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Ttioiigt * taustus Socinus haws expressed himself as averse to unrestrained Christian freedom , thfe tJnitarians of that period are not to be considered as equalIv narrow in their sentiments . It would be no difficult
tasP ; to produce passages frohi their ^ riiings which breathe a spirit of iifeerality worthy of the cause in which tqey stood forward so honoilfably as advocates and confessors . * But
ekclffsiyely of incidental expressions wliich lie scattered id their publications , there exist two works in which the subject is professedly treated , ahel in which their sentiments are fully
-explained and openly asserted ., The ~ firirlt , in order of time , is a tract , intituled VindiciiBpro Reltgionis lAbertdte 9 bearing on the title the name of Juntas Brutus , but which was really written by John Crellius . t The immediate obfect of the author is to shew that the Catholic government might safely
gtant full liberty of worship to the UtHt&rtans as long as they conducted therriselves peaceably . The work ifcas written ifr consequence of the attempts that were making by the Catholics of i ^ bland to subject the tinitarians in
that country to some severe restrictive measures . The other is an anonymous . _ \ . _ ^ ..-... ¦ ' -., ? r . . i ' ¦ - for a dedicatory epistle from u Valens Titus Ligius * to " Chiistopliorus Ouipius Saxonus . " SchelhOrn seems now to be considered as haying set the question to rest concerning tlie author of tliis book . la his
" Ariiaenitates Literaria > " Vol . VII . p . 86 , he ascribes it to Minus Celsus , whom he shews to have been a person of some note ift Italy among the literati of his time . See afso Vogt , p . IS *; Bock Vol . II . p . 641 ^ Xeitner ' s Notes to Ruarus ' s Epistles , p .
186 . * See particularly the admirable preface of A . Wissowatins , J . Stegrnap , to the Itacoviau Catechism , on cc The Liberty of Prophes 3 ing . Rces s Hacovian Catechism , pp . iccv . &c ..
t Bock , Vol . I . p . 149 . " that Crellius was the author of tliis work ( which some hare doubted ) is proved » y tlhe MS . acts of the Synod , held at feacof in 1635 , whea it was ordered that Ruarxis *> rioiild take measures to have Crellius ' s
book on the Maintenance of Peace and fouth towards Heretics ( which is certainty the same work ) printed in other countries . " It is inserted in Jthe folio edition of the col letted works of Crpjlius , in tlie bit ) - tiotU - Frat . Poion . Vol . III . p . 521 .
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piece cdmposfed by Sbtiltetitihfei ^ afea intituled Apologia prb Veriim h < w sala ' . It ivas addressed ** to the SrHte of ttolknd and West Frlsia " \ n ££ sequence of a decree passfed by theih against the UnitaHanis , in September
165 S , and the applications of thfe ecclesiastical authorities to the m ^ gistt-ates to enact against theta h ^ l of still greater severity . * In bbth thfese tracts thfe fullest libferty of tonscience is cohtended ifor by thfe illustrious authors .
From the representations which have now been made , & tolerably corrfect estiifnate iriay be forced of the sentimenihs of the eairly Continental Reformers on the subject of Religious Liberty . It is painful to observe that
so many of those eminent person ^ ^ ho have so well merited the appl&usie of mankind by their honourable and successful stand against the tytaumcal usurpations of the Church of Rome , should have admitted hi to
their fhihds principles so hostile to the just rights of conscience , and so inconsistent with thfe conduct they had themselves pursued . In forming our estimate of their character , it is ,
however , but fair to grant them the full benefit of that equitable law , which requires that men should be judged by the principles of their times . Great allowance ought , rio doubt , to be ttiade fot tile
eifedmstances iii which they were pkcefd , and the difficulties they had to encounter , ft would , perhaps , be expecting too much from human nature were we to look for the most correct
and enlarged sentiments on religion ^ freedom from persons who had been nursed in the cradle of intolerance , and accustofiied to bend their miflck with implicit submission to the WH of their spiritual superiors . Bat the largest concessions Vvhich justice and ckhdour can demand for thefii \ ViH not
go the full length of their justification in the intolerant and persecuting measures to which they too frequently resorted . Least of all will it allow
that the bitter animosity , the cool , steady ririd relentless spirit of vengeance , with which , in some instates , they pursued meti , for a mere difference of ojpinion , to the block aria the
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ifa "The Nonriftjfbrttiist . Nth XV .
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? Bock , Vol . I . p . Sl 5-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1819, page 742, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1779/page/26/
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