On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
net expect from them even accidental benefit . Suck must be directly attacked by every friend to man , and the more direct the assault , the better : all delays by circuitous means are unjustifiable . Of this nature are all the errors and prejudices which destroy
their own and their neighbours' contentment and peace , and root out the seed of truth and virtue in . men before it can shoot . On the one side , fanaticism , hatred and the spirit of persecution ; on the other side , vanity , debauchery and immoral libertinism .
But sometimes the opinions of my fellow men , which I hold to be errors ,, refer to the higher theoretical principles , and are too far removed from practice ta be immediately injurious \ but they constitute , from their very generality , the foundation , out of which the people who adopt them has
drawn its system of morals and social life ; and hence to this portion of the human race are accidentally become of great importance . Openly to con ^ test such principles , because they appear to us prejudices , is , without supporting the structure , to dig a pit under it , in order to examine whether
it be firm and secure . He who cares more for the happi- < ness of men than his own fame , will withhold his opinion concerning prejudices of this description , beware of attacking them directly , and without the greatest caution , that he may not destroy a doubtful principle of morals , before his fellows are fit to receive a
true one . I can , therefore , consistently with my principles , believe I perceive natural prejudices and false religious notions , and yet feel myself bound to be silent , when these errors do not immediately destroy natural religion , or the natural law , and much
more when they are accidentally connected with the promotion of what is good . It is true , the morality of our actions scarcely deserves that naina when it is grounded on error , and the pod can always be more securely and bette
r preserved by truth * when it is reco gnised , than by prejudice . But so lon £ as it is not recognised , so long * a it is not become national , so that " ° l operate on the multitude so Powerfull y as deep-rooted prejudice , frL \ ° fc . mU t ; even prejudice to every ** end of virtue he filmtet aacred .
Untitled Article
This modesty is stilt more incumbent on me , when the nation which one believes to be in such errors , has , in other points , made-itself venerable by wisdom and virtue , and counts amongst it a number of great men ,
who deserve to be considered as benefactors of the species . So noble a portion , of the human race must , when met by any one , himself human , be indulged . Who should be so rash as ta lose sight of the excellencies of sttch a nation , to attack it wh *» rp Ha sttch a nationto attack it where he
, believes he has found a weakness ? These are the motives which my religion and my philanthropy furnish , and induce me carefully to avoid religious disputes ; add the domestic situation in which I live amongst my
fellow men , and you will think me fully justified . 1 ara the member of an oppressed people , who mu 3 t implore shelter and protection from the ruling nation ; and even this it obtains not every where , and no where
without limitation * My brethren in faith are willing to renounce liberties which are granted to all other classes of men , and are contented if they are tolerated and protected . They esteem it no small act of beneficence in the
nation which receives them only on tolerable conditions , since , in manystates , even residence is refused * them . Is your circumcised friend allowed , by the laws , to pay you a visit at Zurich ^ What obligations , then * do we not owe to the nation which receives us
with general philanthropy , and allows us , unhindered , to worship the Almighty according to the manner of our forefathers ? We enjoy in the state in which I live the most becoming liberty , and ought we not to avoid contesting * the religion of the gx > verning party , that is , attacking our protectors on the sitte of which men of
virtue are the most sensible ? According to these principles it was my resolution always to act - and , consequently , to shun all religious disputes , if not compelled by some extraordinary incident to alter ray resolution .
Private challenges from men of respectability I have dared to pass over in silence . The intrusion of little minds , who thought themselves authorized publicly to attack- me for my religion ^ I have thought myself aufcho-
Untitled Article
Letter ^ f Men delsohn Lava tet * . 38 T
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 387, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/19/
-