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but especially the last volumes . And , to the honour of his consistency , this is the same man , who is so prudish that he dares not call Belisarius a cuckold , because it is too bad a word for a decent historian to use . If * history were anonymous , I should guess , that these disgraceful
obscenities were written by some debauchee , who having , from age or accident or excess survived the practice of lust , still indulged himself in the luxury of speculation and exposed the impotent imbecility , after he had lost the vigour of the passions , —( Junius . )
* But these few faults make no considerable abatement in my general esteem . Notwithstanding * all its particular defects , I greatly admire the whole 5 as I should admire a beautiful face , though it were tarnished with a few freckles ; or , as I should admire an elegant person and address , though they were blemished with a little affectation . ' *
How the learned Professor , while , upon such good authority , he placed thus low Mr . Gibbon ' s moral character , could yet so confidently attribute his " attack on Christianity" to " the purest and most virtuous motive / ' I am at a loss to understand . Christians
should be cautious of attributing to an opposite motive , even ** a cordial hatred of our religion . " Yet , if an author seek to undermine that religion by arts unworthy of fair contention , and at the same time use every occasion to corrupt the purity it inculcates , can it be uncandid to suspect that he hateth the light , and cometh not to the light lest his deeds should be
discovered ? Another scholar , also united to the great majority , once took occasion to animadvert with less complaisance on Mr . Gibbon and his History . I refer
to Mr . Wakefield ' s " New Translation of those parts only of the New Testament which are wrongly translated i « our Common Version . " 8 vo . 1789 . At the close of his Preface , he speaks of the Historian of the Decline and Fall
very disparaging terms . That I may do Mr . W . no injustice , 1 quote the whole paragraph . In the present publication a new turn V iP ^ tO severa * capital passages in St John ' s Gospelwhich were before either
, absurd or unintelligible . Indeed , this last r ^ . \ ew of tne New Testament has given additional strength , not only to my coji-* iction of the truth of Christianity , but to ^ y persuasion of the superlative excellence tlmt Gospel . It preseuU us with a more
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exact representation of the private character of our Saviour , of his reasoning's with the Jews , and his conversations with bis disciples . The more closely it is studied , the more clearly will its merits appear , which are not yet by any means sufficiently apprehended . Indeed , such , a priori ^ ought its character to be , from the
particular attention shewn to our Historian by his Divine Master . A very pleasing confirmation of the truth of our religion ! But the simplicity of the evangelical narrative * will not be relished by the admirers of that contemptible scoffer Gibbon ; whose history , I confidently affirm , no person of taste could scarcely endure to read , but
for the facts , which are not accessible to all ; whose antipathy to our religion , as that of most other cavillers , is the legitimate offspring of ignorance , depravity and conceit : whose fabricated compilations are as nearly allied to the authenticity of history , as his artificial composition and turgid diction to the unaffected charms , the simple dignity , the native eloquence of
Xenophon , of Ccesar and the Gospels . If Gibbon be a fine writer , those heroes of antiquity , his diametrical opposites in every character of composition , who have carried away every vote of every man of taste in every age , were the merest bung-r lers in their profession . Gibbon may write well , but then , most undoubtedly , Xenophon , Ccesar , and LuJce ^ are contemptible historians . "
Whether Mr . Wakefield undervalued the literary character of Mr . Gibbon ' s work , from a prejudice easily excited by a strong sense of its immoralities , and whether Mr . Porson
by his manner of exposing what he mildly termed a few faults , did not detract from his panegyric , on what he ranked among the ablest performances of its kind that has ever appeared ; these are considerations which I
submit to that numerous class of your readers , whose own studies and attainments have prepared them for such inquiries . REGRESSUS .
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Remarks on Mr . Belshams Plea for Infant Baptism . " Amicus Socrates , amicus Plato , zed mag is arnica veritas . " Sir , Dec . 3 , 1817-HIGHLY as I venerate the character of Mr , Belsham , and much as I respect his talents , he will himself allow , that I ought to respect , what appears to me to be the truth , still more , and that in cases where L think him mistaken , it is my duty to differ
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Remarks on Mr . Belsham ' s Plea for Infant Baptism . 7 * 5
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1817, page 715, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2471/page/19/
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