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Untitled Article
eras subjects as Gogrnagog , or any of your correspondeittsr > but it is exceedingly painful ' to see it divested of the meekness of Christian forbearance . Were it possible to terrify people out of their errors , I must confess that Gogrnagog , both from his name and nature , would make an excellent Jion , and might be stationed with great advantage by the way-side , to frighten spiritual wanderers into the right road by his terrible roarings ; but railing can surely never be allowable in a defender of Christian charity . Persecution , even when the pen only is wielded ,
is inconsistent with the nature , and an impediment to the progress of truth . Calling hard names cannot convince an ingenuous mind that our sentiments are truly Christian . ^ That Mr-Wilberforce may be mistaken both in his political and religious © pinions can be no reason why we should not form a just estimation of his virtues , and a proper respect for his character .
He who has exerted himself with such indefatigable industry to relieve the wretched , instruct the ignorant , and liberate the suffering negro , ought surely at all times to be mentioned in more respectful terms than «* the Pitt-loving , war-supporting , evangelical Wilberforce . " If that most excellent maxim may be adopted— " The tree shall be known by its fruits , " Mr . Wilberforce has certainly a better title , however erroneous his
ideas , to the name of Christian than most of those who bear it -y and whether a person be of our party ox not , we should never forget that he that doeth righteousness is righteous . The following sentence in Gogmagog ' s letter appears to me not less censurable than those to which I have already alluded : cc Can you wonder , Mr . Editor , at my wishing to have your * caution * explained I at my pains that you should not be
confounded with the Claytons , and Martins , and Rippons of the day—with thebase herd of fawning sycophants who , Esau-like , for a mess of pottage would barter their birth-right , and sell themselves and their posterity to bondage ! " Such a senr tence who could read but wiih painful surprise ! If these three well-known Dissenting Ministers have an equal right with Gogmagog to their particular views of religion and
politics , and to act upon their own principles , such expressions as disgrace the above sentence must be equally devoid of charity and justice . If their opinions be false , let open and candid truth confute them ; if their conduct be contemptible ^ let those who are acquainted with them treat them as they deserve ; but
thus publicly to connect the names of individuals with such bitter epithets can only excite malevolence , and strengthen pre ^ Judice . I wish Gogmagog would consider , in his cooler moments , what ideas such language is likely to produce in the tninds of your readers . Persons who were unacquainted with . the parties would conclude that it was the expression of anger ,
Untitled Article
S 60 litmonstrance with Gogmagog .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1806, page 360, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1726/page/24/
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