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Sir , I have been much pleased by many of the remarks of your correspondent D . Z ., contained in ** Hints to Unitarians , " in your number for September , and shall be glad to be allowed to make a few observations which they have suggested . It has long appeared to me , that one of the principal causes
of the slow progress of Unitarianism is a failing which our ministers , as a body , though with many individual exceptions , possess . Unitarian ministers are generally excellent classical scholars , good mathematicians , and elegant composers ; but they are ignorant of the world , and do not seem to be aware of the powet of an appeal to the feelings and the heart : they know well how to state the arguments for their own belief in the strongest and most unanswerable manner ; they can reply to all the objections to our
peculiar opinions which are to be found in books ; but all that they say bears strong marks of being produced only by reading and study ; nothing seems to come from the heart ; and though some of their hearers may be satisfied by having their reason convinced * yet $ he many will require to have their hearts warmed , and their feelings tpuched ; ] an 4 unless tbis be done , our chapels will still be unfilled , and our cause iH > pi # spero « s . Our ministers do well to convince the understanding—the , . ^ wer of ^ oing so we think the great
peculiarity of the Unitarian faith ; but they must also by their qwji earnestness carry conviction to the minds of their hearers , that they really and truly feel that they are at the moment uttering divine and important truths , which are to be found in the Scriptures , and which it is not only the duty , but th& highest interest , of each individual of their auditors to feel likewise * and to make this feeling an incentive to every good action , and to , virtuous and upright conduct . Every man mixing in society must have frequently observed by what different trains of reasoning men arrive at the same conclusionis to
thaj ^ which sufficient convince one , is quite unsatisfactpry to another ; a third requires still more ; and a fourth is still sceptical when the other three are ^ satjtsfred 1 ? y the amount of evidence produced . Here , thea , ia the us& the power , and the advantage , of an appeal to the feelmgs . He who would dispute for ever on the meaning of a word , or the reading of a doubtful passage * may be carried away and convinced by the evident strength pf fe $ UBg , and ardour , and conviction of the preacher . Let our young men
l *> o , k around them and reflect on the cause of the popularity , and the lar , ge , cpngregations which attend some of our ministers , and they will find that even the powers of reasoning , the strength of the arguments , and the classical correctness , of a Fox , an Aspland , or a Madge , would be insufficient , without the energy , the animation , the entirely giving themselves up to , and , a $ it were , forming part of their subject , the apparent interest in their hearers ,
Uje . affectionateness of the manner , of each of these highly-talented men . They will find the popularity of any preacher invariably to arise from the same cause , that they endeavour to interest the heart , instead of exclusively addressing the understanding . A cold address , in the pedantic style , we may suppose suitable to a philosopher of old , whose only subjects were dry speculations and suppositions ; but how unlike the feeling , the warmth , the tenderness of our Saviour , or the energy , boldness , and eloquence of Paul I I think the bookishness and occasional sentimentality of our young ministers may arise in a great measure from the small numbers of which our
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HINTS TO l ^ ITARIAN MINIST ^ S , ' ' To the Editor .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1827, page 815, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1802/page/31/
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