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fc # the mischiefs which he has brought upon himself , but would rejoice t 6 be freed from the bondage of his Vices if the power of habit were , not too gresit to be easily overcome ? But who can say what effect rilay be produced by
a temporary suspension of consciousness , and an introduction to p new and Unknown state of be . in 15 ? And should even this be insufficient , who can affirm that he who madfc us what \ Ve are , cannot devise sufficient means of
recovering us horn every moral and mental disorder that we may have contracted ? In some instances it rs hoped that this reformation has been effected by human exertion , discipline ^ nd persuasion ; and is not the Divine Being capable of accomplishing infinitely more than his creatures ? Where then is the irrationality of admitting that though vice rriight be necessary
t for a time , there will come a pe * . ^ Tiod when it shall be totally erad - icated ? How does this supposii tion " involve contradictions more palpable than are to be found in uny of the most extravagant books
of the most extravagant Romanists r" Where is the " darkness visible / ' spoken of by * A Churchman ? " Surely he must have learnt to exaggerate if he does not misrepresent i he rnust view diffit . culties through a mental telescope , and mivtafee a fly for a monster in
the sun-. ^ But I know that all that can be said on this subject will be insufficient to reconcile the minds of many to the doctrine of suffering for unavoidable conduct . To i * vie , however , this appears to proceed from a , want of due reilection and impartial consideration . Can we be mauV happy
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hlr . Allcliirts Answer to Vie Churchman . 4 * 25
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while we retain in ourselves the seeds of disorder and misery ? Or can those seeds be completely eradicated in every individual without the instrumentality of any
painful process ? If not , how is the appointment of such a pro-Cess inconsistent with supreme goodness ? Still it will be asked why was the introduction of vice ever permitted &t all ; as , were it not for that circumstance ,
suffering would be unnecessary ? In answer to this question , let us suppose a state in which every member of the universal society possessed all that was necessary to render his happiness complete * only destitute of experience , as he must necessarily have been
at the commencement of his existence . Let temptations to vice be excluded as far as imagination can conceive to be possible . Is it to be supposed that in such a state ns this , no one ' s enjoyment or inclination would ever interfere with thnt of another ? It is in * .
cumbiont on those who maintain that vice ought to have been totally excluded from the universe to prove the practicability of this . They allege that every thing is practicable to infinite power . But this is absurd ; for they need not be told that no power , though
it be strictly infinite , can perform contradictions 5 and it seems an evident contradiction to suppose that creatures influenced by motives and destitute of experience , should not in many instances prefer their own gratification to that of others . What sufficient inducement could they have to y ield to the wishes of others when experience had not taught them the reasonableness and necessity uf-such sacrifices ?
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vox . uf . 3 X
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1808, page 425, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2395/page/25/
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