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
pure and simple jnstitations of th , e £ osnel—the distinction between clers ^ y and lauv—tUe orders of the hierarchy —mgh-soijindmg titles—sp lendid garments— -costly crowns— ancj ; ^ greedy ajjpetite after large temporalities and princely establishments . In proportion
as power became more extended and pre-eminence more secure , pride was the less disposed to brook that imputation of error which difference of opinion seemed to cast upon it ; and
hence the hopeful project of framing articles of faith to which all the world should subscribe . The assent of the weak was to be obtained by the fear of eternal torments , and the obstinacy of heretics to be overcome by t ! ie cogent arguments of racks and flames . Thus
Nebuchadnezzar commanded all people and nations and languages to fall down and worship the golden image he had set up , under pain of the fiery furnace ; and thus Louis the XlVth revoked the edict of Nantz , because it was his pleasure that there should be bat one religion in his dominions , and
that religion his own . J 3 ut if ever there was a case in which it might be safely pronounced that the Almighty had interposed with his veto upon the p rojects of human pride and folly , it is this . When men began to builil a tower whose top might reach unto heaven , he confounded their language and their speech . And so when the plain path of scriptural truth was
forsaken , the very attempt to make them all pursue the same track by forcible methods , only made them the more re ; j dy , by a principle of re-action inherent in the human mind , to start off in numberless different directions . Truth is of that pure a fid unchangeable nature , that by its own operation it will ultimately obtain universal assent ;
but to make mankind generally and permanently unanimous in error , the Grod of truth has forbidden j—its very efforts to sustain itself do but accelerate its downfall . Such was the state of things when the Jteformatjon shook to its very base that colossal domination which exalted itself " above all that is called God or
is worshipped , ' and which prohibited the reading of the Scriptures to the people , lest the rottenness of its foundation should be discovered . But let it pe ctace admitted , and well understood , lhat with respect to- freedom of
Untitled Article
^ uiry ' e ^ - MividuaJ , i » upon a , pe ^ feetly equal rnqtin ^ ( and this is tbe very vital principle of tnV Reformation ) , and vain is the attempt to circumscribe it within this or that particular pale . Like the confluent water 3 , it will burst
through every mound which the anxious but fruitless labour of bigotry and superstition raises before it ; nor will any effort avail to resist its progress till it has found its natural level . And will you not , my friends , indulge with me the pleasing persuasion that our beloved country is marked out in the
divine counsels as the favoured region where this blessed , evangelical equality shall first be seen in all its peace-giving and love-inspiring influences ? Imr mortal be that constitution , immoveable our adherence to it , which , occupied only in its proper sphere with the . security of our civil rights on the basis of
common liberty , leaves religion to the impulse of its own unbiassed , its inalienable independence—which , virtually disclaiming every idea of toleration as from itself , opens the way for the exercise of it , in its just and genuine acceptation , between one sect and another—which , regarding th ^ ir various distinctions with a disinterested an 4
. indifferent eye , interferes no fartheir than to protect every individual in the peaceable exercise of his natural and indefeasible privilege . Can it be a doubt whether in such a genial soilr all the rich fruits of religious as wel | as of civil liberty will attain , in due season , their highest degree of perfection ?
Sevuril circumstances , however ^ concur to render it probable tl > at a . consummation so much to be desire ^ * is not very nigh at hand , upon a fevy of which 1 shall now briefly touch . It would seem as if the perfect
independence of every religious-denomination on our civil institutions . ' hacl the effect of setting at work a spirit of rivalship among themselves—* ¦ * a stritfb among them which shall be accounted the greatest . ** Hence the custom of making a periodical display of the
number of their churches and the illcrease of their members ; too little , Vi : mi ght be thought , in accordance wiYu the princi p les of thai kingdom whicn " cometh not with observaiion " anil whichy ' ^ s it " is not of this world , ** does hot seem sufficiently to harmonize with tho : c expedients ^ too nearly akiti
Untitled Article
Christian g $ iiqli / y : ^^ rf ^ ifi ly Mr . $ d < $ owes * g , tj £ hifafklphia , Q . ? 7
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1817, page 207, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2463/page/15/
-