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-hand , it musfe be acknowledged that men ' s minds have been > 6 O much -engaged by t&ar 9 and polities , ' whose irmuetioe is far front being auspiciou ' s to tHe cultivation of ' rationalpietg , that -they" 4 ta ; Ve had little leisure , anrf > perhaps , less inclination , to attend to the great concerns of Religion . Her voice , However , itiust , and will be heard , at
last , if * iot in the calm tone of arguinent , win the mild and affectionate language of admonition , at least , in the thunder of general calamity . I Mr , Jkftrnett ' s opinion ^ relative to thd effect ? that the conviction of a Deity
ms tn le&dmg men to a Miff of the truth * of Revelation , will appear per-* fcctly just to every person who understands t ; ' 2 md •• • reflects on the subject . " In fact , Infidelity and Atheism , in some form er other , are more intimately . connected than may be generally
supiposedv- It will be found that the greater part of modem infidels have Bad , and still have , no religious principle tat -all , Christianity admits , establishes , and expands all the just
. principles of Nmiural Religion , and enfotces them by sanctions which no liuman authority could pretend to -enact . To reject Cltrislianity is , there-/ ore , to Reject 'Natural Reli g ion herself , invested with her fairest , most
ecvraaging , a « id < t -most venerable aspect . The truth- is , < that by far the greater fart of infidels iftever give themselves the trouble d& make any inquiry cor * - ^ eriiing ttligiom subjects . Under the ittiprassio'rr 0 f . « j 6 rtain vague , indefinite , # ud hastily asstimecK notions , they discard the GhnsiifMjfmtk r "by reason
of a secret aversion from its purity c * f principle , and exalted "moral complexioti . The peculiar nature of Mr . Bur-^ ett ^ B religiotjs scruples has not been ascertained ^ If is evident , however , that they « buld not relate to the fundamental articles of Christianity . For ,
Ot these Jie . not only professes , in k will , Ym firttt belief , but also his deep fciise vf ike inexpressible love oj ' the JLcqd Jestiv , and " xjf the ifmaluable bene ~ JUs tukfoh mankind receive by him . That there ^ t&a % fficulties An Revelation itself no rational divine will deny . But ,
tfieqe , affect neither th < e essential dociri ; njesr , fBtfcb'a 8 they exist in the Sacred ^ rriptures , npr thfe tnoral precepts of Cbnstianity . ^ Bhe Apostle Peter toys , 4- tiiat , > in the Episttea of'his beloved brother , Paul , a * e Mime things hard
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to be undefst ^ ied , which they thai ai % unlearned lirnl unstable wrest , as th eV * do also trie other Scriptures , unto the ** own destruction /'•* Mr . "Burnetts scruples evinced thai he was a conscientious believer , an £ an anxious' inquirer after truth . { have , already , pointed out one erron *
ous conclusion which , at a certain period , they led him to-adopt . But « ven this was 'sincerely erroneous , and it appears that his mind * afterwarch , embraced a juster view of the subject , in respect to which he erred . It is only persons of some discernment , aft ^
of upright hearts * that ever entertain religious scruples * The profligate , tHe indifferent , the bigot , < the entkusi&tf ^ and the hypocrite , never have their minds perplexed in this manner . The profligate and the indifferent are utterly regardless whether the whole , or any
part of the religious system , which is professed , be true , or " false . The ligof and the enthusiast adopt , without examination , any set of opinions , and neither entertain a \ mbts themselves , nor suffer tnhers to entertain them , with regard to their professed creed The hypocrite pretends to believe whatever is siA ^ e rv ient to his temporal
interests . The honest inqmter will , sometimes , experience doubts , with respect to eeitatti points , and , ever open to conviction , . will be anxious t 6 obtain t : heir Stftfertion . Thfe predfedMc narrative , apd the
quotations with , which i $ is in terspersed , evince the subject of it to have ( Oecna cn ^ racter of no ordinary starrip , in ' regard whether to his Intel lectual , or to his moral ynalitie ? Though assiduously occupied in business , he . nevertheless , directed hi ^
mind jto the rruost important and n ^ bie ^ t objects that can fix the attkn * tion of man . ITiough employed m merchandise , and attentive to its chief ahn — the acquisition of wealth—h expanded his heart to the niost generous and comprehensive iaifit&-sions of benevolence , and , in tnt
midst of an ihereasin ^ fortune , Was constantl y mindful of the indigent ? in the enjoyment of ease and cpmfaW felt for the distresses * of those who " had none to hel p them . "t & ? ™ it * the discharge ot the duties < n n »
* SfPet . iii . 16 . ^ Job xxix . 1 ^ .
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44 S Memoir relative to Jdfoi Surnvte , ^ 57 . vf 1 >^ .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1816, page 442, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2455/page/6/
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