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    xxiv , 51 . If ever there was a clear , indubitable and indisputable testimony given as to

    any point , it is with regard to the fact of Christ ' s ascension , and yet this solicitous enquirer can find u nothing to preclude the suspicion that Jesus re-descended the

    mountain on the other side , and continued his progress in the direction towards Damascus . "

    In order , I imagine , to substantiate and confirm his hypothesis , he brings St . Paul ( I Cor . xv . 8 . ) to prove that he had seen Christ , after his reputed ascension . Now what are Paul's wurds , <; Last of all he was seen of me

    also , as of oae tyorn out of due time . " We are also referred to the account of Paul ' s conversion , ( Acts he . 3 r-6 . ) the inference which Chariclo would have us draw

    from this passage is , that Christ had chosen his abode at Damascus , and that he met Paul in one of lus walks near that chy . where

    he entered into conversation with him , which issued in the Apostle's conversion to Christianity . But if this were the fact , what mean all the circumstances which are

    related in connection with his interview with Jesus ? What means the " light from heaven which suddenly flashed around him , " and which caused a temporary blindness ; | iow £ ame it to pass that the companions of Paul did not hear the conversation which

    passed between him nnd Jesus or that they were not affected as he was . Let any man of plain common sense read the several accounts whjch the great Apostle of the Gentiles gives of bis con . version , anrl I think they will riot ^ led to infey frcup any pf them

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    that Jesus was a resident of Damascus : or that the interview be * tween him and Paul , will go to disprove thetiscension of the Messiah .

    Chariclo also infers from John xxi . 22 , that 6 i the idea of the second coming of Christ could hardly have occurred ^ unless to persons who knew that Jesus Christ was resident actually within a passable distance from Jerusalem . " Now here Chariclo

    ought to have given us his opi * nion respecting the second coming of our Saviour . Perhaps he is not inclined to adopt the supposition that it refers to the destruction of Jerusalem , but whether he believes this or not ,

    certainly there is no ground for supposing that Christ did actually appear again in a few years upon earth ; it is therefore impossible that he should have intended to convey such an idea to his disciples : since lie would have made

    them a promise which he never fulfilled ; there is therefore not the slightest ground from Scripture for supposing tbat Christ Ci was resident within a passable distance from Jerusalem , *'—an ^ i this must be put down as a mere fiction of Chariclo ' s prolific brain .

    r J [* he passage which follows , con * tains a curious suggestion . c * This sojourn might be kept a secret except among particular friends ; least the police should again fer * ret out his person and atternpt a repetition of that atrocity , which

    failed to terminate his existence /' So then Chariclo is prepared to deny the fact o £ the Oeath pf Christ . Here » ee the cloven foot . All his pretence to modest a ^ d sincere enquiry is laid aside , the character which hp assumed is

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    Strictures on Chariclo . *•" . " S 8 S

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1809, page 365, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1738/page/11/