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liberal Miscellany , a constant reader will be happy in seeing them inserted . B .
The Ihi , ty of considering the Poor . The inequality of mankind is a plain and undeniable matter of fact : nor does it happen occasionally , in this or that age , in this or that country : it is universal , and in the present state of things , unavoidable . —What , then , will be the first consideration with a rick
man , when he sees a poor one ? If he have a clear head and a good heart , will he not reason in some such manner as the following > God has given the earth to the children of men , for the support of all . While I abound , why does this man
want ? Plainly , that we may bear one another ' s burdens ; that my abundance may supply his need ., may alleviate his distress , may help to sustain the affliction under which he groans ;
that I may take off his load of woe , and he take off the superfluity of my wealth 9 that so the stream , noxfr broken and turbid , may again find its level , and flow pure and tranquil . Otherwise , if he be suffered thus to
carry on his shoulders through life the weight of this misery , should he murmur and complain , would it not be with some colour of justice , and must not I in some measure be answerable for his so doing ? We are formed by the same Artificer , of the same
materials 5 our trust is in the same Saviour , and we must stand before the same judge ; yet there are , on my side , health , affluence and joy ; on his , sickness , indigence and sorrow : I have enough to supply every want that
luxury itself can fancy ; while he has not wherewithal to support his family , or to support his own hunger . Surely , for this very end were riches bestowed upon me , and not without a design is this poor object thrown in rny way ,
that I might use them aright , and justify the ways of Providence . The inequality of nature shall be rectified by religion This man shall have as m uch as he needs ; aad I can enjoy no more . He shall not want while I have to
spare- God , who has given to man , delights that nnan should give : and he who gives most does most resemble his Maker . Nor let the rich imagine that what they thus give is thrown away , or given to those who can make no return :
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Bishop Horde , on the Duty of considering the Poor . 543
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^ Sir , SidtnoutJi , Aug . % 1815 . P you think the following just and ; * b enevolent sentiments of the late *» nop Horn * , worthy a plac £ in your
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polWt above the common level , are infected either with deism , Arianism , or the impieties of Socinus" ( P . 5 . )—Yet he is not thoroughly orthodox , for he controverts Cupped " doctrine that the sin of Adam might condemn his descendants to eternal misery , ' as
not less " repugnant to reason and the goodness and mercy of God , ° than " even predestination and reprobation /' P . £ 3 . ) On this question he adopts ( p . 25 ) the scriptural criticisms of " a very learned author , Mr . Taylor , of Norwich" Yet ( p . 41 ) he appears
to have agreed with Dodwell in his notion of immortality acquired by baptism , and to have been a member of the same church . He says , " I own indeed that men , by a lawful baptism
are restored to the favour of God , as much as if Adam had not sinned ; because the guilt of their corruption ( if it may properly be termed guilt ) is washed away in that sacred laver of regeneration . "
This letter is dated London , January 16 , 1752 .- —In a Postscript the writer mentions with approbation u a late trench pamphlet , entitled Eternitd des peines" and controverts " The Layman ' s letter to his friend in the
country , " which appears to have been a vain attempt to shew , that " Heaven open to all Men admits of a temporal punishment after death . " The Postscript concludes with an unqualified assertion , " of the eternity of future
misery , ' supported chiefly by the supposed case of Judas and the hypothesis u that God designs to continue a race of beings , such as men are , throughout the ages of eternity , " and that there can be no " motive so
powerful to prevent their misery as to shew them thousands , of a like kind , actuall y groaning under eternal torments as the consequence of their impieties . " This view of the ways of God to man , the author of the Candid
Examination , so reconciles to his idea : of the divine character , as to close his * ork with the assertion that it " is not < toly not improper or unjust in the Governor of the Creation , but a mark of « te greatest wisdom and a proof of the Neatest goodness r IGNOTUS .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1815, page 543, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1764/page/11/
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