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uyrAniAN CHRONieLE , . % 15
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iniquity , that foulest and most corrupting of sins , that sin" which extends the deepest and deadliest of moral poisons into the soul , and of all sins seems most completely to deprave and deaden every faculty of the moral nature ; I mean the sin of licentiousness- —of profligacy . But is even the profligate to be given up ? I have seen the human soul , and have been called to minister to
meet the equally perverted , ' who have reasoned themselves , as far as they could , out of all principle , and into a justification of every sin , to which passion may prompt , or desperation may drive them . And here must be met those , who have fallen into that deepest of the abysses of human
it , in some , at least , of the most painful varieties of"HeKasement into which it is brought by violations of conscience and of God's will . And I have seen that , even where the moral nature seemed to be dead , __ utterly dead , it is very possible , by
feeling long and patiently about the heart , that-some pulsation may be found there to indicate , or even to prove , that the principle of moral life , and the capacity of moral feeling are riot , in truth , wholly extinct . While God , then , shall continue life , shall we not continue our efforts and
he ; and is , brought By ahandptinient to intemperance , to falsehooav and dishonesty , or to a life of profligacy I I can hardly conceive of the degradation and the misery , which 1 have not witnessed , as the consequences and the wages of these sins . And I have seen many , very many , who ,
having resisted all reasonings and all persuasions , have gone into eternity moral suicides , to stand before their Judge in the fulness of their unrepented sins . But I would still repeat , let human nature , let a fellow-sinner never be given up . Let a minister of Christ never be weary ,
and never be discouraged with a transgressor , even though all the world beside should forsake and give him up as hopeless . I have seen that fere may Be at least an apparently real restoration , even in a case apparently as desperate as any
one to which the moral nature may be brought ; and I have-seen those recovered to temperance , and faithfully maintaining it , ; who were once broken down , were the scourge and misery of their families , and were threatened with premature death by their habitual and lawless excesses .
To God , then , let us look in every step of our way , seeking his guidance and aid ; remembering our own dependence on mercy ; , and exercising the mercy which , pould we imagine ourselves to be in the condition of our fallen brother , we could wish should then be extended to ourselves . This is plainly the rule of the gospel , and it should never be forgotten by a minister of th 6 poor .
our prayers as the ministers of his mercy ? Besides , even if , in regard to many , we must , to carry out the rule that human nature'is never to be given up , hope against hope , and labour , without making even the smallest apparent progress , still , if we shall persevere , some occasion may be given in the providence of God , in which a way will be opened
I might state other principles , which have , I think , a peculiar bearing upon this ministry ; but I forbear . I must , however , observe , that 1 4 o not forget ; that here , at least , as much as in any other department , of the administration of our religion , we need the light and power which God only can communicate ; the influences of his spirit ; and" that here , too , if any one is an instrument of good to a fellow-being , to God , we are to
f pT ^ SJ&aJL jw ? jfeyghJljapJL Q £ jJ * i £ & in which a success , to call forth our eternal gratitude and praise , will follow our cares , our prayers , and , our exertions . Would , indeed ^ that I had a warning voice , by which 1 could carry home to every soul , especially of the young , a conviction of the extent and fearfulness of the desolations to which the human soul may
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1832, page 215, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1823/page/7/
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