, flying, heart broken husband, at his fa- 
 ther's, (who also excited his jealousy) to come and 
 receive, from her innocent, expiring blue lips, the 
 last seal of her purity ; he came, poor fellow, (for 
 he yet had remaining a spark of hope, pity, affec- 
 tion, and forgiveness) but they were both gone 
 from him forever ! He upbraided himself, took 
 sick, went home, and died of grief; thus confirm- 
 ing our assertion, that slanderers are murderers ! 
 O yes, we must all see and feel it. How long ? 
 We answer, until the legislature wakes up to equal 
 justice. 
 
 Indictment for felony, by robbing a merchant by 
 the thousand hands of slander. 
 State of Maryland, to wit, all the states, to wit 9 
 and the whole earth, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the common wealth of Maryland, 
 composed of the counties associated with Balti- 
 
204 
 
 more, upon their oath present — That Sam Shop- 
 lifter, Lii Liar, Low Lackey boy, Lion Ho yes, and 
 Sly Stab and kiss, late of the parish of Spiteful 
 Envious, in the county of Collusive Desolation and 
 ward of Love Money, devil's postriders, on the 
 every month in the year 1807, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 
 &c. with force of slander and malicious represent- 
 ation, at the parish and county aforesaid, the store 
 house of Messrs. T. T. and J. B. trading under 
 the firm of T. & B. as merchants, joint auction- 
 eers, and partners, there situate, did feloniously 
 break, by detraction and calumny, in giving infor- 
 mation of their scarcity of money, at a time when they 
 were in the act of a negotiation which would have 
 effectually reinstated their original capital, and aiso 
 which would have enabled them to pay off with ho- 
 nor all their just creditors ; and moreover that the 
 aforesaid slanderers did then and there feloniously 
 take, by the aforesaid defamations, from the afore- 
 said merchants two hundred thousand dollars in 
 shipments from Europe, fifty thousand dollars 
 from the West- Indies, together with a loss on 
 goods upon hand, sold at auction, to the amount 
 of ten thousand dollars, to wit : upon corduroys, 
 five hundred dollars ; broadcloths, five hundred 
 dollars ; salt, one thousand dollars ; iron and steel, 
 one thousand dollars ; and upon West- India pro- 
 duce, seven thousand dollars, all of the goods and 
 chattels, wares and merchandize of the said T Sc 
 B. then and there found ; and moreover, that all 
 this horrid slander was perpetrated under the poor, 
 pityful, lying excuse of putting the innocent upon 
 their guard, and against the law of love, and the 
 form of the act of the general assembly cf the com- 
 monwealth of Maryland, in such case made and 
 provided, and against the peace and dignity of the 
 
205 
 
 " All, therefore, whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do unto you, do ye even so unto them," 
 against the law and the prophets, the Old and New 
 Testament, and the interest of the whole earth. 
 
 Millions of instances might be produced where- 
 in sinking merchants have been set afloat by the 
 loan of a few thousand or hundred dollars; of con- 
 sequence, millions more might have been preserv- 
 ed and retrieved had it not been for a host of mur- 
 derers, liars, and flatterers, who, under the pretence 
 of producing public and private good, do evil, that 
 is to say, actually break thousands to preserve 
 others from being taken in, if you may believe 
 them ; whereas, if the truth were known, they were 
 moved by malignity, hatred, envy, ambition, and 
 interest. Listen to the language, view the motion, 
 and see the features of such maligners ; well, say 
 they, with an air of tossing nosed victory, have you 
 heard the news ? What ! what ? So you have not 
 heard ? No, not a word. Why such and such 
 are protested in bank. Whew ! hegh ! hem, broke 
 then, of course. I am glad, haw ! haw ! haw ! I 
 always suspected him, him, and him. They are 
 rascals, said another, snapping his face. On they 
 go to spread the slandering ne«rs, meeting now and 
 then with a silent, plodding shaver, all of whom 
 are determined to avail themselves of all such mis- 
 fortunes, to overwhelm the unfortunate merchants, 
 and make their jack, as they say. The sinking 
 sufferers apply for the loan of a little money, they 
 are smiled at and stabbed with a dying calf-eyed 
 shrug, their property is exposed to sale, and sacri- 
 ficed to shaving, relentless, poisonous spiders, and 
 that too by men who owe their elevation to the for- 
 mer benevolence of these sufferers; precipitated thus, 
 from the pinnacle of commerce, which they had 
 
 S 
 
206 
 
 used as a trading stock for God, the' poor and 
 their families, they lingered, languished, and died ; 
 and thus their fortune, happiness, appetite, and 
 even life itself (for thousands sink under it) were 
 all forfeited to that " universal cannibal," the spirit 
 and practice of defamation. " The wicked boast - 
 eth of his hearts desire ; his mouth is full of curs- 
 ing, and deceit, and fraud; under his tongue is mis- 
 chief and vanity ; he sitteth in the lurking places 
 of the villages, in the secret places doth he murder 
 the innocent ; his eyes are privily set against the 
 poor ; he lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den ; 
 he lieth in wait to catch the poor ; he doth catch 
 the poor, when he draweth him into his net ; he 
 croucheth and humbleth himself, that the poor 
 may fall by his strong ones." Psalm x. Thus 
 Coriolanus, the bravest defender of the senate and 
 people of Rome, was banished two hundred and 
 sixty years from the foundation of the city, through 
 the ambition and slander of the tribunes, he being 
 forced to leave his all and take refuge with Tullus 
 Attius, a man of great power among the Volcians, 
 who took him under his protection, and espoused 
 his quarrel. Coriolanus ravaged the Roman terri- 
 tories through revenge, and at length invested the 
 city ; and when in this great exigence, neither the 
 ambassadors, pontiffs, priests, nor augurs could 
 make peace for Rome, when they began to give up 
 the commonwealth as lost, and the temples were 
 filled with women and children, who, prostrate be- 
 fore the altars, put up their prayers for the preser- 
 vation of the country, his mother Veturia alone 
 prevailed upon him to save the city. So evident 
 it is, and often yet shall be, that those whom we 
 sink by our slander are our merciful saviours in 
 distress. 
 
207 
 
 Indictment for a trespass. 
 Virginia, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the counties of H, H, C, 
 G, & P, upon their oath, present — That a certain 
 brawler, known by the name of Puff Porpoise, late 
 of the county of Eat and Drink, for to-morrow we 
 die, being an evil disposed person, on the 2d day 
 of April, in the year 1790, about the hour of 12 
 o'clock, of the dark and black night of slander, un- 
 lawfully and violently, without authority, with force 
 and arms of brawling, backbiting, and whispering, 
 in the county aforesaid, unlawfully, violently, and 
 without any legal warrant, either from God or man, 
 whatever, broke into the character of one M. A. 
 W. then and there situate, did, by violence and 
 force of slander, break and enter into said charac- 
 ter as a house breaker into a house, with intention 
 to disturb his peace, and the peace of the com- 
 monwealth ; and the said Puff Porpoise so being 
 in the said character (as a house robber breaking 
 through a house in the night to kill and to steal) 
 of the said M. A. W. did, then and there, unlaw- 
 fully, wilfully, injuriously, and obstinately remain 
 for a long space of time, that is to say, for the space 
 of twenty years, and more, without license from 
 God or man, and against the will of the said M. 
 A. W. and other wrongs and injuries, such as cir- 
 culating vexatious and malicious reports on the 
 lightning rod of public slander, cunningly and gen- 
 erally, to the great and lasting damage of the said 
 M. A, W. then and there did, laying a sure future 
 foundation for the present and eternal destruction 
 of the said M. A. W. of consequence murdering 
 and damning him, to the evil example of all others 
 in like cases, offending against mercy, justice, pity, 
 patience, meekness, gentleness, truth and love, and 
 
208 
 
 against the peace and dignity of the commonwealth 
 of Virginia, and the United States. 
 
 As nothing is more dear to many than their 
 reputation, (of which some make too much of an 
 idol, naming it before God,) so also, in proportion 
 as we value it, ought the legislature, instructed by 
 the people, to punish those who malignantly and 
 wantonly break into it, and keep in it, with their 
 malevolent associates, as a house breaker, who 
 breaks into, makes room for, and keeps in a house 
 a gang of robbers, until all within is plundered, 
 and the house set on fire and consumed. 
 
 As certainly as the community of Virginia, and 
 all the states, would not be content that it should 
 be left to a jury without statute law, whether a 
 house breaker and burner should pay one hun- 
 dredth part of the damage, or nothing at all, nor be 
 punished or not in the penitentiary ; so also are we, 
 or at least ought to be, restless and importunate irt 
 our petitions to an enlightened people, and an in- 
 structed legislature, until in proportion as reputa- 
 tion, happiness, appetite, friends, and heaven, of 
 which slander deprives us, are more valuable than 
 houses ; and slander breaking in upon and con- 
 suming reputation infinitely more criminal than 
 house robbers breaking and burning houses ; so, 
 also, should the slanderer be sentenced to a pro- 
 portionable continuance in the penitentiary at hard 
 labor ; for you may calculate the loss of goods and 
 chattels, but not of reputation/ which is incalcu- 
 lable, which is eternal ! We only plead for an 
 equal distribution of justice, which, as a mill stone, 
 grinds level, square, and fine, from the principal 
 and centre, to the periphery. " In proportion to 
 the criminal law, ought also to be the care and at- 
 tention of the legislature in properly forming and 
 enforcing it." Can there be said to be a "pro- 
 
209 
 
 portion in the criminal law," (as we have quoted 
 from Black stone) when a sod wall house contain- 
 ing only a pot, a poor bed, a bushel of patatoes, 
 &c. being robbed, demands the penitentiary for 
 years, when the breaking in upon the only " one 
 ewe lamb" of dear earned " good name," may be 
 unjustly decided by a half drunken, half informed, 
 and packed jury, resulting to the poor, helpless 
 girl, stranger, fatherless, or weak widow, in an ac- 
 cumulated distress? Justice should be " uniform 
 and universal ;" (saith Blackstone) in the name of 
 uniformity and universal justice, why are house 
 breakers punished in the penitentiary for the value 
 of a hundred dollars, when breakers in upon repu- 
 tation to the amount of the loss of happiness, name, 
 appetite, life, and heaven, are promoted to offices 
 of profit, trust, and honor ? 
 
 Indictment for an assault by the hell fire of 
 tongues and pens. 
 
 Virginia, to rvit, all the states, the church, and the 
 whole world, to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the district composed for the 
 peace and safety of civil and religious society, all 
 over the four continents, upon their oath present — 
 That a host of rattle sculPd, rattlesnake revilers, 
 late of the parish of Tossing nosed impudence, in 
 the county of Clitter clatter and Hot cup water 
 babble, on every lawless opportunity, that is to 
 say , at all times and places, with force and arms of 
 every kind of slander, written, oral, and caricature, 
 at the parish and county aforesaid, and within the ju- 
 risdiction of those legislators and church governors, 
 who have not taken cognizance of such villainies, 
 in and upon millions of persons and characters, of 
 ail sizes, ages, and occupations, in the peace of God 
 
210 
 
 and the civil and religious communities aforesaid, 
 then and there being, did make backbiting and 
 railing assaults, and them, the said millions of poor, 
 rich, bond and free, the said every body did then 
 and there beat, wound, and ill treat, with tongues, 
 pens, shrugs, nods, winks, and slandering prayers, 
 so that men, women, boys, and girls, being stirred 
 up against those who were slandered, did way lay 
 and shoot, kick and thump, switch and cow hide, 
 stab and poison, in such a manner, that their lives 
 were greatly despaired of, and of which millions 
 lost their precious lives, and other wrongs to the 
 said sufferers, such as the loss of friends, appetite, 
 fortune, and business, producing starvation to them 
 and families, then and there did, to the great and 
 eternal damage of the souls, bodies, and reputa- 
 tions of the said every person within the fangs of 
 their slandering reach, and against the peace and 
 dignity of church and state, throughout Asia, Af- 
 rica, Europe, and America. 
 
 In proof of this indictment, many historical and 
 biographical sketches might be adduced. " The 
 great Camillus, who, without intrigue or any soli- 
 citation, had raised himself to the first eminence in 
 the state, had been made one of the censors some 
 time before, and was considered as the head of that 
 office, was military tribune, and had, in his post, 
 gained several advantages over the country ; was 
 called, by his courage and abilities, to fill those 
 offices ; who took that second Troy, the city of 
 Veii, and enriched the conquerors ; also routed the 
 Falisci, and took their capitol city Falerii. Yet by 
 the slanders raised against him by the turbulent 
 tribunes, (he was exiled) such as of being an op- 
 poser of their intended migration from Rome to 
 Veii, and of having concealed a part of the plun- 
 der of that city, particularly two brazen gatos for 
 
211 
 
 his own use. Camillus detesting their ingrati- 
 tude, took leave of his wife and children ; he had 
 already passed as far as one of the gates, unattend- 
 ed on his way, and unlamented. There he could 
 suppress his indignation no longer, but turning his 
 face to the capitol, and lifting up his hands to hea- 
 ven, intreated all the Gods that his country might 
 one day be sensible of their, injustice and ingrati- 
 tude, and so saying he passed forward to take re- 
 fuge at Ardea. The tribunes were not a little 
 pleased wkh their triumph over this great man ; 
 but they soon had reason to repent of their injus- 
 tice and wish his return, for now a more terrible 
 and redoubtable enemy began to make its appear- 
 ance than the Romans had ever yet encountered." 
 But yet, after all their slanders and ingratitude, 
 when the Gauls, from beyond the Alps, com- 
 manded by Brennus, their king, had taken Rome, 
 all but the citadel, for the ransom of which they 
 were weighing a thousand pounds weight of gold, 
 the Gauls fraudulently attempting to kick the beam, 
 of which, when the Romans complained, Brennus 
 cast his sword and belt igto the scale, crying out 
 that u the only portion of the vanquished was to 
 suffer. " At that moment the heroic and forgiving 
 Camillus entered with an army, " upon which a 
 battle ensued, wherein the Gauls were cut to pie- 
 ces." Thus acted Camillus — proving to Rome, 
 and the world, the murdering consequences of 
 slander; it being probable, that if Camillus had 
 not been banished, the thousands of lives, perhaps 
 not less than two hundred and fifty thousand, 
 might have been saved, who were lost by that in- 
 stance of slander — and so on throughout the world. 
 " Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O 
 mighty man ? The goodness of God endureth con- 
 tinually ; thy tongue deviseth mischief like a razor, 
 
212 
 
 working deceitfully ; thou lovcst evil more than 
 good, and lying rather than to speak righteousness ; 
 thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful 
 tongue, [or, and the deceitful tongue, margin.] 
 God shall likewise destroy thee forever, [or, He- 
 brew, beat thee down, margin] ; he shall take thee 
 away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, 
 and root thee out of the land of the living." Psalm 
 Hi. " When thou sawesta (man) thief, then thou 
 consentedst with him ; thou gavest thy mouth to 
 evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit ; thou sittest 
 and speakcst against thy brother, thou slanderest 
 thine own mother's son. These things hast thou 
 done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I 
 was altogether such a one as thyself." Psalm 1. 
 That is, thou thoughtest when thou wast so very 
 loud and censorious any where, and every where 
 against vicious persons, that slander was encoura- 
 ged even by the Deity, for the detection and pun- 
 ishment of sinners ; " but I will reprove thee, and 
 set them in order before thine eyes. To him that 
 ordereth his conversation aright, will I shew the 
 salvation of God." 
 
 Slander is murder in disguise. " Thus died 
 Caius Gracchus, (saith Goldsmith). He is usually 
 impeached by historians as guilty of sedition ; but 
 from what we see of his character, the disturbance 
 of tranquility was rather owing to his opposers than 
 to him ; so that instead of calling the tumults at 
 that time the sedition of the Gracchi, we should 
 rather call them the sedition of the senate against 
 the Gracchi, since the efforts of the latter were 
 made in vindication of a law to which the Senate 
 had assented. Certain it is, from what appears, 
 that all justice was on the side of the Gracchi, and 
 all injury on that of the senate." The slanders 
 
213 
 
 which were raised against such men, were murder 
 aforethought. 
 
 Three Irishmen were said to have been em- 
 ployed in cutting up metal, lately in England, by 
 two persons, who immediately went and informed 
 upon them that they might get the reward offered 
 by government to informers against coiners, (mur- 
 derous offerings to spies.) The Irishmen were 
 taken and condemned ; but it having appeared, to 
 the satisfaction of the Lord Mayor, that they were 
 innocent, and as they did not know but that they 
 were employed legally, they were liberated and re- 
 warded for their sufferings by the English, and 
 their persecutors put in their places to suffer for 
 the double crime of coining and «tnurder by slan- 
 der, of malice aforethought. Which leads up to 
 the spirit of this subject, namely : What does it 
 matter how murder of malice aforethought is com- 
 mitted, whether by lead, fire, bemp, or steel, or by- 
 slander, uttered by words, letters, signs, or pic- 
 tures, producing enemies to an individual, stimib- 
 lating them to harrass persons to kill themselves, 
 or otherwise exciting the community to shoot, 
 stab, poison, burn, or prosecute for crimes of 
 which the accused are not guilty ? This was the 
 manner in which the enemies of God and religion 
 always stirred persecution against Christianity ; 
 and, as a proof of it, the word priestcraft, with a 
 contumelious voice, and a sarcastically pinched up 
 face, is the stalking, braying jack ass of every un- 
 believer, from the first year of the reign of Abad- 
 don, to the iron, dark, vengeful, age of Voltaire, 
 D'Alembert, Weishaup, Diddero, and Paine. 
 
 Indictment for receiving stolen goods, that is, 
 stolen reputations. 
 
214 
 
 Virginia, to wit, and evert/ state to xvit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of Israel and 
 the United States, upon their oath present — That 
 Lowbred Cunning, Lovemoney Partiality, Please - 
 lady Chit chat, Coquette Pittepat, and Stiff Self- 
 important, late of the parish of Corrupt communi- 
 cation, in the county of Religious gossipping, and 
 Gospel swindling, being persons of evil name and 
 fame, on account of whispering, and dishonest 
 backbiting conversation, and common buyers and 
 receivers of stolen characters, upon all occasions 
 where it is their interest, in the night and day of 
 the same every favorable opportunity, with force 
 and arms of cacklera, punners, whisperers, letter 
 writers, cup nodders, devil's pedlers, he, at the 
 said every place, and within the jurisdiction of the 
 church and state where such things ought not to 
 be in any wise suffered, fifty thousand good names 
 of the goods and chattels of every person of which 
 they could lay hold, by certain evil disposed per- 
 sons, to the juggling jurors aforesaid, yet connived 
 at, and always known, then, lately before feloni- 
 ously stolen of the same evil disposed persons, un- 
 lawfully, unjustly, unscripturally, and for wicked 
 gain of money, clothes, meats, drinks, selfishness, 
 ignorance, religious ambition, and revenge, did re- 
 ceive and have, (they, the said puckerers, in con- 
 clave, well knowing the said characters to have 
 been stolen, contrary to the prophets, the Gospel, 
 and the apostles) to the great, present, and eternal 
 damage of millions of strangers and foreigners, fa- 
 therless and widows, talents and virtues, and 
 against the whole tenor of revelation, against the 
 forms of all scriptural systems of church disci- 
 pline, and against the peace and dignity of all well 
 regulated governments, and especially against the 
 commonwealth of Israel, and these United States. 
 
215 
 
 And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, 
 do further present — That Lazy Listener, Gauntlet 
 Gabbler, Evedrop Evil, Winkeyed Watcher, 
 Slowjaw'd Sapper, Gauzeback Giggler, Shuffle- 
 board Sunflower, Weeping hypocrite Halfsoul, 
 Telltale Tareall, Bend Twist and Loud Squall, 
 Walloper Whalebone, Dry Drowsy, Grunt Groan, 
 with a host of liars, swearers, drunkards, oppres- 
 sors, gluttons, shavers, fops, whifflers, termagants, 
 rainbows, churls, old bachelors, &x. late of the 
 parish of Swill Tub, Tea Cup, Feathery Foppery, 
 Church Gossipping, Pulpit Slander, Press Libel, 
 8cc. in the county of Tongue lash aforesaid, slan- 
 derers ; before the said felony, and sly backbiting 
 murder was committed in form aforesaid, to wit : 
 on all occasions, and against every person even 
 their " own mother's sons" in the years, < months, 
 weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, afore- 
 said, did feloniously and maliciously incite, move, 
 procure, aid, and abet, by all kinds of slander, the 
 said Listener, Gabbler, Evedropper, Watcher, 
 Slowjaw'd Sapper t Giggler, Shuffler, ^Butterfly, 
 Hypocrite Halfsoul, Telltale, Loud Squall, &c. to 
 do and commit the said felony, treason, and mur- 
 der, in manner and form aforesaid, against the 
 peace of the Lord our righteousness, his crown and 
 dignity. 
 
 " Titus took particular care (saith Goldsmith) 
 to punish all informers, false witnesses, and pro- 
 moters of dissention. Those wretches, who had 
 their rise in the licentiousness and impurity of for- 
 mer reigns, were now become so numerous that 
 their crimes called loudly for punishment. Of 
 these^ therefore, he daily made public examples, 
 condemning them to be scourged in the public 
 streets, next to be dragged through all the theatres, 
 and then to be banished into the uninhabited parts 
 
216 
 
 of the empire, or sold as slaves." Solomon saith, 
 u He that winketh with his eyes causeth sorrow, 
 but a prating fool shall fall. It is as sport to a fool 
 to do mischief; he that uttereth a slander is a fool. 
 Prov. x. 18, 23. A hypocrite with his mouth 
 destroyeth his neighbour. Prov. xi. 9. There is 
 that speaketh like the piercings of a sword. Prov, 
 xii. 18. The simple beiieveth every word ; he 
 that despiseth his neighbour sinneth. Prov. xiv. 
 15, 21. An ungodly man diggeth up evil : and in 
 his lips there is a burning fire. A froward man 
 soweth strife, and a whisperer separateth chief 
 friends. Prov. xvi. 27 28. A wicked doer giveth 
 heed to false lips, and a liar giveth ear to a naughty 
 tongue. Prov. xvii. 4. The words of a talebearer 
 are as wounds, (or whisperer, margin) Prov. xviii. 
 8. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 
 verse 21. Every fool will be meddling. Prov. 
 xx. 3. Cast out the scorner, and contention 
 shall go out ; yea, strife and reproach shall cease. 
 Prov. xxii. 10. The froward tongue shall be cut 
 out." Prov. x. 31. 
 
 Indictment, for a libel. 
 Commonwealth of Israel, and dll the states, to wit : 
 
 All who have been injured complain of the de- 
 vil's letter writers, defendants in custody of con- 
 science, the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, the Church 
 of God, and the constituted authorities for the 
 state ; for that, whereas the said plaintiffs now are 
 good, true, honest, faithful and credible citizens of 
 the commonwealth of the church and the state, of 
 and from the time of their birth hitherto have been, 
 and behaved themselves as good, true, honest, 
 faithful, and credible men, and have been account- 
 ed, esteemed, and respected amongst good, honest, 
 and prudent men, as well their neighbours, as 
 
217 
 
 others, citizens of the said commonwealth, to be 
 of a good name, character, honest and upright be- 
 haviour, and credible conversation, and have all 
 their life time hitherto lived and continued un- 
 touched and unsuspected of the atrocious crimes 
 of which they are accused by the aforesaid devil's 
 letter writers ; and moreover, allowing them even 
 to be guilty, men are not to be suffered to revenge 
 themselves by the unjust, unscriptural, and illegal 
 course of libelling or otherwise ; nevertheless, the 
 said defendants, well knowing the premises, from 
 their not being willing to have the like villainous 
 and murderous severities practised among them- 
 selves, but of their mere malice had against the 
 plaintiffs, contriving and maliciously intending not 
 only to injure and detract the plaintiffs in their good 
 name, character, and reputation, or otherwise to 
 sink the already almost broken hearted and repent- 
 ing unfortunates, and to bring them into miamy 
 and disgrace, but also to subject them to undergo 
 the penalties and punishments that are provided 
 by the laws of the said commonwealth for persons 
 guilty of perjury, insurrection, theft, murder, trea- 
 son, &c. on every favourable opportunity, in the 
 parish and county aforesaid, devised, composed, 
 made, wrote, and published, or by private letters, 
 and afterwards, to wit : January 1st, February, 
 March, April, May, June, July, August, Septem- 
 ber, October, November, December, o.' and con- 
 cerning the plaintiffs certain, false, scandalous, and 
 malicious libels, containing these False, probubk 
 or true, scandalous, malicious, and libellous wo 
 following, that is to say — To the editors, Ike 
 Mr. and Misses, &c. to brother and sister, &c. 
 rev. father, elder, deacon, rev bishop, &c. by r 
 son of which, said devising, composing, makii 
 
 T 
 
218 
 
 writing, and publishing of the said false, probable 
 or true, scandalous libels, containing the said false 
 or true, scandalous, malicious, and libellous words 
 aforesaid, of and concerning the plaintiffs, they, the 
 said plaintiffs, are not only greatly hurt and dama- 
 ged in their good name, fame reputation, lawful 
 business, &x. but also in their persons, property, 
 and souls, in time and eternity, so irreparable are 
 the horrific results of libelling. Therefore, the 
 said plaintiffs say they are injured, and have sus- 
 tained damage to the value of more than all the 
 fortunes of thick clay contained in the bowels of 
 Mexico and Peru, more than life itself, even the 
 loss of life eternal ! And, therefore, bring suit for 
 character, fortune, liberty, happiness, life, and eter- 
 nal glory. Prophets, and apostles, John Doe, and 
 Richard Roe pledge to prosecute. 
 
 The universal assent and applause with which 
 those words of a great poet have been received, 
 namely : 
 
 " Good name, in man or woman, 
 
 Is the immediate jewel of their souls : 
 
 Who steals my purse steals trash. 
 
 'Tis something, nothing, 
 
 'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to 
 
 thousands ; 
 But he that filches from me my good name, 
 Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
 And makes me poor indeed.' 3 
 
 We repeat, that the universal acceptance of the 
 '>ove words, proves that man is ripe here for the 
 minal punishment of slanderers, by a fixed, un- 
 wed, defined and limited code, which, in its first 
 ade, would bring the vile slanderer under the 
 rview of the statute, punishing with death those 
 10 kill of malice aforethought ; the second to the 
 
219 
 
 penitentiary, and so on down to the lowest grade, 
 by a proportional ratio. The necessity of some- 
 thing like this would seem to be requisite to curb 
 the baleful breath of the mouth of this Orcus, be- 
 gotten in hell ; not that we would prevent the can- 
 vassing of " the conduct and character of our pub- 
 lic agents," who are declared to be the " guar- 
 dians and trustees of the people ;" but, as judge 
 Blackstone saith, " It requires such a degree of 
 passive valour to combat the dread of undeserved 
 contempt, arising from the false notions of honour 
 too generally received, that the strongest prohibi- 
 tions and penalties of the law will never be entire- 
 ly effectual to eradicate this unhappy custom (of 
 duelling) till a method be found out of compelling 
 the original aggressor to make some other satisfac- 
 tion to' the affronted party, which the world shall 
 esteem equally reputable as that which is now gi- 
 ven at the hazard of the life and fortune." — 4th 
 Blackstone, 199. 
 
 Now what satisfaction, first, does the " affronted 
 party" require? Certainly a just one, namely — 
 That in proportion as he intended to injure me, or 
 had injured me, so he should be punished ; which, 
 to calculate the eternal effects of slander, would not 
 be compensated by as much servitude in the peni- 
 tentiary as a man would have to suffer for house 
 burning, it being evident that you may calculate 
 the loss of a house, horse, purse, or ship, but not 
 of reputation, (for it is at risk in the circle of per- 
 petual motion) though it was almost gone, when it 
 might be retrieved again, like that of Mary Mag- 
 dalene, to whom our Lord first appeared after his 
 -resurrection. Don't reply by observing, that the 
 great obloquy of the penitentiary would be too ex- 
 cessive for the all-devouring slanderer, who has al- 
 ready sunk whole families in irreparable cor" ? ^?lv 
 
220 
 
 and whose copper head and tongue distil rivers of 
 poisonous verdigris, enough to gangrene a world ! 
 Secondly, what would " the world esteem equally 
 reputable ?" Answer. Not revenge ; which always 
 is excessive in its penalties, always is anarchy and 
 rebellion against God, who saitn " vengeance is 
 mine," I will repay ! How, then, may he repay ? 
 Certainly by the constituted authorities, by the 
 people, their representatives, their triers, judges, 
 &c. by enacting a climax of statute laws, with their 
 penalties and punishments, adequate to the crimes 
 and criminal intentions of the original slanderer, 
 and his or her. coadjutors, which, upon the princi- 
 ples of distributive, remunerative justice, would be 
 also according to the perfection of rational, impar- 
 tial, political justice, securing the constitution, 
 without licensing the tongue and pen in malice 
 and murder, against private individuals. As for 
 public authorities, we may, according to the de- 
 clared opinion of the general court held in Rich- 
 mond, 1811, libel them ; but yet, only so as that 
 any libellous matter which goes to prove any 
 thing but the incapability of officers to fill and ful- 
 fil their places and duties, u cannot be justified be- 
 cause it is true." And we may add, that as " all 
 punishments (as Blackslone saith) inflicted by tem- 
 poral laws, may be classed under three heads, such 
 as tend to the amendment of the offender himself, 
 or to deprive him of any power to do future mis- 
 chief, or to deter others by his example : all of 
 which conduce to one and the same -end, of pre- 
 venting future crimes, whether that be affected by 
 amendment, disability, or example." We say 
 that as all human punishments have these ends in 
 view, would it not be adviseable that preventive 
 justice, which " consists in obliging those, persons 
 whom there is a certain and probable ground to 
 
221 
 
 suspect of future slandering misbehaviour, to stip- 
 ulate with, and to give full assurance to the public 
 (as Black stone saith of offences in general) that 
 such offence as is apprehended shall not happen, 
 by finding pledges or securities for keeping the 
 peace, or for their good behaviour." This " re- 
 quisition of sureties," binding the slander's 
 tongue, which " is set on fire of hell," would be as 
 necessary and just, as binding the hands, pistols, 
 poignards, and haltars of other assassins, with this 
 difference, namely, that as water, fire, and steam 
 are to machines, so is slander to other crimes ; it 
 is often their father and mother's cause, and ought 
 also to be restrained by preventive justice. It be- 
 ing worse than fire, water, and air, which elements 
 are sometimes apparently dormant, but slander is 
 the perpetual motion of implacability, envy, hatred, 
 and revenge, " invective, assault, ruin, and death," 
 even death eternal ! Slander, slavery, and shaving, 
 are the devil's three universal roasting hooks; they 
 are the three strands of his sordid, avaricious ca- 
 ble, pitched with adamant, and moored in hell to 
 his sheet anchor, pride, unbelief, lies, and murder, 
 with a crew of Heathens, Mahometans, Jews, and 
 Christians, pontiffs, priests, Levites, bishops, dea- 
 cons, elders, &c. with springs upon their cables, 
 colours flying, trumpets sounding, psalms and 
 hymns singing, Christ crucified preaching, Mosaic, 
 Heathen, Christian and political institutions plead- 
 ing, as Lucifer's artillery playing upon the poor. 
 
 Indictment for felony, in hiring or persuading 
 another to burn a character as a house. 
 Commonwealth of Israel^ to wit : 
 
 The jurors for the commonwealth of all flesh, 
 upon their oath present — That Combustible Am* 
 
 I 2 
 
222 
 
 bilious, Tight purse Avaricious, Slow jaw'd Ma- 
 licious, and Spit fire Vicious, late of the parish of 
 Malice and revenge, in the county of a World of 
 heli fire, incendiaries ; not having the fear of God 
 before their eves, but being moved and seduced by 
 the instigation of the devil, the father of lies, and 
 all scandals to be rash, harsh and uncharitable ill 
 their judgments, either thinking evil where no evil 
 seems, and speaking of it accordingly, or adding 
 evil motives to undesigning actions, oppressing 
 the stranger, fatherless, orphan, and widow, who, 
 having gone astray, are already sinking under a 
 load of guilt and infamy, but, like the poor stran- 
 ger, who fell among thieves, who have wounded, 
 stripped, and maimed him, who is waiting for a 
 good, still tongued Samaratin to bind up his 
 wounds, when a hard hearted priest, and an insen- 
 sible Levite, and a groupe of double distilled cack- 
 lers, have passed him by ; we say, that while the 
 aforesaid innocent, or repenting and returning sons 
 and daughters of distress were struggling against 
 wind and tide to make the land of holiness, to the 
 Lord, and good to society, they, the aforesaid im- 
 placable and unmerciful, sly, peeping, whispering, 
 bribing, and being bribed slanderers, did, upon 
 every favourable opportunity, in the dark and black 
 night of supplanting, hatred, envy, evil speaking, 
 and revenge, with the force of money, meats, 
 drinks, clothes, nonors, &c. (as we say in the or- 
 dinary form of a legal indictment, u with force and 
 arms") in the parish and county aforesaid, feloni- 
 ously, maliciously, unlawfully, and willingly, did 
 counsel, hire, and command all their negro slaves, 
 and ever person, poor or rich, who could be 
 brought into the vortex of their all-devouring fire 
 of defamation, and persons too, baptised either in 
 infancy or adult age, in the name of the Holy 
 
223 
 
 Trinity, of consequence, pledged to love their 
 neighbour as themselves. Moreover, they were 
 also born again upon the mountains of division, and 
 re- baptised in the waters of strife ; and they were 
 always known by the names of Sawney Slanderer, 
 Alligator Allbribe, Bespatter Browbeat, Calumni- 
 ator Cnp cackle; David Dollar, Ear Listener, Fa- 
 ther Firebrand, George Gabble, Henry Harsh- 
 tongue, Isaac Idle, Catharine Kettledrum, Lucv 
 Liar, Mary Meddle, Nelson Noteall, Oliver Oho"! 
 Parson Pompous Pumpall, Questionasking Qu lit- 
 er, Robert Raspish, Sally Sipskip, Thomas Tale- 
 bearer, Uriah Unruly, Vain Vagrant, Wiley 
 Watcher, Xenophon Xanthus, (Harpy Blabberer j 
 Yawning Yelper, Zantippe Zigzag, &c. all of the 
 parish and county of Combustible hell fire, and a 
 world of iniquity, twenty thousand good, better 
 and best characters, the property of the owners 
 thereof, such as prophets, priests, apostles, Jesus 
 Christ, and all good men in and out of the church, 
 Moses and Aaro'u, the Fathers, such as Polycarp, 
 Ignatius, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Origen, Gre- 
 gory Nazianzen, &c. good Catholics and reform- 
 ers, Thomas a Kempis, Gregory Lopez, the Wes- 
 leys, YYhitefield, and their followers; fathers, pa- 
 triots, and friends of mankind, such as Washing- 
 ton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and Monroe, in- 
 nocent girls, boys, and children, affectionately 
 united, happily married couples, strangers, preach- 
 ers, fatherless, widows, and orphans ; also an host 
 of rising, reforming, and repenting females, males, 
 &x. in the parish and county of a world of hot 
 burning slander, where they, the said backbiters 
 as aforesaid, feloniously, maliciously and unlaw- 
 fully did counsel, hire, and command all, both 
 bond and free, male and female, small and great, 
 within their influence to set lire to the characters 
 
224 
 
 as aforesaid, (as 3011 would say in an indictment to 
 a jail, a courthouse, a barn, a stable, and twenty 
 dwelling houses) and the same thousands of repu- 
 tations then and there, by such defamatory firing, 
 as aforesaid, feloniously, maliciously, inconsider- 
 ately, unlawfully, and unscripturally to burn and 
 consume with fire brought from hell, intended for 
 the destruction of mankind, circulated at the insti- 
 gation of corrupters, by preachers, statesmen, mer- 
 chants, lawyers, mechanics, would-be called la- 
 dies and gentlemen, fine, well bred ladies and gen- 
 tlemen, would-be called Christians, and would-be 
 called moralists, by whispers, letters, bribes, and 
 honors, in the pulpit and out of it, in and out of 
 the temple of justice, and the ark of state, by nods, 
 winks, and shrugs, by puffing, blowing, grinning, 
 tossing up the face, turning up the white of the 
 eyes, praying ' Lord pity them, I wish them well,' 
 yet they stab them under the fifth rib. And all 
 these villainies were practised under the lying and 
 malicious excuses of church, public, and private 
 g( od ; against the whole tenor of Scripture, but 
 especially the law of love. 
 
 When king David asked Ziba, the servant of 
 Mephibosheth, Where is thy master's son? 2 Sam* 
 xvi. 3, 4, and Ziba said unto the king, behold he 
 abideth at Jerusalem ; for he said, to day shall the 
 house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my fa- 
 ther. Then said the king (raslily) to Ziba, behold 
 thine are all that pertaineth to Mephibosheth. Ziba, 
 (like a slandering sycophant, replied) I humbly be- 
 seech thee that I may find grace in thy sight, my lord, 
 O king ;" just as our modern state and church lick- 
 plates do. But when David asked Mephibosheth, 
 " Wherefore wentest thou not with me ;" he an- 
 swered (trembling) " My Lord, O king, my ser- 
 vant deceived me ; for thy servant said, I will sad- 
 
225 
 
 die mine ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to 
 the king, because thy servant is lame. And he 
 hath slandered thy servant unto my lord the king." 
 2 Sam, xix. 25, 26, 27. Thus will all flatterers 
 supplant, and thus are they, thus have they been, 
 and thus shall they be, until checked, in full proof 
 of my position, that slanderers are murderers of 
 malice prepense, intending the death of the objects 
 of their malevolence. Here was a case of slander 
 going to the confiscation of all the possessions that 
 belonged to Mephiboshcth, of the outlawing and 
 death of that righteous man, were it not for the 
 justice and generosity of king David. Doeg, the 
 Edomite, by telling the truth to Saul upon Abim- 
 elech, the priest, was the cause of the death of four 
 score and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. 
 1 Sam. xxii ; and also the destruction of Nob, the 
 city of tfee priests, Wherein men, women, children, 
 and sucklings, oxen, and asses, and sheep, were 
 all cut off by Saul with the tc\ge of the sword. 
 This was occasioned by an old grudge between 
 Doeg's ancestors and those of Jacob, for Doeg was 
 descended of Esau, and glad of any excuse to ex- 
 terminate a Jew, and this very national prejudice 
 is still amongst us a bone of calumny, and an ar- 
 row of death. 
 
 Saul also being ambitious and envious, could in 
 no wise bear that the son of Jesse should wrest the 
 palm of victory, the songs of the women, and pro- 
 bably the kingdom, from his family by mere merit, 
 although Saul himself was not descended of any 
 better stock than David, yet he tauntingly called 
 him " the son of Jesse, the Bethelemite," like 
 many of our aristocratical, high toned citizens of 
 all ages, of the well born stock of upstarts, some 
 of whom, and of whose posterity can boast of fallen 
 fortunes, rich ancestors, stiff necks, proud hearts, 
 
226 
 
 full breasts, empty stomachs, fallen houses, a few 
 relics of gardens, mouldering chimnies, starved 
 horses and negroes, and double distilled pride, iii 
 poverty and rags, but not of true public spirit. 
 
 Ahasuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia, 
 over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, 
 made a drunken feast for seven days, in the palace 
 of Shushan, to which, contrary to the delicacy of 
 the queen, and of the usage of Persia, he com- 
 manded his seven chamberlains, Mehuman, Bez- 
 tha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Car- 
 cas, to bring Vashti before him, the princes, and 
 the people, to shew them her beauty, which, when 
 she refused, the king called Carshena, Shethar, 
 Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memu- 
 can, the seven princes of Persia and Media, and 
 said, What shall we do unto the queen Vashti ? 
 And Memucan answered, Let the king give her 
 royal estate to another. Esther i. Thousands of 
 such advices are given, taken, and acted upon by 
 the great of every nation, between man and wife, 
 in which cases hardly one in a thousand is suffi- 
 ciently redressed for the wrongs hereby received ; 
 which proves that the power to injure by the 
 tongue and pen being too great for the restraint and 
 punishment of the slanderer, they are hereby a li- 
 censed set of murderers, man stealers, and swind- 
 lers, with this difference, that when a man sues for 
 his character, the backbiter may now and then find 
 him guilty of having stolen a hog, horse, or sheep, 
 though, in other respects, he may have been a good 
 -man ; while the slanderer, who steals and murders 
 men, comes off with flying colors, the jury not 
 considering that malice, and not public spirit, that 
 covetousness, envy, ambition, and revenge, and 
 not justice, mercy, or reformation, is the object of 
 
227 
 
 him, who, although accuser, although justified and 
 honored in his slandering and malicious prosecu- 
 tion, is as much more guilty than the man he ac- 
 cuses, as a ton is heavier than a scruple ! ! 
 
 u And when Haman saw that Mofdecai bowed 
 not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full 
 of wrath ; and Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, 
 There is a certain people scattered abroad and dis- 
 persed among the people in all the provinces of thy 
 kingdom, and their laws are diverse from all peo- 
 ple, neither keep they the king's laws ; therefore, it 
 is not for the king's profit to suffer them. And the 
 king said, do with them as it seemeth good to 
 thee," Esther hi. (See how a court deputy can 
 use a foreigner — take care there.) The consequence 
 was that an unalterable decree, according to the 
 laws of the Medes and Persians, issued from Aha- 
 suerus, for the utter extermination of the whole 
 race of the Jews. What will not men do, when 
 having obtained power, they are stirred up against 
 those who will not bow to them ? But God, who 
 hath said good measure will men give into your 
 bosom, caused the hurricane to change its quarter, 
 for the king gave orders to the governors of the 
 provinces, from India to Ethiopia, being a hundred 
 and twenty seven provinces, and to the Jews, the 
 result of which was, that the enemies of the Jews 
 were slain upon that very thirteenth of the month 
 Adar, the day whereon Haman (who was also slain) 
 was to have massacred the Hebrews. (Take care 
 how you abuse black and white foreigners. ) Now, 
 as all this blood was shed in consequence of slan- 
 der, it is another instance in full proof of all we 
 contend for, namely — That as slanderers are often 
 murderers ; such of them as are guilty of those 
 high degrees thereof, as to intend and produce 
 
£28 
 
 thereby the murder of their brethren by slandc 
 of malice aforethought, they certainly ought to be 
 hanged, as well as those who stab, shoot, or poison 
 to death, or otherwise kill of malice prepense ; and 
 as this cannot be done by a jury without a statute 
 law, of which the jury and court are to judge, so 
 as to bring the culprit under its purview, if guilty. 
 An improvement in the judiciary, by a law to such 
 a purpose, would be considered as necessary, that 
 the slandering man thief and murderer might not 
 be suffered to go on in making our country an acel- 
 dema — nevertheless, so as not to affect the trial by 
 jury, nor to abridge the freedom of speech or of 
 the press, but leaving both open to give the people 
 information of the character and conduct of their 
 public agents, the guardians and trustees of their 
 constituents. 
 

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