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II . From the late Robert Robinson to a Clergyman : communicated by Mr . Madge . Norwich , Nov . 15 , 1817 . Sir , SEND for insertion in the Monthly I Repository the following letter of the late Robert Robinson , which was put into nny hands some time ago by a respectable clergyman of this city , to whom it was addressed , in Answer to a request of his , ( communicated
anonymously , ) that the Author of the Village Sermons would give a more accurate and detailed account of his notions on the subject of spiritual influence . The letter , it will be seen from its date , was written not more than a twelvemonth before the writer ' s
death . Of its genuineness there can be no doubt , the original being at this time in my own possession . Besides , its style is so pointedly and characteristically expressive of the Author , that every one acquainted with his writings will immediately recognize it to be his .
T . MADGE . Chesterton , Cambridge , Sir , July 1 , 1789 . I have not accustomed myself , [ own , to answer anonymous correspondents , but the style and spirit of your favour seem to demand a different treatment .
My apology for not writing immediately 1 hope you will readily admit . I was just gone from home when your letter came to hand , and have only just now returned . The letter was indeed sent to town , but in the
perpetual circle of company , visiting , preaching and business , of that mart of all wares , except retirement , I could not attend to my letters from home , excepting only the very important .
Accept my thanks , Sir , for the transcript from Dr . Priestley and for your just remarks . Certain it is , ( at least so it appears to me , ) the popular notion of the immediate influence of the Deity on the mind is a source of
innumerable errors , and , among Protestants , is utterly indefensible , because it contradicts the grand principle of Protestantism , the sufficiency and perfection of the Holy Scriptures . Revelation in this view is unrevealed , ai the necessity of an infallible living
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Judge is taken for granted . What follows may be easily seen . Sir , I am flattered by your approbation of the Village Discourses to the poor . Assuredly they were never intended for such readers as yourself ;
but if you , and such readers as yourself , will condescend to recollect the extreme iarnorance of the lower classes of mankind , the intolerable vices which their ignorance generates , the benefits acquired to society by their reformation , and the absolute necessity of
vulgarizing oneVself to obtain the purpose of enlightening and meliorating them , you will , I humbly hope , set goodness of design against grossness of style , and consider their sermons as you do their labour and their diet as proper for them , though not for
yourself , it is easy , Sir , to christen their children , to church their wives , and to give the sacrament to themselves in their last sickness , but to rouse their sleeping reason into reflection , to compel their passions to do homage to virtue , to inspire them with manly hopes and fears is not so easy ; and the
weakest efforts , even such as scent of rude , illiterate and unpolished manners , if they succeed , ought in justice to pass uncensured by their superiors . No , Sir , far from being ofFerided at what you say , 1 consider it as a proof of the greatness of your understanding and the goodness of your heart . Kvery tiling in that book was intended for
the dregs of the people , whom , however , we are all bound to pity and relieve . 1 accept also , Sir , as a mark of your esteem , your friendly advice concerning a treatise on the subject mentioned
above , addressed to the literati . To say nothing of my own incapacity , I beg leave to observe , that not enthusiasm , but Deism . seems to be the favourite of the great ; that they who move heaven and earth to perpetuate established errors are not accessible to
the unpensioned voice of the cool , deliberate nature and fitness of things $ that men of the finest talents and of unquestionable learning and virtue , have often endeavoured , and some are
now endeavouring , to rescue the religion of Jesus from the barbarisms of dark ages , and to restore it to its original simplicity , with what success let a Price or a Priestley say . What
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Letter from the late Robert Robinson to a Clergyman . 645
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1817, page 645, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2470/page/5/
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