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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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WEsies - 'vfrfaidi have at different tbries been agitated concerning ifee foundation and standard of taorals , - have Attracted a much greater number of thinking men to cfevote their time to the improvement of ethical science ; and tfie consequence has proved
highly beneficial * For though their views cf the subject have been various , they have seldom been found mcompalil > le ; so that by TOtfcinrg the labours , of all , we are eitabled to erect the edifice of
j&oralitj on a more extensive and stable foun ^ jat ioa , than we could " otherwise have hoped For- In sSidr ' t * I believe it is a truth VKcfo cannot be disputed , that in almost a 3 I the inquiries which liave ever attracted the attention
&nd ctirioSity of mankind , they h&sre been chiefly spurred on to investigate and to acquire a cotn-^ pfet ent ac quaintance with the ' sub-| ect ^ not So much by a mere disinterested thirst after knowledge ,
its % y sirtne dispute , some controversy in whteh they desire to distinguish 'themselves * It is to reitecfctons * to industry , and to inquiries suggested by such motives ,
te we ovre many of the most iiifcp ^ rt antan d valuable discoveries in all the arts and sciences ; and , Itti&yadd , it is by the additional motive thus thrown into the scale , that many have been led to attend
more to subjects of still greater importance than they otherwise might have done ^ that their minds bave been forcibly drawn to consider the things that relate to their Everlasting peate ; that they have 1 > een induced to examine the
growpds upon which they are authorized to tafae tip the glorious * lkine by which they are called . "Is it tapt desirable that we should Itiiow and thoroughly understand
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the evidences of religion , both natural and revealed ; the true strength of the testimony upon which we found our most elevated hopes and transporting expectations ; that we should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in us ? Why then should we lament the influence of those differ .
ences m opinion , those disputes and controversies * which have led so many to attend to these subjects , who would otherwise have altogether neglected them Another important advantage of those controversies which the
opposing sentiments and opinions of mankind have a tendency to excite , is the minute and ri g id scrutiny to which every doctrine or thebry is subjected before it can
be generally received as true- The influence of this scrupulous exanimation ^ both in preventing the easy admission of error and in promoting the caitse of troth , is too obviate to require more particular illustration . Since the
hiirnan understanding is necessarily liable to mistake , it is impossible fox- any degree of caution to lead us in all cases to the truth ; but we have thus the fairest possible chance of success . When
subjected to this ordeal error will most commonly be detected ; while those doctrines which are founded in fact will only be still further confirmed and established .
The attempts of its opponents to overthrow the truth , can only contribute mor £ fully to display the immoveable rock on which it stands . The Copernican system
of the heavens , for ex-ample , its first appearance was immediately assailed not merely by »« tfie arguments which a compa " tively unenli ghtened age ccww bring against it , 1 > ttt by the united
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1 SQ 8 ffn fhfr j&tvattffiges arhingfrom Serfs and Par tie f .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1811, page 208, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2415/page/16/
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