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* 4 * j ; oad , which wind * Its resistless way in defiance of the arm of flesh , the bigotry of ignorance , and the terrors 91 ft gloomy , perverted theology . Truth has friends * and the number is increasing ; it will increase ; ten years hare produced a great change , and ten more will witness a greater .
< You have once or twice inquired of me respecting Mr . Jefferson . I bave lately seen a long and excellent Letter from him , in which he gives his views of Christianity . This letter amounts to an iznequivocai
declaration of his belie f in the Christian religion- In high party times , he was charged with being sceptical , and perhaps he was so , for he had studied Christianity only in the garb in which mistaken orthodoxy had laboured to clothe it . He has since examined
the ground on rational , principles , and the result has been conviction . In a Letter to me , written more than two years ago , he touches on the subject in a manner , which gives some hints of his opinions , and you will doubtless be gratified with the following * €
extract * I hold the precepts of Jesus / says Mr . Jefferson , ' as delivered by himself , to be the most pure , benevolent and sublime , which have ever been preached to man . I adhere to the principles of the first age , and consider all subsequent
innovations as corruptions of his religion , having no foundation in what came fjroro him . The metaphysical insanities of Athanasius , of Loyola , and of Calvin , are to my understands ing mere relapses into Polytheism , differing from Paganism only by being
naore unintelligible . The religion of Jesus is founded on the unity of God , ^ nd thi s principle chiefl y gave it a triumph over the rabble ot heathen gods then acknowledged , Thinking men of all nation ? rallied readily to the doctrine of one only God , and embraced it with tjhe pure morals which Jesus inculcated- if the freedom of
religion , guaranteed to us by law in tkeory % can ever fi $$ in practice wder the overbe ^ ruptg acquisition of public opifuon , trath will prwfut oveJC faiWr tusfem * and xk& genuine doctriues of Jeau * sq long pft * verted ty & ^ pseuds ] pft ££ t $ , vviU egsun bq re&tojtxl to thewQjiginM purity , Thte ^ foim ^ tioa will QdwKictt wiOi \ hv p * Ug * jkn- * yrqr amsnte q £ ( be humw wind * but
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too late for mq to witness it . ' From this extract you can judge with some degree of accuracy concerning JVfr % Jeflerson's opinions . The letter mentioned above is much more full , and contains a comprehensive outline of the purposes of the Christian « U& . pensation . " The same writer adds ,
" What a wonderful man is that Rammohun Roy of Calcutta ! Few have so much learning and talent . His books must produce an effect . They are written with power and
judgment . I had a letter from him lately , in which he says he thinks of visiting this country , and consequently England shortly . The venerable Mr . Eastin , of Kentucky , has ju&t written to me , that eight societies are forming in Missouri on Unitarian principles . In the south of Kentucky there are more than forty Unitarian preachers
among the Separate Baptists . The Christians , a growing sect , call themselves Unitarians , but they are commonly ignorant and fanatical . Time and knowledge will t *> rrect them /'
Another correspondent writes from Boston , May 3 , 1823 , as follows : " I hope , my dear Sir , you will live many years , if so it seem good to the Supreme Arbiter , to witness the spread of those views of Christianity which you justly consider so consonant to the doctrines of the New
Testament , and so favourable to the happiness of raankiud . In tlm country , not only do they rapidly extend , but they seem also to approve themselvea to men of intelligence uad wortlw
Our ex-president Adams , now eightysix , and iu the full possession of his understanding , you know h ^ s been for many years a decided and zealous Unitarian . I saw lately a eorrespondence between , our estimable fellow *
citizen Colonel Pickering ( now eighty ) and Mr . Jefferson upon this subject * and I assure you read it with no small surprise . Pickering , of the genuine race of the New Evangelical Puritans aad of a family for several generation *
of the straitest of that sect ; the moat indexible man since tke days of Cato * the zealpus supportor of Washing * ton * s administration * anil after a dte " tinguiahed career during tjfoti revolui tionary war , appointed by , W . Postmaster General , and thep . Secretary gf $ UM » e--r 4 M ; ed up by tewwpeiwenk
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634 Untiarianism m United State * qf America
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1823, page 534, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1788/page/38/
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