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    Untitled Article

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    da ££ fM ° conceive the gregrt idea of reformation , they will dare to

    attempt the execution . Fortified in the consciousness of their upright and benevolent intentions , they are prepared to receive with equal indifference , the cautious advice of

    the timid , the ridicule of the licentious , the scorn of the vulgar , the incjignation of bigots , and the persecution of tyrants . If they should have the misfortune to be anathe . inatized as heretics , for the very virtues for which many an

    orthodox martyr has been canonized , they will console themselves with the reflexion , that the censures of men cannot destroy the merit of their character , and with the hope that the good seed which they have sown with so much labour and

    hazard , will not perish in the ground . " This animating representation of the duty of ministers , is followed by a forcible appeal to the laity : — While ministers of religion thus strenuously exert themselves tot the propagation of truth

    and religion in the world , let wise and good men of every class unite to afford them their hearty countenance and steady support . Shaking off that lethargic spirit of indifference to the progress of t ^ ^ " ^

    . it a knowledge , virtue and happiness , whifrb ip the natural offspring of an uncultiyarted understanding and a selfish temper ; alike disdaining , tamely to submit their judgment to th £ authority of ecclesiastic guides , or * Mindly ; % q follpw the track inarkel out by tb ^ ir ancestors ; ^ HP ^^^^ 4 wf ?*> " mdW the di - reMon pf reason , to advance , even f ySfaWsi M ' wfc ' * m * ° j the J P ^ l ^^ ^ n tc ^ fi ^ draw ms ^ e ^^ veil bf mystical sanctity + k ffl 0 £ li ^^ to spread owr

    Untitled Article

    lovg established errors ; let them pursue their researches after truth with an ardent , liberal and courageous spirit . On doubtful questions let them suspend their judgment , till they have passed , by the slow gradations of patient thinking , from uncertainty to rational conviction : and let them

    submit without hesitation to the authority of reason , wherever her decisions can be clearly ascertained , even though they should be obliged to surrender some of their favourite opinions , and to suffer

    the odium of opprobrious appellations . Let not any timid appre - hension of the danger of innovation- —let not a spiritof indifference under the specious disguise of moderation - induce them to nrac . moderationinduce them to

    -, prac tise themselves , or to expect from their ministers , a quiet acquiescence in prevailing prejudices and errors , which they judge to be injurious to the interests of virtue

    and religion . In full confidence that truth and happiness can never be at variance , let them be always ready to allow , as well as to take ^ an unlimited latitude in argument $

    and give every possible encouragement to free inquiry /* ¦ s ¦ The exhortation is then applied particularly to Protestant dis ^ jti ng congregations ; ahd tfefe ^!^ course thus concludes , niftitnaining to thefla $ t it * title to be ^ &fc-r nounced one of the best sermc ) w&

    in the English tonguet—* FjWflJ ^ let both ministers arid people heitirtily unite their endeavours t 6 rfe * store the original ptrfity * d& . igtyfe plicity of Christiah xroctr * no and to rescue Chfifetiaii ^ wor ^ hip 1 ^ 6 ncr

    every ; incumbr ^ tl Ce oH-tfisgraee , which priesto ^^^ ifef ) arrcft ^ h % s broughs upom it : ^ twfty ^ reiii ^ mw berin ^ that it ^ to . ^^ tv a ^ htint

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    Enfietd ' s Sermon on the Progress of Religious Knowledge . 290

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1812, page 295, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1748/page/15/