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who once ventured to take some of these ifcfi , iwas immediately killed by tlw& devotees who had witnessed the transaction . * The Mahometans Of the present day are divided into se-SteBty-two sects ; f but the method of gashing is one of the grand points
$ f schism between the partizans of Omar and the followers of AIL Supf > pse two Mahometans to meet on a journey , and to accost each other with brotherly affection , the hoar of prayer arrives , one begins his ablution at his fingers , the other at the elbow , and instantly they are mortal enemies . J
It w $ s my intention to have closed 4 his Essay with some account of the superstitions of the people of Grestt Britain ; but when I considered the length to which I had already
exieuded the paper , I determined to i ^ lter oiy purpose , especially when I discovered that the materials which might easily be collected , would of themselves filJ a volume . Those who
Upay be curious in these things can obtain abundant information by consulting the Li v « s and pablished works pf Jolia Partridge , Henry Coley , John looker , Richard Satjnderv John Heydon , John Aubrey , William Lilly or John Qadbury ; all or any of which
will afford a patient reader a tolerablycorrect idea of the mass of superstitions that overshadows and oppresses the minds of the common people of the present day . These superstitions $ re noyv regularly promulgated by the vehicle of tales of wonder or of
horror ,, from father to ^ on ; and (? hus tfie seeds of error and of folly are iriiplanted in the minds of every fresh generation , without its being once « uspected by the parents , that they < ij . re entailing a lasting OuPse updti
ttyeir children , and are familiarizing them with a phantom * , tyljich will probably haunt them with direful apprehensions through every perioci of their lives , and even to the very threshold of tjhat housfe which is appointed for all the living .
1 have had occasion to rework , that yyheu a person Jhas spent )| is ea ^ rly days in the society qf the ignorant and ^ ttperstiiious , he generally becomes nar * ow-niinded # suspicious and
sel-* Warmer ' s Observational . ITI . 60 + ; ^ olfi wyk It uIrs . » . 15 d . t Ibid . 339-
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fish ; and if his reasoning ftK 5 ujtfes should ever be so far expai ^ d ed # * io occasion his admiration of thfe structure of the universe , ^ r of tli e powers and faculties of the various creatures
by which he is surrounded , or of the mechanism of his oWn body , or the qualities and propensities of life own mind , such a one is sure to become perplexed to account for thie eketdbse of so mach power in the pr 6 dtictiou of a world which contains such k
vnriety of useful and happy beings . Bdng entirely selfish himself , hid cmnot conceive what should have induced the Deity to bestow life md feJicity upoamyriad « of c ^ rfe ^ tui ^ s who must ever remain dependent upon their Creator far all their etyoyiitoifo , and even for the conrtintisttfce df their
existence . At la&t , ho ' v ^ ever , the priest relieves his anxiety by telling him , in the perverted language of Scripture , that God Almighty had made all for the promotion of Ms own glory . This precious doctrine comforts him for the moment , bi ^ t at the
same time it confirms him in his selfishness , so that every future action of his life is directed to the gratification and aggrandizement of self , and self only . Whenever superstition is tlius associated with unworthy notions of the Deity , it not only injures the
temper , and renders men selfish and uncharitable ; but it has a ) so a tendency to make them unrelenting atnd persecuting . H ^ nce Plutarch , with a gr « at d ^ al of propriety , has endeavoured to shew , that thNj effect of superstition upon the human mind , in wdtfse even than tliat of Atheism .
H « kw important then is it foif qs to endeavour th oroughly to investigate this subject , in oteder that w ' e itafty be enabled to purify our religion frotifi ^ every remnant of superstition . Shpdrstition is baneful enough 'in itspitt ward dflfecta , and its cor * sequ € nceB ate
: i » ow pretty well understood by the intelligent part of 4 he ^ ominftfiiity ; but the injury whkrh <^ e sttstatn from it , in our religioUB Character , is jnot * o readily ^ okncvwled ^ d mor ho easily appreciated . A man may have
purified hf » creed from every thing which might be chargeable either wkli fanaticism © r absurdity , aod yet may have very superstitious notito * © n the Object vf veii ^ ioym mwhhip Of what tftiHty e * n % feV -d ^ wrt jter-
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314 0 nihegetierai Prevalence of SttperUiti&n
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1818, page 314, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2476/page/26/
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