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terming the abhorrence that was exp ressed at it , ' « lamentable wailing . " If an individual had been thrown into prison for his Unitarian writings , before the late repeal of the Act against Unitarians , I believe Mr . F . would
have been the first to have poured forth his " lamentable waitings , " and we should all have joined in , so as to have made the whole kingdom resound With tfeem , and with good
reason . I do very much regret that I did not qu * ote the whole of Mr . F . ' s paragraph , as it has subjected me to the charge of disingenuousness , which I
wholly disclaim ; for it did not once occur to me to quote the whole , as I could not but suppose and desire that any person who read my remarks , would refer to Mr . Ps letter which
was written the month before . I certainly was fully aware of the many professions of liberality and dislike of persecution , whicljKwere contained in that letter ; but as actions speak louder than words , so the general tenor and spirit of a letter speak
much plainer than any professions which it contains ; and when , instead of the spirit of liberality and conciliation , I see that of reproach and hostility , they pass with me as mere words of course ; as some of the ministers of the crown , when they wish
to reject a petition , or to oppose a bill to protect the , liberty of the subject , always preface their remarks with their respect for the right of petitioning , and their regard for liberty . Mr . Flower * s answer respecting his use of the term " Infidel , ' is , to me , very unsatisfactory , as is also his remark , that the quotation as a motto to my first letter had nothing to do with the subject m controversy , because it o » Ay related to the differences amongst Christians , who , it seems , are not to make use of hard names to
each other , wrulst those who do not believe in ^ Christianity may be reprofatted and called names at pleasure ; but as he is so kind as to recommend to me the use of a dictionary , I have looked in Johnson ' s 8 vo . for his own
term , " reprobation , " and I find only two . cxpliia « rtionsr 1 st , Theactcfabmi dmtinff , or . otate of being abandoned to sternal jthsteuctian . ; find , ji condemnatory Aeth ^ ence . If Unitarian ministers in general could . make use of such
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arguments and sucl * term * ( but which 1 do not believe to be the case ) I certainly have been very much mistaken in the sect I have joined 1 thought it was the duty of Christian s not to revile or condemn , nOr to
make use of any other language than that of sober argument and friendly persuasion , and that in the real spirit of conciliation , and to leave the rest I happen to have been acquainted with several conscientious unbelievers in Christianity as a special divine
revelation ; two m particular , whose lives were devoted to the improvement and happiness of mankind ; one of them is now dead , and though he would have been reprobated by Mr . Flower a $ an " Infidel , " I have
no doubt he will meet with a very different lot from that I have quoted from the dictionary , to which I am referred by Mr . F- for fee meaning of his terms Mr . F . is displeased that I say lie lays a claim to infallibility 3 but , Sir , I certainly do repeat the charge , and
re'fer to the first part of his second letter ( p . 299 ) , vvhere he speaks about " light and darkness , truth and falsehood /'* for my justification ; and with respect to his use of the word " sure " ( p- 95 ) , I reply , that I cannot well
conceive any thing more contrary to justice and reason , than to attempt to bring forward a text of scripture as a Jmock-down argument to those who do not believe in scripture , and where the very point under discussion is the divine authority of scripture ; if any
thing so forced was attempted on any political subject , Mr . Flower would be the first to inveigh violently against it . I am glad of an opportunity of expressing the disgust I felt on reading what appeared to me , the very uncalled-for and ungentlemanly mention of Mr . Smith ' s attending two different
places of worship ( p . 94 ) : on **" gentleman ' s public conduct as a member of parliament , we have a right to make what observations we pl ease , but if he choose to attend ten differed places of worship , nobody has tne least to do with it « fcut himself ; ««« the publishiag such thiogs with a atsigii certainly , so far as it go ** ,
* I wish to refer your readers tojL" > ^ Eway on Enthusiasm , s « c . 12- whicn long * to quote here .
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35 £ Candidus , in Reply to Mr . B . Flower , on the Treatment of" Infidels . "
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1815, page 352, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1761/page/24/
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