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our copy of The True Doctrine , and almost the first passage which met our eye , was the following , which we extract for Mr . "Wilson ' s information : — ** The principal thin ^ , therefore , that I would recorrrmend and
inculcate , is , a love of truth . This is the most promising and likely way to be led into it , the best preparative for receiving it , and , in all cases , the best preservative against every dangerous error and delusion . It is for want of
this , that there are multitudes in the world who labour under mental slavery and oppression , and are hardly ever sensible of it . Reason must always be dormant , and in a state of captivity , when there is no disposition
and relish for free inquiry . And I cannot but lay the greater stress upon this , as the apostle , when speaking of the grand aposfacy , thus accounts for it , telling us , that , because men received not the love of truth , they erred to their own destruction . See that
remarkable passage in 2 Thess . ii . 10 , 11 , & : c . where the apostle strongly intimates , that persons need net , or rather cannot be deluded , by the lying wonders , the unrighteous and fraudulent wiles of the man of sin , if they are lovers of truth and virtue . It is
only upon other characters , that God , at any time , sendeth strong delusion , so that they should believe a lie , or embrace the most absurd and foolish things , &c . whereas the mind of a truly honest man , who sincerely loves and seeks the truth , being free from
every corrupt and criminal bias , will seldom , if ever , err , in any matters of real importance . Truth of every kind , and especially religious truth , will be always dear to him . He will , e , g . inquire after and cordially embrace whatever appears to be the truth of
the gospel , however contrary it may be to his former opinions , to the faith , of his own , or to the articles of any other church . —Upon the same principle , he will always act as conscience persuades , and be strictly just and true to the light and sentiments of his own mind i knowing that , how light
a matter soever some persons make of it , conscience is very much concerned in stedfastly adhering to what we apprehend to be the truth , how wide or different soever it may be from the apprehensions of others . ** Pref . Ess . £ p . 68 , 69-Having fead this passage , our concern
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for the Historian led us to look into Mr . Cardale ' s other principal work , The Gospel Sanctuary ; where we were equally at a loss for any one sentence
to justify Mr . Wilson ' s censure : we found one passage , however , which , though it does not bear him out in his condemnatory criticism , may possibly set him right in spirit :
" Christians , as such , would do well to consider , that one eminent branch or precept of this gospel is charity , ( charity in respect to other men ' s opinions , and our own temper and conduct towards them that differ from us , ) and that the peculiar doctrines of Christianity do , in the strongest manner , recommend and enforce it . All uncharitable
ness is unrighteousness ; it is iniquity ; or a manifest breach of the gospel rule , which is a rule of equity , and contrary to the very spirit and design of it . — . When professed Christians , in open
defiance of this noble maxim , grow angry with those that differ from them , call in question their honesty , deny them the righ . s of common humanity , and are for propagating what they call truths in the way of the Alcoran , not of
the Bible ; this is the bane of Christianity , and inconsistent with all true religion : or , this is that bitter zeal , ( as the apostle truly describes it , ) which is earthly , sensual , and devilish , and ought never to have a . place , or a name , amongst Christians , amongst Protestants" Pref . pp . xx . xxi . The historian sinks into the partizan in the description of Or . L , ardner * s cha * racter , ( p . 111 . ) 11 is needless to quote Mr . Wilson ' s words : the purport of them is that he wishes Dr . Lardner had believed as he ( Mr . W . ) believes , regrets that l > r . Lardncr should have assisted in the destruction of the Jaith of Christians , and disavows moderation
and charity where "• Socinianism" is concerned ! " Charity , fojb g system that stats at -the very vitals ^ Jf Christianity , is no longer a virtue , but a crime r Were the History disgraced with many passages of this ridiculous , insolent character , we should take little
interest in it ; but regarding Mr . Wilson ' s intolerance as occasional and as an exception to the visual spirit which he breathes in these pages , we deem ourselves not ill-employed in pointing out places where he may . employ the pruning-knife with credit to himself-George Benson , JD . £ >• was another of the eniinent ^ ox en who preached in
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344 Review . —Wtfsoris Dissenting Churches .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1816, page 344, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2453/page/36/
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