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TWO

LETTERS

ΤΟ

THE REVEREND MOSES STUART;

ON THE SUBJECT OF

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY.

BY BERNARD WHITMAN.

SECOND EDITION.

BOSTON:

PUBLISHED BY GRAY AND BOWEN.

BV

741

.594

W6

1831

BE IT

DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS.....to wit:

REMEMBERED, that on the ninth day of December, A. D. 1830, in the fifty-fifth year of the Independence of the United States of America, Gray & Bowen, of the said district, have deposited in this office the title of a book, the tight whereof they claim as proprietors, in the words following, to wit: "Two Letters to the Reverend Moses Stuart; on the Subject of Religious Liberty. By Bernard Whitman."

In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned"; and also to an act, entitled, " An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned'; and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."

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JNO. W. DAVIS,

Clerk of the District of Massachusetts.

CAMBRIDGE:

E. W. METCALF AND COMPANY.

Lab.

JAN 19 1945

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

I EXPECTED that the leaders of the orthodox party would make a desperate effort to prevent their subjects from reading my Letters. Facts have fully justified this expectation. The first edition was published on the last day of December. "The Spirit of the Pilgrims" should have appeared on the first day of January; but the Editor wished to warn his readers not to purchase the publication, and its appearance was accordingly delayed for several days. He then assures them, that he has "looked into these forthcoming Letters;" that "the book is made up, to a considerable extent, of stories, new and old, original, selected, and invented;" that 66 some of them are sheer fabrications; that "a great proportion are thoroughly false; and the remainder, if founded originally on fact, are so colored and exaggerated, that, as they stand, they can no longer be said to be true." Now is this orthodox Editor possessed of omniscience? If not, was he authorized to make such assertions? What must his readers believe concerning his honesty, when they find that most of my statements are taken from orthodox documents, and supported by the highest orthodox authority? And what will the public think of that cause which must be supported by such reckless declamation?

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The "Recorder "of the next week contained a long communication in relation to the Letters. If the writer adapted himself to the taste and piety of his orthodox readers, I am perfectly willing they should appropriate the whole article to their spiritual education. The "Countryman" however blundered into one truth, for which he should be allowed full credit. In his peculiarly elevated style, and pure train of thought, he observes, that Mr. Whitman must have used "a muck-rake, in order to rake out the thickest part of the mud and offal, out of all the sinks and sewers in the commonwealth." I rejoice that he has so fairly appreciated the nature of my undertaking, and so readily applied the appropriate epithets to my collection of orthodox sayings and doings. I could have wished the materials furnished by the party had possessed a more inviting character; but I was unable to make bricks without straw.

In the same paper, the "cleanly" Editor also notices the Letters; and, in what he probably considers a very happy and evangelical manner, evinces his superior delicacy and sanctity. He comes to the conclusion that the book will do but little harm, so

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