July 29. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



83 



But the fable itself had been published ten years 

 before, by a person who was in the company in 

 which Franklin read it, as from Genesis. The 

 following cutting, from I know not what periodical, 

 was found by me among the papers of a friend : 



" A supposed Chapter in the Bible, in favour of Religious 

 Toleration. 



" Some time ago, being in company with a friend from 

 North America, as well known throughout Europe for his 

 ingenious discoveries in natural philosophy, as to his 

 countrymen for his sagacity, his usefulness, and activity, 

 in every public-spirited measure, and to his acquaintance 

 for all the social virtues ; the conversation happened to 

 turn on the subject of Persecution. My friend, whose 

 understanding is as enlarged as his heart is benevolent, 

 did not fail to urge many unanswerable arguments against 

 a practice so obviously repugnant to every dictate of hu- 

 manity. At length, in support of what he had advanced, 

 he called for a Bible, and turning to the Book of Genesis, 

 read as follows : 



Chap. XXVII. 



And it came to pass after those things, that Abraham 

 sat in the door of his tent, about the going down of the 

 sun. 



2. And behold a man, bowed with age, came from the 

 way of the wilderness, leaning on a staff. 



3. And Abraham arose, and met him, and said unto 

 him. Turn in, I pray thee, and warm thy feet, and tarry 

 all night, and thou shalt arise early on the morrow, ani 

 go on thy way. 



4. But the man said, Nay, for I will abide under this tree. 



5. And Abraham pressed him greatly; so he turned, 

 and they went into the tent ; and Abraham baked un- 

 leavened bread, and they did eat. 



6. And when Abraham saw that the man blessed not 

 God, he said unto him. Wherefore dost thou not worship 

 the most High God, Creator of Heaven and Earth? 



7. And the man answered and said, I do not worship 

 the God thou speakest of, neither do I call upon his name ; 

 for I have made to myself a God, which abideth always in 

 mine house, and provideth me with all things. 



8. And Abraham's zeal was kindled against the man, 

 and he arose and fell upon him, and drove him forth with 

 blows into the wilderness. 



9. And at midnight God called unto Abraham, saying, 

 Abraham, where is the stranger ? 



10. And Abraham answered and said. Lord, he would 

 not worship thee, neither would he call upon thy name ; 

 therefore have I driven him out from before my face into 

 the wilderness. 



11. And God said. Have I borne with him these hun- 

 dred ninety and eight years, and nourished him and 

 cloathed him, notwithstanding his rebellion against Me ; 

 and couldst not thou, that art thyself a sinner, bear with 

 liim one night ? 



12. And Abraham said. Let not the anger of my Lord 

 wax hot against his servant : Lo, I have sinned ; forgive 

 me, I pray thee. 



13. And he arose, anjl went forth into the wilderness, 

 and sought diligently for the man, and found him : 



14. And returned with him to his tent ; and when he 

 had entreated him kindly, he sent him away on the 

 morrow with gifts. 



15. And God spake again unto Abraham, saying. For 

 this thy sin shall thy seed be afflicted four hundred vears 

 in a strange land. 



16. But for thy repentance will I deliver them; and 

 they shall come forth with power, and with gladness of 

 heart, and with much substance. 



I own I was struck with the aptness of the passage to 

 the subject, and did not fail to express my surprise, that 

 m all the discourses I had read against a practice so dia- 

 metrically opposite to the genuine spirit of our holy re- 

 ligion, I did not remember to have seen this chapter 

 quoted; nor did I recollect my having ever read it, 

 though no stranger to my Bible. Next morning, turning 

 to the Book of Genesis, I found there was no such 

 chapter, and that the whole was a well-meant invention 

 of my friend, whose sallies of humour, in which he is a 

 great master, have always an useful and benevolent 

 tendency. 



" With some difficulty I procured a copy of what he 

 pretended to read, which I now send you for the entertain- 

 ment of your readers ; and you will perhaps think it not 

 unreasonable at a time when our church more particularly 

 calls upon us to commemorate the amazing love of Him 

 who, possessing the divine virtue of charity in the most 

 supreme degree, laid down his life even for his enemies. 



I am, &c., 



w. s. 



April 16, 1764." 



I may add that Lord Karnes's edition, which is 

 not so complete as the above, was copied into the 

 Christian Miscellany, and thence reprinted, in 

 1793, as a penny tract. M. 



rAMILT or I.ESTRANGE. 



"1631. Ham. Lestrange filius Nich. et Annaa uxoris 

 bapt fuit 8^0 Decembris. 

 1632. Nich. filius Nic. et Annse uxoris baptizatus fuit 



17mo Octobris. 

 1636. Johannes filius Nich. et Ann. uxoris bap. fuit 

 8^° Januarii. 



1639. Gulielmus filius Nich. et Ann. uxoris bapt. fuit 



IS"" Aprilis. 



1640. Edwardus filius Nich. et Ann. uxoris bap' fuit 



27°"> Maij. 



1644. Eogerus filius Nich. et Ann. uxoris bap' fuit 



8^0 Junii. 



1645. Ann. filia Nich. et Ann. ux. bap' fuit 5'» Ffe- 



bruarii. 

 1647. Carolus filius Nich. et Ann. uxoris bap' fuit 



3"o Aprilis. 

 1651. Thomas filius Nich. et Ann, uxoris bap' fuit 



20"» Maij." 



And in another hand, — 



" 1669. Dec!" 14, Sir Nicholas Lestrange, Bart., departed 

 this life." 



This record may interest some of your genea- 

 logical readers. It is copied from an interleaved 

 copy of Dalton's Country Justice (4th edit, 1630), 

 in my possession, which belonged to " Hamon le 

 Strange." The volume possesses some interest, 

 as showing that country justices of the Caroline 

 period were not so utterly ignorant as Mr. Ma- 

 caulay would have us believe. The notes which 

 this country justice made on matters bearing on 

 his magisterial duty, show that he was not only 

 well read in the classical writers and jurists, but 

 also that the schoolmen, fathers, and canonists were 

 known to him. The quotations also from French, 

 Italian, and Spanish writers show an acquaintance 



