Atheists, Deists, Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, &c. FROM THE FIFTEENTH LONDON EDITION. REVISED AND ENLARGED, WITH THE ADDITION OF THE MOST RECENT STATISTICS RELA- BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR. The great lesson which every sect, and every individual of every sect, FOURTH AMERICAN EDITION. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY JOSIAH P. MENDUM, AT THE OFFICE OF THE BOSTON INVESTIGATOR. HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY C1825.5.18 JUL J 1914 CHARLES ELLIOTT PERKINS Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, by James PREFACE TO THE FIFTEENTH LONDON EDITION. THE reader shall be detained only by the author's gratefu. acknowledgement of the favourable reception given by the public to his sketch of the denominations of the Christian world. Detailing the opinions of the various sects, it addresses the curiosity of Turk, Jew, Infidel, and Christian. This accounts for its unrivalled circulation. It enjoys the honour of a niche in the royal library, whilst it has descended down to the shelves of the cottage in the obscurest recesses of the country. By its translation into foreign languages, it has spread over the continent: whilst it has found its way to Caleutta, to the Cape of Good Hope, and even to Rio Janeiro in South America. Thus the little volume, like a universal missionary, proceeding silently and unostentatiously on its errand of Christian love, may be said to have traversed the four quarters of the globe. Its professed purport is to enlighten and enlarge the understanding, by imparting accurate views of the tenets characterising the several departments of Christendom. This, in many instances, it is known to have accomplished. One singular fact may be noticed. The author entering a bookseller's shop in the country, the bookseller, taking him for a clergyman, presented him with a copy, and strongly recommended its circulation among his parishioners, for the promotion of candour, peace, and charity! He had sold, he said, many among the clergy; and added, that it had never failed to produce some good effect. |