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than a direct attack Upon popular opinions . Tftey would insist \ xpoii the Unity of God , trithout g h'ewMg its absolute inconsistency with everj modification of Trinitafiariisai $ they would set forth' the benignity , the long * suffering , the graeiousness of our
heavenly Father * without urging that no equivalent or atonement can be necessary to make such a Being ready to receive tfie penitent transgressor ; they would Insist upon the necessity of good works to salvation ? without drawing the inference * wfiich they might , respecting the Calviflistic doctrines of absolute decrees and the
efficacy of faith alone . To others it seems that though this indirect method of insinuating truth into the mind may be well suited to men of leisure and reflection , it is not adapted to the generality , who do not and
cannot pursue principles to consequences not pointed out , and to whoni the whole benefit of a process of reasoning may be lost , if ' the last step be wanting whith should connect it with the cdttclusiritio They think that to teach truth but never to shew its
inconsistency with popular error , i& to dig the iiiiiie Without laying the gunpowder . Th £ result of the efforts which are ii 6 w ifraking to re-convert the people of Geneva , tiiay help to decide which of these two methods
of propagating truth is most deserving of bur Imitation . If they succeed in makirig Calvinism once more popularp in spite of the notorious renunciation of it by the clergys and even force them P as the drily means of preserving 1 their influence , to resume it , we can hardly avoid the inference ,
that for truth to gain a firm footing , it itidst' be taught controversially . Should they fail * / it itiust be allowed that where cifcurristaiices permit the system df'indirect attack to be pursued so long and uninterruptedly as at has be ^ n at Geneva , it accomplishes its object effectually at last .
Tfiei-ie is otie case indeed in which the iJI success of Mr . Bi-uitaiond and his associates'wilt prove nothing , and that i& , if the clergy use tlieir influence With the riiagistraCy to prevent Calvinistoi from beitfg taught within the territories of the rtejteibHc , artd proceed tb c £ itetir& arid depose' any of their o" # iflr Body wWo p& $ itffc iri preacliiiig
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it . TM former is scarcely fcoticeiirable ; I vfri ^ li I could say tMt ibid syiiipt 6 tfr of the latter had appeared . SfoduM they adopt this mefftbd of stitfmg di ^ - cussioti , however ifre mzty regret iitalt soch an instance of di ^ regstrd to tlffe
right of private judgment sfrotild proceed froifr such a quarter , # e tisMf learri this useful lesson , that the spirit of all establishments is too nearly the same ? and that the best principles ift other respects , are not proof against the corrupting influence of the p ' ofcsession of power ,,
P . T . L . Havijig described the situation , politica T l constitution , &c , of Genefa , M . dAlembert proceeds , " It now only remains that we should speak of the
state of religidn , and this is perhaps that part of our present article , in which the pliilosopher will take th 6 strongest interesto Before we enter into this detail , v ^ e must request dUr readers to remember that we are
historians atid not polemics , that our articles of theology are designed as ail antidote to the errors of which we are going to speak , and that rio > approbation is implied in giving an account of them- We refer the deader to the
articles Eucharist , Hell , Faiih 9 Christianity , to fortify them before-hand against what we are going to say . * [ The reader will be amused or disgusted with this flimsy affectation of a zeal for the Catholic doctrine , Which
was necessary to make the Encyclopedic pass in a country where Popery was still the established religion , though notoriously designed to bring Christianity itself Into contempt . ] ** The ecclesiastical constitution of Geneva
is purely Presbyterian ; they have rib bishops and still less canons ; not that they disapprove of episcopacy but they see no proof of its divirie authority , and they think a poorer arid hufiibler ministry better suitied to . 31 sttial ! republic—The ministers are
either pastors , answering to our parish clergy , or postulants * like our unbeneficed priests . Their salary does not exceed I 2 OOlivre § ( £ 50 , sterling ) without any perquisites ^ and it is paid by the state , foii * the church possesses
nothing . ' No minister is admitted without a rigid examination both tff his itiotals and Jiis literary attainments ^ tfbir till fee' is ' 24 years of age ;— -Ttic
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1818, page 23, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2472/page/23/
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