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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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\ IU id < its ¥ ff , or it , mt \ sX ifettft ¥ nrgMfe ^ ffl f pYoioilifcrr as ^ t b £ fcottiesvisible . WTftJTtbfe ^ b ^ fctfs , ^ sitblime as to transcend all' fitittran concfcptjon , the rlearer Wef bfettdia it , the more must
we be filled with winder and every h 6 Wer Be ckWed Jhtb exercise to cbmpreheridi "" * £ ' admire , and to enjoy . 'tbis " hatf'tfcten strikingly the case with the discQvetrl&s made by human skill systems encircle
r ^ pectii ^^ the that us . When trite Chaldean Shepherd contemp kiteVFthe 'glory of the starry heavens , Re-tiii g ht Have trenlbled at any attempt to investigate the qualities of those imintirtal lights whose mystery seemed to add to their lustre , and have
apprehended that vhen truth was forced on him his loveliest fancies must vanish . And yejt ; though such a feeling would Wave been in perfect sympathy with that of a poetical believer , what shall we say or it now when science has given us a nearer view of these objects
of mysterious yvonder ? Are bur conceptions respecting them less majestic because instead of lamps fixed in the heavens for our delight we find them to be the centres of mighty systemssuns which give light to unnumbered worlds— -antr in their turn catch a
distant gleam from ours ? Has the region of imagination been contracted , as reason has drawn aside the veil from nature ' s perpetual miracles ? On the contrary , the more we have known , the more , we have been convinced ,
there is yet to know . Reason has gone fort h as the pioneer of imagination into titotried regions ; and whilst she has found some resting places on which she has kindled beacons that can never perish , she has formed them not only tocheer and direct her followers , but
to shed a dim and religious light over a boti r ^ dless space fitted for the dwelling of her immortal sister . And if this be true as it respects the creation of God , the heavens that , are but " his footstool /* and the << clouds and
darkftfeafrthat are about his throne , " how 3 Wth i more truly may it be urged of j » ef Odt ^ himself i Art increase of knowled ge respecting hirxl must ' iit <> nfc <* expand and filial ! the capacities »^ the mirid $ make <» very facility overfpv ^ with ! intefti&eiKte , eVetfy passidn
«* U ^ HH tyonde r , kridevfcry' pulse Ibfeat * 9 wf ° .: Yiet thfcTrtaltariata pjotbises «^ n stiblim ^ ^ briternpi&tiOn bbWt a W ^ v ^ e » jj ^ oii n ^ hirbfttute , ' vyhTc ^ h w s ^ % r t&nfa m&&m ^ ali ; Tfru « t
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cbr ^ e if Whi f ¥ b \ i *^ a ^ . Ki 6 HSs ^ fii &tctfa ^ & fri * a & lttiu $ ?®[ drvfe ^ Perfections , - the Intewh !^ , in tn 0 nildk ordafknes ^ vie may dttft selves be abfe to create ! v A s ^ It is singular t ^ at those ^ hb sp ^ kk of mysteries as | hiB gloiry pjF tneii ^ elXgton , represent them as intended t 6 vanish in heaven . A stislte * of
kriotv-ledge is there anticip ^ tetl as a state of bjiss , and yet here there must be nt > joy but that of darkness- Surfely we are at liberty to suppose that the neater we can approach the perfections df our
future being , the Jonger perspec ^ vfe we can attain of the regions beyorfil the . grave , the clearer glimpses w $ catch of the beatitudes &t eternity , the better we shall be prepared to enjoy them . The more we ^ ee of ©* ur divine
Father < as he is / ' the more shall v # e 16 be like him . " And yet we iare told that f * a religion without its mysteries would be a temple without its Gbd ? As a system then which leaves us most in the dark is most divine— -has most
of God in it—how preferable was the faith of the Jews to Christianity , and the Grecian mythologies to both of them ! On the contrary , mystery is no more a part of religion than ignorance is of knowledge . The object of
the fbrmcr in divine , is the sahie sis that of the latter in human things ; to disclose what before was hidden . No uncertainty can exist now which did . not exist always ; revelation , indeed , when it made all manifest which it
is essential to know , enabled US to perceive that we had much yet to drs «« cover . The mystery remains , rio dpupt for wise purposes , but not in consequence of our faith . The Qalviru ^ t , like the " poor Indian , " €€ sees God in clouds ; " but with this difference : the former traces him as far as he is
able in the most ethereal of his works , the latter enshrouds him in darkness which he has himself created . After all , if there is any th $ fg pleasing in the contemplation of mystery , there are surely objects enoudjh tihat we see but dimly witnout o ] bsci * fing the light which neaven has givjeji
us * \ n the mfancyofaq eternal bei r ^ g we , must necessarily be surrounded with wonders . We feel mighty stirrings within us , like the motions of Honaeir a Gtytflop to his < £ javerw , gigantic though i n ' davkTiess , Possessed With desi &s y vl'fJcfe ^^ tlimg Visible ckn iatisf ^ , ' We are elevated by aspirations after' itriU-
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Chv . Pdetlcal Sd&Hlifim . No : IT . &i §
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1816, page 219, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2451/page/31/
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