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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Hill-House , Swansea , Sir , April 22 , 1820 . NUMBER LXXII . of the British Critic having been lately put into my hands , I observe that , from the extracts taken by the Editor from the Rev . John Garbett ' s Letter in reply to the Remonstrance , it would seem that the terms , " frail and sinful" mortal ,
are used by me in direct application to our Saviour . I have , therefore , to state that no such expression has been admitted into the Remonstrance , that nothing could be further from my design than such profane language , nor do I believe a charge of such a nature can be
substantiated against any Unitarian . It appears also , that on the authority of Mr . Garbett , the Editor has charged me with " stigmatizing" the text 1 John v . 7 , as a " counterfeit passage . " But I would have our opponents to understand , that , however
competent I might possibly be myself to such a judgment , I should not have passed it , having the incomparably superior advantage of giving it , as I have done , as the decision of learned fnese misrepresentations constitute but a small part of the number contained in Mr . Garbett's Letter , and which , should I think it worth ivhile ,
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I may hereafter point out ; in the mean time , as these two have found their way into the British Critic , I shall be glad to see them exposed through the medium of your valuable publication . JAMES GIFFORD .
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Hackney , Sir , April 19 , 1820 . MOST of your readers must have seen the newspaper reports of the trial of Magennis and Bruce at Chester , for shooting at the Stockport constable , and probably noticed the circumstance I am about to refer you to . In ordinary times it might have little claim to attention , but at a time
when the kingdom is agitated with apprehension at the progress of infidelity , and while the diffusion of writings having that tendency has become the subject for new legislative severities , the capital conviction of two of his Majesty ' s subjects on the principal evidence of a professed Infidel , is an event of no mean importance in the annals of English jurisprudence ;—the address of the Chief-Justice Warren ,
on passing sentence , makes it still more remarkable : — " You , Magennis , have been convicted on evidence as clear as ever was adduced in a court of
justice . " This declaration confirms the deliberate decision of the jury , and seems to sanction a principle of equality as to the moral results of the various existing theological systems , and to abolish all distinction between
the testimony of believers and unbelievers in the Christian revelation . Viewing it as a legal precedent , it is hig hly interesting and singular , and in relation to hostile prejudices and religious persecution it opens a large field for speculation . If the feeling that may be presumed to have actuated the
jury is allowed to be correct , a man ' s veracity ought no longer to be questioned on the ground of his entertaining or rejecting opinions on matters foreign to the subject of his attestation $ it is a plain , practical refutation of
established prejudices , which , in the most important concerns of human life , places professors and unbelievers ( independently of other circumstances ) on the same moral footing , and the occurrence may be hailed as a decisive indication of the progress of liberal
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laws and government of the country . This was a grievous crime , tending directly to a breach of the peace . It required the correction of the law , and even exemplary punishment to prevent evil consequences , and preserve the State from destruction .
directly tending to destroy all religious principle ; thus working upon the passions and vicious inclinations of the inferior and uninformed classes of society , in apposition to the religion ,
The distinction between learned argument , addressed to those capable of judging of its validity , and bitter reviling of our excellent religion , and sedition , addressed to the lowest orders
I —^ of society , appears to me so clear that cannot but wonder how they can be confounded , unless it be by those who either are not capable of judging , or by those who are blinded by some bias or interest , whether known or unknown to themselves . ANON .
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Captain Gifford ' s €€ Remonstrance . "—Evidence of Unbelievers . 271
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1820, page 271, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2488/page/15/
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