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the blessings which it scatters wherever it comes . "When it thinks of God in relation to itself it sees him only as the God of justice ; when it thinks of God in relation to others it sees him only as the God of pity . Deep , therefore , is its abhorrence of sin ; but the greater its loathing for sin the greater its love for the sinner , and the more strenuous its efforts to banish his woes , and to deliver him from the thraldom of his lusts . There are few churches but the Roman Catholic in which the spirit of mercy has over had wealth and width of redeeming action . Those who at present are so furiously declaiming against that church would do well to study its history , and then they would discover , that it is less through what they call its corruptions , that it has
acquired and maintained empire , than through its numberless institutions and indefatigable works of mercy . The Protestant churches have generally been destitute of the spirit of mercy through the operation of Luther ' s doctrine of Justification by Faith — which was an admirable weapon for the battle Luther had to fight , but fatal to the growth of the religious life , and the fruits of that life in Protestantism . Because it has made the Protestant devotee think so much of his own salvation that he has had no time or heed for the sinful and sorrowing condition of those around him ; or , if he has cared for their souls and bodies , it has only been as a meritorious task by which his own salvation might the better be secured .
Even this inducement the Unitarians have not had . They have talked so much against the absurd and orthodox dogma of original sin that they have almost forgotten that there is any such thing in the world as sin at all . And if there be little sin in the world , then their own share as individuals must be excessively small ; and if so small , then they have no cause to be anxious about the future . They have always some nicely balanced phrases ready about virtue and vice ; and with these they satisfy their consciences regarding their own sins and sin in general . Yet sin and sorrow are sisters . You
cannot feel with the whole fervour ana faculty of your nature for the latter till you have discerned all that there is of solemn and profound in the former . But with the intellectual pride for which TJnitarianism has always been notable , how is it likely to acquire a crushing sense of sin ? It is the proudest of sects ; yet the first lesson in the spirit of mercy which we could give it would be humility . It could not learn that lesson , however , without casting aside as filthy rags all of which it has been most inclined to boast .
Of the various things from which I have endeavoured to distinguish the spirit of mercy , spontaneous sympathy , commonplace charity , noisy philanthropy , spurious liberalism , it is the last which Unitarianism has always substituted for the spirit of mercy . You have only to tell it that a man is a Liberal in politics and in religion and you have offered an atonement for all his chicanery , meanness , and cowardice . He maybe the basest , lowest , most stupid of mankind . "What of that ? Is he not a Liberal r It is in
consistency with this that , when Whiggcry has been stinking in the nostrils of alwhole generation , TJnitarianism has always adored it as the perfection of wisdom . When the Unitarian soot learns what a dismal mockery , how vague and how vapoury this chattering Liberalism is , it will feel on its brow what it never felt before , a faint breath of the spirit of mercy . Attic us . [ Errata in Letter IV . —Paragraph third , for brings read bring ; paragraph four , line ten , for position read portion ; paragraph five , line eleven , after individual put a full stop ; paragraph five , line forty-six , for dimmest read divinest ; paragraph six , line twentyfour , for intentional read intuitional . ' ]
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UNITARIANISM DEFENDED . " Lot me guard myself from the imputation of rejecting this doctrine , because it is mysterious , or of supporting a system which insists upon banishing all mysteries from religion . On any such system I should look with unqualified aversion , as excluding from faith one of its primary elements , as obliterating the distinction between logic and devotion , and tending only to produce an irreverent and narrow-minded dogmatism . Religion without mystery ' is a combination of terms , than which the Athanasian Creed contains nothing more contradictory ; and the sentiment of which it is the motto I take to be a
fatal caricature of rationalism , tending to bring all piety into contempt . Uniil we touch upon the mysterious , we fire not in contact with religion , " &c , &c . —James Maktinkau ( Liverpool Unitarian Controversy , lS- 'JO ) . Nov . 10 , 1850 . Sin , —The above short extract from a discourse , preached and published by an Unitarian minister above cloven years ago ( and still to bo had from Mr . Chapman ) , may possibly suggest to your
corre-Presbyterian congregations , having been left unfettered , and that purposely and deliberately , by any tests , articles , or confessions of faith , had been gradually emancipating themselves from the Calvinism of their Puritan forefathers ( if Atticus will permit a descendant of Philip Henry to claim such ancestry ) , had long renounced the Trinity , passing through the various phases of Arianism , were thus prepared to receive and adopt simple Humanitarianism , when promulgated by Priestley and Theophilus Lindsey . But , since with all their respect for Priestley , Unitarians have never dreamed of attributing to him an
infallibility which he would have been the first to disclaim ; or imagined that he had discovered all possible truth in theology and metaphysics , any more than in chemistry or history , it has so befallen , that the present generation hold very different sentiments ( a large part of them at least ) from those which he taught ; and in particular as to materialism and necessity , it will , I doubt not , be highly consolatory to Atticus to learn that these doctrines ( which I love as little as he does ) are in great
measure renounced by modern Unitarians , are preached against from Unitarian pulpits , and that many of the most able and influential of their ministers—especially the rising race—• ' think nobly of the soul , and no wise approve of such opinions . ' I admit that the opinions do nevertheless linger amongst us , chiefly , perhaps , with those elders who cannot change the views acquired in youth , and with the disciples of Combe and Phrenology , from whose influence may the Almighty deliver all whom he has fitted for anything better than a miserable mediocrity of soul or of intellect !
Not to be further tedious , though Atticus is open to correction on several other points , I will only say a word upon the < c pride of intellect , " wherof he accuses the Unitarians . If he had said " pride of intellectual freedom , " he would , I believe , have been nearer the truth ; and to this I , for one , should plead guilty . I conceive that the Unitarians have a right to be proud of being the only Christian Church which shuns no question , and imposes no dogmatical fetters
upon the minds and consciences of ministers or of their hearers ; the only Church which makes no attempt to stifle doubt with threats of damnation ; which denies that a faithful search for truth everywhere and by all means can ever be sinful , or other than laudable and virtuous ; and which never seeks to silence inconvenient questions with the g ;» g of " mysterv " ! In this freedom we " do rejoice ; yea , and we will rejoice . " An Unitarian .
P . S . By the way , where did Miss Walbey find her version of the Unitarian view of future retribution ? I conceive that she , at least , has not discovered the reasons why we are not of those , who " compass sea and land to make one proselyte . "
Bpondont , Atticus , a , fact which his letters have very strongly impressed upon my mind , to wit , that he knows very little of the present state of Unitarian religious opinion , and not a great deal more of the past history or the sect . His idea appears to be , that their theology and metaphysics originated with Priestley , and having been by him put forth , and stereotyped , have remained unaltered to the present hour . "Whereas the notorious fcfact is , that all the English
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DR . SMILES AND THE WORKING CLASS . Glasgow , Oct . 28 , 18 . > 0 . Dear Sir , —I do not suspect the patriotism of Dr . Smiles because his views of the condition of the working classes are not full of grumblings . I have every reason to believe in the sincerity of his motives . But I think it essentially necessary that both sides ot the question should bo stated , so that we may be thoroughly acquainted with the whole subject . It is not the politics of despair that is now inducing the generous men of all parties to enquire into the condition of the most miserable classes of society , but rather a desire to know the extent of the evils to be
remedied . I have no fear that the extent and alarming nature of these evils will induce despair in the minds of any class . The poor and miserable , who are the objects of these enquiries , will perceive that an encreasing interest is being taken in thejr condition , and the more fortunate classes will be stimulated to greater exertions to remove the misery that surrounds them . I perceive many indications of the progress of society , and a growing sympathy w hich will yet link the different classes in a universal bond of brotherhood ; but I cannot see the practical results of this sympathy in operation in the present working of society ; but , lest I should be accused of grumbling , I will quote Dr . Smiles ' s own words to bear me out in this assertion : —
? ' Every invention of a new and improved tool throws thousands idle . Thus , S . Well wood and his whole class of handloom weavers fall a sacrifice to the invention of improved machines , and we deplore the individual loss , but we see the mass advancing nevertheless . " In a properly constituted society the invention of new and improved implements for the production of wealth would benefit the whole mass , and would bo the means of giving more opportunity for tho cultiinstead
vation of the higher faculties of our nature , of at present being an advantage only to the few , and the means of throwing thousands idle . Those who reap the advantage may perceive the advance ; but I and others , -who are thown idle by it , cannot perceive xt except as a backward advance . I may also confess that I cannot see how mere education can improve the condition of our class , without first placing us in a position where it would be possible for us to receive and appreciate the advantages of education .
Mr . Smiles says : — " Help is in men themselves , far more than in institutions . " This is not applicable to us as a class . We are so widely scattered , and our wages so insufficient , that we cannot organize so as to eifect our emancipation . It would require an universal reorganization , to effect our elevation by an alteration of the present system of society . Where have we room to help ourselves when hundreds and thousands of square miles of the land are locked up in the hands of our
dukes , lords , and marquises , and cannot be unlocked till the institutions of society are altered ? We therefore say to the leaders of the people , organize the whole people for the freedom of the land , and , when that is effected , give us education . We are sufficiently enlightened already to know that we are both , socially and politically degraded ; consequently we are ready for an organization that will free the land , without which education would only make us more miserable .
The Doctor , in his first communication , proposed only the schoolmaster as a remedy for all our social evils ; in his last he has added the land , only we are to wait till we are educated before we get it . Other parties withhold the land , and maintain that mere education will effectually eradicate all our evils . These I would ask , of what use would education be to the class to which I belong , so long as we remain in our present position , with machinery and competition making inroads on our wages ? What time have we to spend on education , when we are obliged to labour fourteen or sixteen hours per day for a bare physical existence ? Is the body or mind in a condition to receive education or to
cultivate the common amenities of life after such a day s toil ? No : rather the stern necessities of nature compel us to hurry ourselves and children to bed , lest we might not obtain sufficient sleep to enable us to perform the next day's labour . What motive have we to stimulate us to educate either ourselves or our children , when we have no prospect but a dreary continuance of the same monotonous toil , and , when no longer able to continue it , nothing but the grim visage of grudging pauperism in the gloomy vista of the future ?
Would it make us more content if our minds were well stored with knowledge , so that we might be a ^ ble to converse freely on literature , science , poetry , and philosophy ? If our minds were thus clothed with the necessary requisites of the gentleman and the scholar , how would we feel when the instinctive and Christian principle of equality would rise up unbidden in ovir breasts ? On the one hand , we would observe the wealthy gentleman , surrounded with every luxury—a splendid mansion , beautiful yardens , green fields , pure air , an elegant and accomplished wife , healthy , well-dressed , and beautiful children , music , dancing , and frequent . assemblages in elegant drawing-rooms , decorated with all the beauty and taste that art and genius can bestow .
On the other a miserable , low , damp dwelling , no garden , no green fields , no pure air or good water ; husband , wife , and children , having to " work , work , work , as prisoners work for crime . " No music but the everlasting din of the wheel , tho lay , and shuttle ; no periodic assemblages for amusement or instruction ; no decorations of art to make our homes more cheerful , and thereby to reconcile us in some measure to our lot . Would education make us content while we are in want of all these and many other temporal advantages I might here enumerate ? If our education qualified us to converse and associate with men
of fortune in the higher walks of lift * , would the great disparity between their condition and ours be no trouble to our minds , even admitting that it would be no barrier to our intercourse with them ? No ; there could be no relationship , no fellowship , no communion with them , because equality not only in education but in condition is an essential element in friendship and social intercourse . But let it not bo supposed that we aspire to the conditions of the gentleman of fortune . We are content with the decree of the Almighty , and desire to live by tho sweat of our brow . We are also as strongly impressed with
the necessity and importance of education as any other class ; but , before it can be successfully introduced , we must first produce the indispensable * conditions of a more equitable and elevated social arrangement , so that we might obtain time and means to cultivate our moral and intellectual natures . Wo do not wish the cold hand of charity extended to us by way of gratuitous education , charitable subscriptions , and benevolent contributions of old clothes . We wish to cultivate a spirit of independence nnd self-reliance , and , being convinced that our trade in
its present state docs not aflord us im opportunity of so doing , wo look to the removul of the ^ fetters which prevent our free access to the land . Free the land and establish a law of partnership , so as to give encouragement and protection to the great power of association and cooperation , and tho work of progress will go on with encroased acceleration . Organize a great league for these purposes , and you will find that we have sufficient education already to givo you all the aid in our power , so that our education may be finished under the necessary conditions for its proper development . Youtp , &c , S . Weixwood ,
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Nov . 16 , 1850 . ] ® t > e $ Leai $ ev . 807
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 16, 1850, page 807, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1859/page/15/
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