On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
important objects ; nor would I , therefore , object to the enforcement of these penalties , provided it were done impartially . But , without this , is there not a danger , in many cases , of confoundj n < x men ' s ideas concerning the coropaiative enormity of crimes ? To instance in the article of Sab .
bath-breaking , I trust that I am impressed with as deep a reverence for the Lord ' s Day , with as earnest a desire for its due observance , and with as full a persuasion that , if duly observed , it would be
attended with the most important benefits to individuals and to society , as any person who shall be with you-this evening ; and I would endeavour to promote these benefits , by carefully observing ? t mysel t \
by encouraging its observance ¦ among all to whom my influence could extend , and by rendering its ¦ observance as agreeable and profit-¦ able to all such as I could ; I ¦ would particularly attend to the ¦ religious instruction of my
childwen and domestics on tbe evening Vf that day ; and would not even P low ,, much less countenance , P ny visits of mere form or cere .
non y , or any intercourse but ? tat might be turned either to a ¦< % ous or moral account , or else ¦ ° ^ e pu rposes of benevolence n charity . But if 1 fine a poor r « ten shillings , who , having re-¦^ tlhis wages late on a Satur ~ Wy night ( a pfactice in masters ¦'" ch it would be well for a
so-W Y 'ike that proposed to dis-JUl > tenance ) has no opportunity Phasing his family their Sun . »« « mner till the morning , or l ^ abhng himsel f by die help of r ^ r to make that cleanly dc-I appea rance on that day , P'Cb we all t , J ? I mnL 5 suppose , take care I «« ourselves , by our own
Untitled Article
help or by the assistance of a servant : what must such a man think , when , on coming forth with his family to join some religious assembly , he sees a rich lord or commoner , openly and tumultuously breaking the sabbath , by driving his coach and four from the door of one of our
principal inns , while Jus humbler fellow-citizens are repairing to church ? ' What , ' be will say , 'is this Society for the Suppression of Vice , but a cobweb to catch
small flies , while the wasps and hornets break througbi with impunity ?• " This , I fear , will appear still more glaringly the case in a still more lamentable instance . The
miserable inmates of disorderly houses , are , it must be confessed , a dreadful nuisance to the public at large , and a too frequentl y
fatal snare to the young and unwary . The suppression of these shocking nurseries of disease and vice , of misery and destruction , both for the present and future world , is a consummation deVout-Jy to be wished . Every thing that
can be done , by early education , by earnest persuasion again > t vice , by encouragement of a return to virtue , 1 would most cordially rejoice and desire to join in . Nor would I -wish to discourage a recourse ( o punishment , especially of those wretches who inveigle
into the paths of vice the miserable objects of others' Justs , and their own most wicked gain . But , alas ! while the poor wretches themselves are made the chief ohjects
of shameful exposure , and too well deserved punishment , those who deserve punishment much more , those who have wickerfly seduced , and afterwards abandon * cd tfaem , and thus have turned
Untitled Article
On Societies for the Suppression of Vice . 413
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1811, page 413, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2418/page/29/
-