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thpdox Dissenters greatly exceed their opponents ; but the congregations of the latter usually contain a larger proportion of persons of wealth and refinement : it is to be observed ,
however , that these do not abound in the congregations of either party . In zeal for their respective tenets they may be considered as pretty equally matched , as they are in providing active means for their diffusion ; but they differ in the degree of importance which they attach to them . The orthodox are
very generally agreed in consigning over their adversaries to endless perdition , on account of their misbelief ; whilst the innocency of mental error is as strenuously contended for by the other party . Bigotry is a vice of little minds , and to be found more or less
in all parties . Education does much to soften its asperity , but an intercourse with the world does more ; and those whose minds are liberalized by philosophy feel the least of its influence . Although there is nothing in nature more truly contemptible , yet there are few vices , nerhans . that so there are few vicesperhapsthat so
, , generally predominate amongst the professors of religion . In an inquiry of this nature , it might very naturally be expected that the writer should enter into some farther particulars respecting the present character and condition of the different
Dissenting parties . But , besides the length to which these pages have extended , there are other reasons which would induce him to be very brief upon this subject . In forming opinions of religious sects , there is always danger of being warped by prejudice , a disease from which the most
moderate cannot always escape . Every one who identifies himself with a party , must feel a partiality for it to a certain extent , and a corresponding distaste to its opponents . This will be more particularly the case when the mind is undisciplined , or thrown off
its guard , or when the passions become heated by enthusiasm . But , under the influence of happier circumstances , it is next to impossible to speak without offence . It is very
true , that , consistently with that decided attachment which every person must and ought to feel for the convictions of his own mind , it by no jmeans follows that there is any necessity for misrepresenting either the
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opinions or the conduct of our opponents , who must be judged by the same test as ourselves , and may , perhaps , have an equal chance of being in the right . In the course of . mv
experience , I have found persons of all parties who discourse upon religious topics with as much confidence as if they were capable of a mathematical demonstration ; and , in accordance with this feeling , they expect their opinions to be received as implicitly as if they were not as much a
matter of inquiry to others as to . themselves . This spirit of dogmatism is as injurious to truth , as it is offensive to good sense , and repugnant to those kindly feelings which it is the interest of every one to cherish . There is one Being * alone to whom we must render an account of the use or abuse
of our talents , and we have no authority to usurp his judgment-seat . If we would gain an erring brother , we must treat him neither with hatred nor reproach , nor hunt him from society : this would only convert him into an enemy , and confirm him ia his error . But we must shew our
regard for his welfare by acts of kindness ; and , in short , encourage the same feelings towards him which we would wish to excite in others toward * ourselves , under similar circumstances . Man is a dependent creature , and this reciprocity of action is as much a matter of personal interest as it is of duty .
Upon looking into the state of parties , the first thing that strikes us is the disappearance of the Presbyterian denomination , which was formerly the glory of Nonconformity , and has now nearly vanished amongst English Dissenters . This result may be traced to various causes , but chiefly perhaps to the doctrinal differences that took
place in the early part of the last century . At that time , many learned and reflecting men , chiefly amongst the Presbyterian Dissenters , thought they saw sufficient ground for departing from the standard of reputed orthodoxy , not only as it respected the tenets
of Calvinism , but also upon the docv trine of the Trinity . Some of these embraced the Arian hypothesis , others the Sabellian , and many at lengih became ( in the epithet once iji vogue ) Socinians . The divines wha contributed mo&t effectually to the diffusion
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© 90 An Essay on the Causes of the Decline of Nonconform ity *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1823, page 390, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1786/page/22/
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