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Untitled Article
t ^ t ^ e doctrine gr statesman , t ) bject of law ^ d le ^ sUtioir , ^ forgetting , as it &ould « eem , that Mr . © arlile was tried for no error of fnin ^ * £ ple any ftrtHfer than ^ that was the motive to an 6 vert hct * which a few
years before i ^ d l ) € « fi declared by a jtojr to b # illegal , and visited as such by a sentence proiiduneed on the delinquent . The Reviewer seems also to / orget the character atid - tendency of his own remarks . He declares h £
^* # 6 uM be . the first to reprobate the conduct" of u man who , by the publicationr of his opinions , and by the efforts of hifc own or of ^ otli ^ r * s Ingenuity , should endeavour to recommend the
practice of suicide , " and , by means of iirgtitnent and persuasion ,, to bring it into contempt and abhorrence . '' Now -i would ask , whether t <> bring a man ' s conduct , and consequently his person and character Into contempt and abhor-• renee be not a species of persecution , differing , indeed , in kind from fines
and dungeons , but affecting very sensibly thfe temporal interests of the delinquent , excited by hostility to the obnoxious principle , and inflicted for the purpose of preventing its dissemination and the evils aa&uisr from it ?
If the Reviewer wishes to do this , it tnust be from his belief and desire that the principle in question should be put down . ¦ '¦>~< WtokS * says Mr . Fox , [ Sermon on
Cfcrliie , p . 41 , 3 V it is urged that -though the gospel is above human aid , the poor and ignorant should be protected from sophistical and demoralizing works . I know but one way of protecting the ignorant , and that is , by ^ destroying ignorance by the diffusion ^ f information . The best defence against sophistry is not its suppression , ^ t its refutatkmi Danger from books implies ability to read those booksand
, he who t cto read one book can read MotherV hevwho can read Paine , can read the Bi $ te ? ' Again , fPrefoce to &e Sermonj ^ iH ., ] u If Deiats will listen to you , persutfde them : if ttiey - vrift reaeoit , » gue with them " : if they write tod ^ ubKsh , rdlly to -them : if tMy niiiwepresent , expWte ^ hem ; but , fa the na « i ^ ^ f Christ , ' dii « ot JWirtfecute them , do not abet or « anction
t ¦ A . ml . ^ - »^~ ^ . — >¦ ^ . m . j # . _ . , Wib ' a * > xi'fa ' ¦ if . ' - & , thkk , Blie Mr . Fox , iSPwM . aider human beings and to nrgue abbut
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diem , a ^ , if as much pi ^ ision belong to them WS . ^^ i | 4 ipqii # w ^ ^ other and to surrounding objects , as belongs to mathemaacal quantitieg . Hence they are 3 OO \ etin > es inattentive to the filets of tSm ! i&tory , ^ 1 to what may be called t \ xe natu ^ liktorv of man , his faculties and affections Of the first kind of inttiif ^ rkticm a re .
markable instance has b ^ en noticed by the Inqnirer ^ fFoiir Letter * , § £ . fi , ] relative to the conversion of our Saxon ancestors to Christianity . In the present argument we may say , indeed , 2 a 5 = a + a . ' 4 I He who can read one
book can read another : he who can read Paine , 6 &n reiad the Bgble ? ' no ^ thing can be clearer ; but after reading Paine will he be tofflitig to reafl the Bible ; or itill he be likely to rtddit so a * to have ang phatfee of profiting by it ? Is ^ coarse ribaldry to be effectually met by any argument ? Are
those on whom it must produce ^ s most pernicious effects likely to attend to any apology fox the Bible that Bishop Watson or fift y bishops can offer ? Are not falsehooa and ignorance in alliance with low jesting and buffoonery , calculated to do infinite m ^ chief , even though , the falsehoods are
refuted , and the ignorance demon * 8 trated ?—Is it withul the province of learning , or logic or rhetoric to furnish an antidote to this poison ? Can any thing supply the want of reverence for religion I How are we then to pr < H $ Bd Avith writings , the immediate and
irresistible effect of which is to produce this wpnt df i » v ^ reil «*? i--Is the publication and circulation of them to go
on unrestrained till such answers as are most appropriate shall have ^ rou ^ ht them into general neglect ? It % b tft&fa irrelevant to say that the gospel & $ & * nof $ the aid ofW civSl . JWwr # evidences and ukimate * ucce $$ of Chm-MmAiy ^ tm mtv m nmm ^ r # t ^ % to
% t * i ktttd ef opjM > 3 itl <^ <« oUuid ;_ but ¦ - numberless rSdiv 5 duaIs . ttiuat be ** , ¦^ m ^ m ^ mM ^ m ' { jwraB !
¦ fmieiS ^ pm ' ^ ifmsgg ^ UktlytS' pi ' fe ^ iitAmd ^^^ teflsW , <¦ * *^ ' . 7 7 , . ' . K : Y-
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'StO On the - Right of the MaghtHUe to punish lfttbetiev * r « .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1820, page 210, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2487/page/18/
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