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to their honour , treated Dr . Priestley with great respect &&& esteem , and at times were ready to say , with King Agxippa—46 Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian . " But there were not wanting others who were disposed tp use the Ja # guag § of Festus , and to say that < fi Much learning had made him mad , or how was it that he did not altogether reject that persecuting system / Christianity } " There was still another kind ofimbe *
lievers that I met with , who were strong supporters both of church and state , but only from political motives ; urging as a reason that some system of religion had been , w&s , and always would be necessary tp keep the vulgar in awe , arid , in some measure , by its supposed penalties , restrain the impetuosity of their ' passions , which would otherwise be under no controuL
It was , therefore , a necessary evil ; and much better was it to Submit to pay a horde of priests than , by putting them down , subject our throats to the ravages of the knife . One observe tion I had frequent occasion to make , that with such a class of men moral excellency was but little regarded : and it was bv
such men only that Ur . Jrnestley s character tor -sincerity was ever impeached . Destitute themselves of tfipse principles which give firmness and consistency to conduct , and alike strangers to those pure motives which constantly stimulate obedience to the will of God and respect to the characters of men , they would fain have held him up as insincere in his professions , and , Jike themselves , supporting religion from sinister views- This
load of reproach Dr . Priestley had to bear , and even from those who should have been the last to have mentioned his name with disrespect ^ was he reviled with being a deist , a bigot , and blasphemer . To all this he was not insensible ,, and , with his usual Q simplicity and artlessness ^ remarked to me one day- ^
* If sincerely believing in the divine mission of Moses was deisnx , then he was a deist : if believing in the inspiration of the prophets was deism , then the charge was just ; or if be ^ - lieving thg . t Jesus Christ was the Messiah foretold by the prophets , and that he died aqd rose again from the dead was ; qeisro , then did he merit the appellation . '" Respecting bU gotry , whatever others have seen to justify that charge , I % now not ; but I never heard him s&y one thing uncharitable of any body of professing Christians , pr urge any thing upon me merely doctrinal , I recollect hearing him say " he was far
from considering himself the wisest of men , though few would pretend tp have read more of ecclesiastical history than him ^ self ; and th&t it did not always require a superlative genius tc * find the door through which jsome error or other had en teredo * To the ch&rgs of blasphemy no answer need he mad ^ aa e ve ry
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Particulars of . Dr . Priestley \ € S 5
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1806, page 623, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1731/page/7/
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