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him a fanatic, or an impostor, they would again use the compendious argument of, “ Have any of the nobility or gentry (or the rulers and pharisees) believed in him.” And this alone, would be sufficient to stagger the faith of the admirers of aristocracy, who would lick the dust royal villains, and right hon, knaves walk upon, in order to court their favour ; yet these poor servile wretches are in the eye of aristocracy, no better than beasts of burthen ; and yet they submit to be trampled under foot, by men as weak and more wicked than them. selves, by men who are doomed like themselves, shortly to become the food of worms, in the silent grave. I would humbly beg leave to transcribe one passage more of sacred writ, to prove more forcibly, in what contempt aristocrats are viewed by heaven, and in what high estimation those whom they despise and trample upon, are held by the Sovereign of the skies ; I mean the virtuous poor.

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My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are. ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: But if ye have re

spect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." fam. ii. 1-9. "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days." Fam. v. 1—3.

I could produce a thousand passages of Scripture to prove my assertions, (but the antecedent I hope will suffice;) but alas! well I know, that there are thousands so debased by habitual servility, that neither argument nor oppression, will convince them of their contemptible folly and stupidity. They will boldly affirm, that it is both just and generous, to take 1,100,000 pounds sterling out of the public taxes, for the civil list of one man! to support a royal ideot in pomp and grandeur! while

thousands of poor miserable wretches, who are forced to contribute thereto, are perishing for want of the necessaries of life. When any man in church or state, is entrusted with too much power or pay, corruption naturally generates around him. The most superficial glance at the history of monarchy and episcopacy, will corroborate this assertion ; for episcopacy in my view, is in miniature, what monarchy is in magnitude. I could exhibit instances, where interested ecclesiastical tyrants have wriggled themselves into the favour, of even a good old bishop, entrusted with enormous power and have been a curse and a scourge to the church of Christ, but delicacy prohibits the exhibition of such instances. Ignorance* on the throne and in

* If ignorance appears on the throne arrayed in imperial purple, and in the pulpit ornamented with sacerdotal silk and cambrick, how great then must the ignorance in the cottage be! It is the duty, there. cre, of our free government, to exterminate this bane the pulpit, has been the ruin and the dis. grace of the human faniily.

I have dwelled much longer upon this part of our subject, than I at first contemplated ; and my endea ours to conciliate mankind, and ameliorate the miseries of the poor, even in those political strictures, I confidently believe, are pirasing in the sight of heaven. Indeed, a thousand volumes would not contain a catalogue of the miseries and calamities, produced by the influence of aristocracy and despotism, and the innumerable instances wherein they have infringed the rights of God, and annihilated the rights of man. It pains me to my

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of republicanism, and foundation of monarchy, from our country as much as possible. The national and state seminaries which I have proposed to be organized in this country, might be supported by a tax levi. ed on men possessing enormous wealth : For instance, men possessing 10,000 dollars per annum to pay five dollars for every thousand above 5,000; this would be taxing luxuries with a witness !

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