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Catholic Custom of Kissing the Cross.
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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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JSridport , Sir , May 3 , 1820 . f ^ HE powers and faculties of the 1 human mind cannot possibly be engaged in subjects more worthy of their exercise , than the nature , evidences and obligations of religion . In
investigations of thi 3 kind , the greatest latitude of discussion ought ; to be allowed by the Legislature of the country . It may be said , that an unrestrained freedom of inquiry would produce publications , containing avowed or covert attacks on the Christian faith . Let this be admitted :
it is an evil which the person who is persuaded of the inestimable value of Christianity , both to society and individuals , respecting 4 * the life which now is and that which is to come , " cannot but deplore . If , however , it be an evil proceeding from free inquiry ,
the same cause provides the means of its removal , and of exti ^ tine from it pure and permanent good . Tor one opponent of divine revelation , a score of zealous champions \ rould be ready , if needful , to undertake its defence . By the judicious answers which the
writings of the Unbelievers of the last century called forth , the evidences of Christianity have been placed in so clear a light as tend most effectually to guard the young against the
contagion of infidelity , to remove the doubts which might for a time perplex the mind *' of the honest inquirer , and to afford the purest satisfaction to the well-established Christian . The partial evil to which 1 have referred , it would
be , I think ; , wiser in the Sfete to permit to be counteracted merely by tfeie exertions of the friends of revelation , than to shackle the liberty of the press ; to give circulation throughout the United Kingdom to the most obnoxious passage of the btioks complained of ,
by their bein £ read in publiccotirt ^ bf justice , andMse ^ d f £ tfe iie # ki ^ tt , and to' Wl ^ l ^^^ X ^ the odlftu ? q $ *§ pw of yer ^ U % M ^ their piu ^^|^ g ^^; sons witfr-. % e * vHfl imprisonment on account of thawr
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spreading opinions respecting religion deemed erroneous . If this principle be once admitted as justifiably by the laws of reason and the precepts of the
Christian revelation , who is to prescribe the exact limits of its operation ? Why may it not be applied to supposed perversions of holy writ and misrepresentations o £ the Christian doctrine ?
And then what religious sect , if at any time rendered obnoxious to the Government , would hold its liberty secure ? Upon this principle the avowed infidel may this day be fined and sent to prison , and the next , the sincere
believer in Christianity , if either a bold or fanciful expositor of Scripture . Now , one person is punished for having too little faith , and then , another for having too much . I mean not to intimate an apprehension that this principle will be thus really acted on by our rulers , but merely to shew the danger of its admission , and the sad
consequences to which it may possibly lead . Let the press be equally free for all the contending parties , and errors will be eventually detected , on which ever side they lie . Truth , we may be assured , pure , heavenly truth , will gain new triumphs , in proportion to the
examination of her claims ; and the result will be favourable to the cause of divine revelation , genuine piety and virtue , and consequently to the peace and prosperity of society . To make no more reference to the writings of Unbelievers , I shall now
confine my observations to the salutary influence of the investigations whic ) i have taken place , on different denominations of professing Christians , within the last twenty pr thirty years . It cannot be denied , that ( though some
of ; the old leaven still remains ) they are animated with a spirit of greater liberality towards each other than formerly . This may be attributed partly % q free inquiry , and partly to the iustj $# *» ^ V ^^^ gm ^ li pieties , lit f > vluf 5 h potn ? Vhurphmen , and Dissenters ojf % 9 everal } . classes . can unite on eommo ^ pnm ^ pjes . Many
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THE
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No . CLXXVI . ] AUGUST , 1820 . Vol . XV . ]
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VOL . XV . 3 M
Catholic Custom Of Kissing The Cross.
Catholic Custom of Kissing the Cross .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1820, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2491/page/1/
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