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our own days I ) " fastened on them the name of Latitudinarians . And , " ( observe what follows , ) " because the making out the reasons of things was a main part of their studies , their enemies called them Socinian " !! We see , therefore , the sort of persons
who were thus stigmatized , and we are-n ^ tJwitko ^ ing what sort of persons they were who inflicted the stigma . Thus far things were in their natural order , and there was nothing to be wondered at . But it is to be Wondered when the
great , the good , and the high-minded lend themselves to so vicious an example ; and it is , for his own sake , to be regretted that the accomplished and benevolent Pope ( for he was benevolent ) should have married the calumnies of a despicable bigotry to the immortal verse which has borne his
fame to posterity . In a poem admirable for its taste and execution , and abounding in sagacious views- — the Es ^ ay on Criticism—that writer observes , ( in all -probability alluding to the very persons of whom we have mention in Burnet ) that , —
' / The following license of a foreign reign t > id all the dregs of bold Socinus drain ; Then unbelieving priests reformed the nation , And taught more pleasant methods of salvation . " Upon which I cannot do better than communicate a portion of the comments of the excellent and accomplished Dr . Aikin , in his truly valuable Letters to his Son :- — Socinian is a
very potent term of abuse , and has at various times been applied with singular advantage by those who wished to render their antagonists odious ;—yet the religion Socinus professed will tear comparison , in point of fervency and purity , with tnat of the most
saintly names upon record . . . Such monsters , whatever the poet might think , are not to be subdued l > y the thunders of belles-lettres critics , but by the adamantine weapons of sound argument . " * Sit , { am not hero to defend So-
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cinianism ; much less am I to assume that this meeting is interested in its defence . But even were it less than it is- —a cause which good men have embraced , and wise men have defended- —I would join with the everhonoured Channmg in affirming that
no cause , be it good or bad , ought to b _ e _ put down by such means . JNay :, I would say with the fervour—would I could say with the eloquence- —of that illustrious man , that by such means it never shall be put down . * Sir , we are here to claim for Socmians , as we claim for Roman Catholics , and as we claim for ourselves , tire inalienable right of retaining and defending ,
and diffusing , our several religious persuasions . We claim for ourselves and them to be treated as brethren ;¦—we demand to be treated as gentlemen "; - —we insist on the fair fame and equitable consideration of useful citizens and loyal subjects , until we shall forfeit , each in our several creeds , these rights by something unworthy in our character- — something unchristian in our demeanour .
It is in this spirit we come forward to patronize with all our influence , and to cherish with all our might this government scheme of education , for the first time truly national , because it is purely impartial in its character . It is in this spirit we come forward to avert from the calumniated Board which is ' to be the agent of its salutary influence , the shafts which malevolent and factious hands have . aimed at it .
It is m this spirit we hail the first measure which has been accorded for diffusing with a liberal hand the seeds of a vigorous , because an unsuspected and a welcome knowledge . From such a beginning we own we expect a plentiful , though it may be a distant return . And here it is pleasing to find that we are in momentary amity with our opponents , —since in this matter we are ' bit-by-bit reformers' * to their hearts' content 1 We are disposed to think that a little leaven * Anniversary of American Unitarian Association , ' 1829 .
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insrifARrAisr cHttoNifrLE . 83
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a 3
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 1, 1832, page 83, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1717/page/3/
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