The Middle Ages bear attestation to the fidelity of the priesthood to their sacred oracles. Have not two honest citizens of London quite lately undergone one whole year’s imprisonment for the grave sin of ridiculing the notion of the Hebrew and Christian gods being other than creations of man’s imagination? This very lecture will probably be the means of bringing down the wrath of the priesthood—State Church and Nonconformist alike—upon its author. And why? Are the facts untrue? Just the reverse. The writer, historian, or pseudo-scientist who writes volumes of falsehoods for the purpose of propping up for a short time longer priestcraft and tyranny will assuredly fare well at the hands of these insinuating gentlemen of the cloth; but let the man who dares to write the honest, unvarnished truth beware! His fair name, his business, and his social and family ties will be undermined and destroyed in an incredibly short space of time. All honor, therefore, be given to those brave ones who have dared to stand before the world and speak out the truth in the cause of humanity! They have done their share in helping forward the march of intellect, in stifling superstition, and in uprooting ignorance. The state of Europe to-day, as compared with its condition two thousand years since, is overwhelming evidence of the continual progress of civilization, which, in spite of the opposition from its old enemy, the Church, in the past and, to a limited extent, in the present, has proved to the world that it must, of necessity, continue for all time as one of the great and immutable laws of Nature. GENESIS I. 1, according to authorised Hebrew version, with final letters, but without vowel points and breathings. בראשיתבראאלהיםאתהשמיםואתהארץ “In the beginning the ram (or lamb)-sun-gods (or the good gods) renovated (reorganized or re-started) the heavens and the earth.” This refers to the commencement of the Persian new-year, at the vernal equinox, _Aries_, the ram or lamb. GENESIS I. 1, according to the Samaritan Pentateuch, transcribed into ante-Masoretic, or original Hebrew, as written before the invention of the five final letters. בראשיתבראהעזאתהשמימואתהארצ “In the beginning the goat renovated the heavens and the earth.” This refers to the commencement of the Egyptian new-year, at the winter solstice, _Capricornus_, the goat. [Illustration: Fac Simile of fragmentary MS. of sixth century (Luke XX.9.10.), written in Greek and partially covered with Syrian writing of 10^(th) century. Copied from “Secular Review,” of March 27 1886.] [Illustration: Small fragment from John’s Gospel, taken from the Cotton Manuscript.] THE BIBLE.