) the document giving an account of jesus christ, which is referred to by _veritas_, in no. 533 of _the mirror_, has been long since known to be a glaring forgery. it is one of many stories invented in the second, third, and fourth centuries, by the early christians; for a full account of whose forgeries in such matters, you may consult mosheim, lardner, casaubon, and other ecclesiastical writers. the latter says, it mightily affects me to see how many there were in the earliest times of the church, who considered it as a capital exploit to lend to heavenly truth the help of their own inventions, in order that the new doctrine might be more readily allowed by the wise among the gentiles. these officious lies, they were wont to say, were devised for a good end. from which source, beyond question, sprung _nearly innumerable_ books, which that and the following ages saw published by those who were far from being bad men, under the name of the lord jesus christ, and of the apostles, and of other saints._lardner_, vol. iv. p. 524. dr. mosheim, among his excellent works, has published a dissertation, showing the _reasons_ and _causes_ of these supposed letters and writings respecting christ, the apostles, &c., to which i would beg to recommend your correspondent _veritas_. justus. notes of a reader. death of john hampden. the last days of the patriot hampden are thus graphically told in the _edinburgh review_ of lord nugents recently published memorials. we need scarcely observe, by way of introduction, that hampden fell in the great contest between charles and his parliament; and that when the appeal was to the sword, hampden accepted the command of a regiment in the parliamentary army, under the earl of essex; the royal forces being headed by prince rupert. in the early part of 1643, the shires lying in the neighbourhood of london, which were devoted to the cause of the parliament, were incessantly annoyed by rupert and his cavalry. essex had extended his lines so far, that almost every point was vulnerable. the young prince, who, though not a great general, was an active and enterprising partisan, frequently surprised posts, burned villages, swept away cattle, and was again at oxford, before a force sufficient to encounter him could be assembled. the languid proceedings of essex were loudly condemned by the troops. all the ardent and daring spirits in the parliamentary party were eager to have hampden at their head. had his life been prolonged, there is every reason to believe that the supreme command would have been entrusted to him. but it was decreed that, at this conjuncture, england should lose the only man who united perfect disinterestedness to eminent talentsthe only man who, being capable of gaining the victory for her, was incapable of abusing that victory when gained. in the evening of the 17th of june, rupert darted out of oxford with his cavalry on a predatory expedition. at three in the morning of the following day, he attacked and dispersed a few parliamentary soldiers who were quartered at postcombe. he then flew to chinnor, burned the village, killed or took all the troops who were posted there, and prepared to hurry back with his booty and his prisoners to oxford. hampden had, on the preceding day, strongly represented to essex the danger to which this part of the line was exposed. as soon as he received intelligence of ruperts incursion, he sent off a horseman with a message to the general. the cavaliers, he said, could return only by chiselhampton bridge. a force ought to be instantly dispatched in that direction, for the purpose of intercepting them. in the meantime, he resolved to set out with all the cavalry that he could muster, for the purpose of impeding the march of the enemy till essex could take measures for cutting off their retreat. a considerable body of horse and dragoons volunteered to follow him. he was not their commander. he did not even belong to their branch of the service. but he was, says lord clarendon, second to none but the general himself in the observance and application of all men. on the field of chalgrove he came up with rupert. a fierce skirmish ensued. in the first charge, hampden was struck in the shoulder by two bullets, which broke the bone, and lodged in his body. the troops of the parliament lost heart and gave way. rupert, after pursuing them for a short time, hastened to cross the bridge, and made his retreat unmolested to oxford. hampden, with his head drooping, and his hands leaning on his horses neck, moved feebly out of the battle. the mansion which had been inhabited by his father-in-law, and from which in his youth he had carried home his bride, elizabeth, was in sight. there still remains an affecting tradition, that he looked for a moment towards that beloved house, and made an effort to go thither to die. but the enemy lay in that direction. he turned his horse towards thame, where he arrived almost fainting with agony. the surgeons dressed his wounds. but there was no hope. the pain which he suffered was most excruciating