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2 IN ) Obituary?—Anthwy RobinsoH ^ Esq .
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Though he professed % o be merely a tradesman , yet he retained a strong interest in those momentous truths in which the happiness of mankind is involved , and became a steady and active assertor of civil and religious liberty . It was his good fortune to contract a close , personal
intimacy with that excellent man , the late Mr . Joseph Johnson , of St . Paul ' s Churchyard . The unostentatious benevolence and , integrity of his character , and the simplicity of his manners , were congenial virtues which Mr . R ., after his friend's death , in 1809 , was ttntked in eulogizing .
Mr . R . became a regular contributor to Johnson's Analytical Review , a short * Hved publication , which deserved a longer duration . Be took the department of politics and political economy , and adopted the signature of S . A . This lasted
fluking the years 1797 , 1798 and 1799 . His articles are distinguished by clearness and spirit . He was by no means an un * impassioned contemplator of the great events of that momentous period , nor free from the illusions which it generated in every mind .
Mr . Robinson availed himself of his friend Johnson , in the publication of several small tracts . In 1796 he published " The Catholic Church , " a short but masterly argument , in which is opposed to the pseudo Catholic Church of Rome , as assuming infallibility , the genuine Catholicism of an institution in which " should be taught not the assertion but the examination of
religious opinions ; not the belief of , but an inquiry into , sacred positions—which should connect salvation , not with cre » - dulitybut with sober thought and sincere benevolence . " In 1797 , Mr . R . published , on occasion of the stoppage of the Bank , ** New
Circulating Medium ; being an Examination Of the Solidity of Paper Currency , and its Effects on the Country at this Crisis . " The author partook of the general panic , and anticipated the national ruin which has not yet taken place , but which is ! still predicted .
In 1798 , he published in 8 vo ., " A View of the Causes and Consequences of English Wars , " which he dedicated to his friend Mr . William Morgan . An anxious solicitude for the happiness of mankind , and a just sense of their rights , will not be denied to the author , even by those who see in the work ordinary views , and an wttcritkal spirit . In 1800 , Mr . R appeared as a controversial writer in " An Examination of a Sermon preached at Cambridge , by Ro-
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bert Hall , A . M ., entitled Modern Infidelity considered with respect to its Influence on Society . " Mr . wall ' s eloquent discourse has attained just celebrity as a most splendid specimen of pulpit eloquence ; Mr . R . ' s Examination has been forgotten : yet a discriminating mind will allow to the Examiner as great a preeminence over the Orator in powers of thought , as inferiority to him in the graces of composition . *
Persecution , in all its forms , had been the subject of Mr . R . ' s painful study . That of infidels or sceptics by Christians was as o'ffensive to him as any other , indeed more so , as in more decided oppo * sition to the pretended principle of the persecutor . He who misrepresents and vilifies furnishes ready weapons to the persecutor : and with this impression Mr ,
R . penned his indignant and powerful Examination . He analyses with masterly skill the well-sounding common -places of his antagonist . We * &ust in candour add our regret , when we observe , that there is a tone of acrimony , and almost of scorn , towards Mr . H ., which is single in the history of Mr . R . ' s works and mind . They had lived together as
students at Bristol , and they parted not friends . Perhaps the possession of certain qualities in common , induced this alienation as much as the opposition of their opinions and tastes . It is but justice to add , that this is the only instance in Mr . R . ' s life , where diversity of taste and opinion occasioned a want of friendship with those with whom he was connected *
With the family of his old master at Cockermouth , with the son and descendants of Dr . E ., he remained intimately connected during life ; and he chose the Worship-Street cemetery for his family vault : proofs of affectionate attachment to those whom he had in some respect deserted .
In the same year , 1800 , he printed , in quarto , but did not publish , * ' A Sermon preached to a Conntry Congregation in the Year 1795 . " In a caustic advertisement he remarks , that " out of many it alone survives , to report the labours of an individual who asks ho longer the
indulgence of a hearing , and who never thought the praise of the populace any honour . " Its object is to prove , that on the several hypotheses—** There is no God "— " There is a God , and he is a malevolent being "— " There is a God , and he is benevolence , " - ^ the conduct of a wise man will be the same . He
takes care to assert his faith in the last doctrine ; and hte practical object seems to be , as in his answer to Hall , to shew
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1827, page 290, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1795/page/58/
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