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arc by no means partial to the doctrines of Unitarianism . "
With respect to a letter printed , in an altered and mutilated state , many years ago in the Arminian Magazine , 1 nave to observe , that I publicly protested against it during my connexion with the ^ Methodists , a fact which this reviewer must have known ; unless his . " extensive ^ acquaintance , ' - * and that
«< advantageous situation , in the centre of intelligence , ' of which he so loudly boasts , are designed to answer no other purpose than that of assisting him to indulge" in " the besetting sin of Methodism "—a propensity to calumny , slander and de-• traction . I need , therefore , only to
add , in this place , that now to retort upon me the exaggerated descriptions of the follies of raw and inexperienced youth , -written in a state of mind and under the guidance of those principles , which led even Mr . "Wesley to speak of Jiimself as being " altogether corrupt and ABOMINABLE , " "a MOTLEY
MIXTURE cf beast and devil ; * -. —of principles which induce these very men , notwithstanding their present pretensions to " spirituality , purity , and perfection , " almost every time they meet for divine worship , to proclaim : themselves" the vilest of the vii * e , the very chief of sinners , * and which are indeed
well known to be singularly calculated to produce hyperbole of this nature ; 1 say , under these circumstances , now thus to upbraid me , is a refinement of cruel Malic epecuiiar to the heart and tempers ^ ofthese evangelical Christians . And this conduct is as inconsistent as it is cruel ; seeing , what they know to be a fact , that every volume of their Magazine will furnish such ample materials for just
recrimination . It has long been esteemed a prominent trait in the character of the grand enemy of mankind , first to betray his victims to folly , and then to reproach them for jtheir weakness ! how far these Methodists have copied this laudable example I leave your readers to judge .
' These men tell me , I now speak of my conversion " sneeringly "—I deny the charge—I meant not to speak even disrfcspccitfully of a state of mind on which I shall ever reflect with pleasure , and which I still gratefully acknowledge as a preliminary to a settled conviction of the truth of those doctrines , which in my juveftile years I was led , in common wkh most of my companions , to disre-
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gard . * I still remember the •* njek fron * whence 1 was hewn , and am not un ^ ¦ willing to . acknowledge my obligation *; to the layer of Methodism , which helped to wash off those stains , and to remove those offensive excrescences , which the contagion of bad example is too apt to f
ix . upon the human character ; Yet I greatly fear , that had the heart been taiyrtedy this laver , intended to perform the friendly offices I have mentioned , instead of carrying away the filth of its washings , would have penetrated , with
its accumulated load of corruption , into the hidden recesses of the mind ; and there * unperceived , preying on the remain ? of virtue , would have spoiled the whole system , and have at length discovered itself , perhaps ,, as an Eclectic or a Methodistical Reviewer * * - - ^
Although this reviewer very " benevolently" tells his readeFs , that a * legion" ( of devils , no doubt ) has " thoroughly ittfernalixed my soul , ' I still maintain , that " prayer , mighty prayer , cannot be too much recommended . " And here let me ask this devout methodi « t
whether he offered up his sincere petitions , . before he sat down to abuse and slander me , that the great Father of spirits would lead him into the way of all truth , and that he might write his critique purely under tlie influence of that charity which envieth not—which sttffereth long and is kino—which seeketh not her own—which thinketh no
evilwhich bear eth all things— belief eth all things , enduretu all things T was he influenced by that heavenly principle , which doth not behave itself u n ~ se em . > when he roundly and indecently pronounced a whole body of seiious and well-meaning Christians to be only an " efflux of eoocrementttiotts and morbid '
matter , ' ? " or lastly , did he pray to God that he might be kept from rash and prc-¦ sum ptuous judging , before he deliberately consigned me to " the blackness of darkness for ever ? " if this Reviews * && thus pray , then we have additional proof that « • THE PRAYERS OF THJfr " \ VICK * ED ARE AN ABOMINATION tO-TH * LORD !!"
The representations respecting my " change o * residence "—the time , manner , and motives , of my leaving the Methodists—my connexion with the Society of Friends , &c , are , so many barefaced and impudent falsehoods ; and this reviewer ' s attempt * to account for my principles and conduct , arc the bl »«»
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84 > 4 # r . Night in gale ? s Defence > < 5 *< v
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1808, page 84, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2389/page/28/
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