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excited the admiration and esteem of tlxe different societies to which he was introduced . In the course of a-few years his religious opinions underwent a considerable change ; and as sincerity was a marked feature in his character , he faithfully
and publicly declared it , and connected himself with the Independents . The works of that great man M . Saurin , contributed much towards this alteration in his sentiments , which was in favour of Calvinism , and embracing this
system of faith in its moderate sense , he became a preacher of it to a congregation at or near Peniston , in Yorkshire . — But having determined on account of the delicacy of his constitution and for other reasons which satisfied his own
mind , to relinquish the profession of a minister , he prepared himself for commercial life , and entered into business in the town of Sheffield . Here he continued his connection with the Independents , and -was highly esteemed amongst them . But his natural turn for reading and theological inquiry , as it brought
him more and more into connection with men of learning and liberality , as well as books , and into contact with every thing that was most congenial with his natural disposition , led him fairly and closely to examine the
principles of that sect which is V every where spoken against , " because , rejecting both the jargon and the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian creed , that creed which Archbishop Tillotson wished the church well rid of ! it can admit of the doctrine
of God's unity but in oTie , and that an absolute and undivided sense , while it presumes not to fcl judge a brother , or to set at nought a brother" on account of his religious faith , be it what it may , knowing that " every man , as a Christian and a Protestant , must be persuaded in his own mind , * ' and will be < €
rewarded according to his works . " The consequence was , a firm coavicti , on of the truth , and the importance of these principles , and a determination to profess and to avow them . For this reason he declined all further attendance upoa Athanasian forms of worship , feeling it to be life eternal to know Jehovah as
the only true God , and Jesus Christ Whom he Mas senC * John xvii . 3 . At tfcemitae time he was fully convinced thkt to Jesus was givbn the spirit with-
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out measure— ic that God dwelled ii Christ and Christ in God , ' as all serious Unitarians believe , and that the in . dwelling scheme of Dr , Watts ,-or that of Sabellius ( its Father ) are but TJnita rianism in disguise . The writer of this biographical sketch has often heard MT . Hewitt speak in terms of the highest
animation and gratitude of the kindness of that providence which threw aside the veil of prejudice , which for rnarty years had shut him out from all knowledge of Unitarian . principles * and which led him to an acquaintance wih the works of the most celebrated Unitarian writers —such as Dr . Lardner and others , as well as with many persons now living , who embrace the same opinions , andon whose
hearts his memory is most deeply engaven . It never will be forgotton by these friends of Christian truth and liberality , that before he became an Unitarka himself , and while he remained among the Calvinists , such was the candour and benevolence of his mind , a candour excited by what he heard and saw , that he regarded with sorrow and
with shame , the popish arid the ptrs $ - cuting spirit of those who are resolved at any rate to confound those Christians who believe in the simple unity of the great God , with Socinians , Deists and Atheists , * that they may bring down odium upon the dead and the living of a class of Christians , " than whom more firm believers in Christ , and more able and successful defenders of our common
faith , have never existed . Indeed these efforts , and this spirit of Bigotry . whether the offspring of ignorance or of a pitiful and malicious envy ,,, were the means of exciting : in the mind of Mr . Hewitt an increasing ardor in his religious inquiries , the result of which we have already stated . He died after a long protracted and painful illness , which he bore throughout , with an almost unexampled fortitude and piety of mind , leaving behind him two children and a mourning widow , with his su rviving parent most deeply to feel and lament his loss .
Quis desiderio sit pudor aut modus Tarn chari capitis . ** ?' * AMICUS .
? Vide the account of A . G . E * fc the Obituary of the E vangelical Magazine , for Nov . 1807 , signed ProtiNtf * -
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318 Obituary . — John Hetiitt .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1811, page 318, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2416/page/62/
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