tarian body, in ignorance both of their principles
and of their character, still shut up in the dungeons of orthodox
slavery."

"The dungeons of orthodox slavery" did not long contain Mr. Barker; for
he afterwards became better acquainted with the Unitarians, and formed
one of their most energetic preachers. But Unitarianism, appearing to
him at first true in its doctrine and free in its advocacy, shortly
became insufficient for the cravings of his mind; and, at length, he
found himself outside all the churches. The Bible, which at one period
of his life seemed to him a perfect revelation from "God" now appeared
only the production of erring and half-informed men; and having a
thorough knowledge of its contents, he resolved to employ the remainder
of his life in confuting the false notions of its "divine authority."
America presenting a congenial residence, he resolved to visit that
country and purchase some land, upon which he might occupy his leisure
from lecturing and writing. Having settled in the country, he considered
something should be said on the Bible. Accordingly, in November, 1852,
a Bible Convention was held at Salem, Ohio, Mr. Barker being appointed
President, he extract the following from his speech, as illustrating the
uncertainty of the Bible translations, the character of the translators,
and the nature of the manuscripts from which the translations are
made:--

"We say, that the Bible bears on its very face the marks of human
imperfection and error. This is true of every Bible in existence.
We will begin with the Bible in common use, and what do we find! The
title-page tells us it is a _translation_ from the original tongues, by
the special command of one of the kings of England. Does any one pretend
that the translators were infallible--men above the possibility of
error? Nothing of the kind. Even those who contend that the original
_writers_ of the Bible were infallible, do not pretend that the king's
translators were so. The sects and priesthoods themselves show that they
regard the common translation as imperfect. They all take the liberty
to alter it. They alter it in thousands and tens of thousands of places.
Nothing is more common than for theological disputants to appeal from
the common translation of the Bible to what they call the original Greek
and Hebrew. Every commentator takes the same liberty. The leaders of the
sects and priesthoods of the day have testified their belief that
the Bib