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    Untitled Article

    Many unfair and very base methods were used by those Protestant and Caivinistic persecutors of Servetus , in opposing him and effecting ; his ruin . One of them was that of " crvinohim down / ' as Oecolampadius had advised , -or " hunting down his

    doctrine , by writing inflammatory letters , sounding an alarm , and filling people ' s minds with prejudice against him , which would not . fail of favouring and promoting their crooked designs . They represented him as no Christian , and even an atheist , for not believing Christianity according to their interpretations , and exercising the right of private judgment . They also held him forth as an immoral man , though they were not

    able to prove or substantiate the charge . They moreover misrepresented his tenets , expressing them generally in their own words , and fixing their own odious consequences upon them : a method still but too common among bigots of all parties . But the grand source of their cruel treatment of him was a tacit claiming to themselves , what the church of Rome openly lays claim to , that is infallibility . If Calvin and his friends had

    not set themselves up as standards of truth and orthodoxy , what pretence could they have had of prosecuting Servetus for differing from them , and delivering him over to the flames , as a blasphemer and heretic convict ? Tt Is true ^ they did not openl y declare for infallibility ; but it is evident by their conduct , they claimed as nmc . h deference among the reformed

    churches ^ as the Pope claimed among the Papists ; for as the Jatter declares that he is always right , the former were very positive they were never wrong : ; and he must be verj 7 sharpsighted that can find out the difference . The truth is , Calvin had no more dominion over Servetus ' s faith than Servetus

    had over his ; and therefore he certainly proceeded on a wrong and anticbristian ground , as all those must do who imitate him . What has been here said , it is presumed , is sufficient to convince any impartial mind , that the part which Calvin acted * towards Servetus will not admit of being either justified or pal- * Haled , but was altogether unjust , antichristian , and abominable ? Those who would wish to see a more circumstantial account

    jnay consult Robinson ' s EccL Researches , Dr . Benson s Brief Account , and the Life of Servetus published in 1724 , from the two former of which the above has been chiefly extracted , often verbatim * . The impartial-reader is now left to form his own judgment ;

    * Since this article was drawn up by our correspondent , the Rev . R . Wright , of Wkbeach , has published his Apology for Servetus , " in one volume 8 vo . price ps . which -vyill hereafter supersede all other works on this subject . As the

    Untitled Article

    Brief Accoun I of Servetus * 5 \ 1

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1806, page 517, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1729/page/13/