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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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# 2 Suggestions cQ m ^ mmg Mwtit Cagafci&tif *
Untitled Article
be in any , vvays c | i | feTent from that ironscioiistiess which every man fiow fitels of such a prerogative ; i&fld which i 4 never disputed , until he Attempt to explain whac may not admit of explanation ; and to search into modes and operation of causes , which may iu their Hi&ture be iascriuable . If we can * not perceive that our consciousficss of possessing this power would fee different from that conscious * fiess which we do experience , it seems reasonable to conclude that we have this power , until it shall ht shewn that we have it not .
I he decree in which moral capability is possessed h not material , hot is it essential that man should know the extent of it , or comprehend fhe mode in which he derives it ; for these considerations do not affect the reasonableness of the supposition * We a-dmitthe influence of constitution and cir-Clim'starices Upon ostensible charafeter : * we allow t } jat the ambifirti * $ ihan cannot always help b £ k ) g ambitious , nor the effeminate man , effeminate . Diversity of tffrafacter may be beneficial to mankind . Some men may be formed to honour , and some to
dishonour ; the economy of the world may require it : but each may have a power within himself to improve the capacities which net lire has given him . This may bethe case ; there is no proof that it is not—it is reasonable that it should be . The comparative degree of virtue , or of criminality \ vhich attaches to different men ,
it may , in many cases , be impossible for human ingenuity to determine . The martyr who suffers death in defence of the truth ^ exhibits strong positive virtue , hU merit is obviolxs . Amongst
the numher who fomsivjt ^ fate , tnere may be ; soiue w bf ^ would not have iiesimtMJ , h&& they been called to th < e-same tri ^ l —these huve the same noerit-j their reward will be les ^ . inasmuch as their sufferings have been lighter . The criipinal who pay * with his life the forfeit due to hjft country may have exerted his moral po \ Vers as strenuously as thousands who witness his execution . It is possibie that -bift . cn * mitjality shall prove only the absence of srrong positive virtueoi virtue strong . eQr ^» h , to . 4 ? $£ in « tervail the influence x > f WPQsiftiZ
circumstances * . . T ^' his migbtvbe | h « case . It is . cle . ar t ^ at t ^ e cuJprit was destitute of & ^ C £ i ; tain fi . degEe $ of virtue . That a ^ imi ^ ir . degce ^ of virtue is possessed by tl ^ se-wbft have witnessed hia suifering * i ^ = fi ©| ma « ifest ; it is « qt necebmty ^ it should be ... Man is not the judge between them * It is sufficusai that he attend to his own state , and exert the moral powers which b § in ay p ossess : th e r es u It . wilt hs influeuced by circumstajices ; but the result is not the ^ criterion cf merit . A man ' s constitution ar > 4 circumstances are with r ^ soeetvta
himself ( i . e * his nnofal capacity ) what a block of marble is to > fe sculptor—which m » y or may not admit of very high polish and beau * ty , but upon w . hich his p < w e ^ and skill may , ne ^ ertl ^ elessj , bn exerted , while the result of bifr labours will obviously cory ^ poi > d with the nature ai ^ d quality of the substance , on which his talents
have been emplayed . rEhe p ** e ~ vailing dispositions of a mai >^] mind , and the unavoidable con * tingents of bis life w ^ II give a tone to his character } fpj ; we < Jp . ftfiti know that fei f ipo | : § ll ij 0 ftw §^{ &&h
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1814, page 92, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2437/page/20/
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