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Christian Israelites . € i A large tract of land , ( says Mr . Way , p , 89 ) as a Jewish settlement , is to be immediately measured out on the shores of the sea of Azof , near Marianpoule , or Taganrog , the spot once destined by
Peter the Great for the capital of his empire . " We are happy to find that ¦ t he object of the Russian Institution is not promoting Christianity among the Jews , but affording an asylum to those who are converted to any church of Christians : " this is in the true
spirit of toleration , which our author says , " prevails in the utmost latitude throughout the empire . " ( P . 38 . ) The Emperor honoured Mr . Way with a personal interview , arid expressed his unqualified approbation
of the object of that gentleman's visit * Esteeming the Imperial Ukases or Decrees on this subject of some consequence , we shall insert them * from the copies in the Appendix to this pamphlet , in that part of our work allotted to Ecclesiastical Documents .
The ** Reformed Jews" excite in our minds a more lively curiosity than even the Russian Asylum . They appear to us to be on the verge , at least , of Unitarian Christianity , and
we cannot but express our earnest wish thatthe Unitarians of this country may be able to open some communication with them . They ought to know fully , that a large body of Christians consider Trinitarianism to
be as opposite to the New Testament as to the Old , and hold that there is as great a necessity for Reformed Christians as for * Reformed Jews . " Both these reformed sects might coalesce for the purpose of better promoting the great work of reformation . We shall conclude with an
admirable letter from one of the " Reformed Jews '" to Mr . Way , which he has published in the Appendix together with his answer , which we have neither room nor inclination to insert , it being precisely what any zealous but not overwise Trinitarian and Calvinist would have written or spoken on that or any other occasion : —
* ' Letter from an Elder of the reformed JewSj addressed to the Ilev . Lewis Way " ( . Sent in English and German . ) " Berlin , Oct . 21 , 1817 . u Most Honoured Sib , ^ In the few hours in which you fa-
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voured me by a conversation on that * ub * ject which must be the most important for man , yon have laid open your elevated sentiments on it with such a noble spirit , such truth and candour , that you have deeply affected me , and given me a full persuasion of the purity and benevolence of your virtuous endeavours .
"You , Sir , I say it with a joyful conviction , are a true Christian ; one of those few , whose hearts are truly filled with the holy idea of their preceptor , who understand the full meaning and weight of his divine doctrine , and who know how to represent it in their life and actions to the benefit of their fellow-creatures .
u Love , charity , those significant words which the founder of the Christian faith pronounced in such an enforcing * manner , with you they are not words only as they are with so many other men * , they are the animating- principles of your mind ; they have inflamed you with that noble zeal , to
reach the hand of love to your brethren ^ and to lead them to peace and everlasting felicity . O what an exalted design is yours ! He alone can form it , whom the divine grace has deemed worthy to make him know to what a great end the human soul was formed .
" But , Sir , give me leave to ask you a question . I may venture to lay it down before you , who love truth and sincerity in every shape . You , Sir , who are so earnestly bent to promote the happiness of mankind , why do you not turn your pious endeavours towards making- those
that are Christians already , but merely by name , better acquainted with the true dictates of their religion ? Why do you not . persuade your brethren in the faith , that pure and divine as it is , it can lead them to felicity only if it influences every motion of their heart , every action of their life ?
u design of your great Master was to found a universal religion , confined to no place or nation , a religion for the salvation of the world : He grounded his precepts on the moral nature of man , on the two holiest principles planted in the human mind , faith and charity . Yea ,
He commanded even to love our enemies , knowing that enemies can be converted into friends by confidence in this their moral nature , by exerting * love and charity towards them , by shewing a gentle pardon for their errors and offences . JSuch were His noble intentions , such was His beneficial aim .
" Now I may ask you , Sir , can there be found in the life and behaviour of most of those who call themselves Christians , the least sign of such a pure , utiiverael love ? Nay , are not the actions of mod of them wholly contradictory to that which was practised by Christ ? In evtry pftrt
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7 ( & Review—Way ' s Letter to the Bishop of St . Davids' .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1818, page 762, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2483/page/34/
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