Gazette Of The United States

Mr. FENNO,

I observe in your paper of last evening, an extract from a late publication by Peter Porcupine, who it seems is violently offended that one of our printers, should presume to offer for sale Paine's Age of Reason--this is not at all surprising- Men of a trade Seldom agree and Peter perhaps would like to have the Pamphleteering market altogether to himself. As to the Christian Religion, it will suffer no more from the writings of Paine than the French Republic will from those of Peter -both authors might be well reconciled to each other on this ground--they both, walk in a vain shadow and disquiet themselves in vain-that either of the works sell is owing to the fondness of mankind, for novelty and abuse much more than to any impression made by either on the existing state of things.

This taste for slander, it was the benevolent intention of Christianity to eradicate by reforming the hearts of men; but what pretensions can he have to take up the armour of defence of our Holy Religion, who is daily violating its precepts by publications, replete with as much obscenity, malevolence and detraction, as could flow from the pen of the most unchristian author? and all this against characters utterly unknown to him, and whose reputation is as much beyond the reach of Peter, as he appears to be himself a stranger to the spirit of that system, he would seem to wish to make the world believe him an admirer of

Q.