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Untitled Article
all discussion , and particularly all religious discussion , ought to be conducted . The acrimony which usually mingles with , and poisons religious controversy , has long excited the malignant smile of the unbeliever , and the sigh of the enlightened Christian . That the disciples of a Master whose spirit was gentle as the dove , the emblem of the Divine approbation
which descended on his sacred head ; and whose religion is nothing but benevolence , speaking in ils sweetest accents and inspired by its Eternal Source , should exemplify even in their inquiries relative to its doctrines and duties , the very temper which it is its great object to destroy—can be accounted for onl y by the philosopher
who looks deeply into the human heart , and perceives through all the appearances and names it assumes , the true and most hateful and pernicious egotism of which it is full . To defend the doctrines of the religion of Jesus with animosity , is as if one should
dilate on the loveliness ot the meek and gentle disposition which turns with agony from the sight of human suffering , and end by the application of the rack : or dwell with impassioned language on the value of the friendship which knows neither suspicion nor bound , and as the accents fall from the lips , Judas-like , to
betray to death with a kiss the most confiding of friends . " Yet it is a certain and mournful truth , that even the enlightened have displayed on this subject , a bigotry of which ignorance itself might have been ashamed ; and the amiable
indulged an animosity of which none but the malignant might have been supposed capable . They have offered incense to their own vanity , while they imagined , perhaps sincerely believed , that , animated only by a zeal ' for the glory of God , they were
sacrificing on the altar of truth , every human infirmity . Often too , this violation of the spirit of Christ arises from a most unworthy source : from the wish to display what talent is possessed for smartness and repartee : with what severity and sarcasm it is
possible to chastise the insolence which presumes to differ from us : and with what ease a small oversight may be magnified into wilfulness , perversity and guilt . Few controversialists in-
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deed , are conscious , at the time , of the littleness of the feeling which prompts these unhallowed sallies of imagination and criminal ebullitions of
pas-X si on ; but that feeling is not the less real or active for being concealed . And it is curious to observe how it prevails over the firmest resolutions against it . Almost all disputants begin with profession of moderation and candour : most , with a sincere
desire to exemplify these excellencies : but gradually the imagination becomes heated : the mind , feeling strongly the evidence which it endeavours to illustrate and establish , wonders at the ignorance which does not perceive , or the perverseness which will not y ield to it : becomes irritated and provoked , forgets its
good resolves and delivers itself up to the evil spirit which , at length , entirely possesses it . And what is deeply to be lamented , this disgraceful violation of the spirit of the Christian religion , is generally applauded and cherished by the partisans of the cause it is supposed to favour .
We are not a little gratified that Mr . Yates has manifested a deep con-g ^ sciousness of this aptitude of the mind to sin against the Christian law : that he appears , therefore , to have exercised a vigilant guard over himself through the whole controversy and in general with success . The gentleness of his spirit , and the courtesy of his manner , are exemplary . Without pretending to humility , there often
occur in the works before us traces of the genuine feehng . Fixing on the great arguments which have produced conviction in his own mind , stating them plainly and simply , and * leaving them to make their own impression on the mind of the reader , he neither attempts to flatter nor
seeks to awe or to persuade him . He points out the misconceptions , the misrepresentations and the fallacious reasonings of his opponent , without affecting to wonder at his ignorance , to tremble with horror at his presumption , to be scandalized at
his impiety , or to be in doubt whether he deserve the Christian name , or can be admitted to a participation of the Christian ' s happiness . There are indeed some ( exceptions to this ^ prevailing urbanity and modesty : occa-
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Review . '—Unitarian Controversy in Scotland . 3 ( j 7
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1817, page 367, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2465/page/47/
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