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tedged disorders w&ich he sught to have concealed , and , forgetting his rtwn dignity , #$ ksd advice of those to wfiom ke was entitled tio presefibe . By sach an exra&s of impolitic sincerity , tiiey were afraid that , instead of reciaimifig the eneraiies of the Church , he would
render them more presumptuous , and instead of extitogs&shiiig heresy , would weaken tlie foundations of the Papal power , or stop the chief sources from which wealth flowed into the Church .
For this reason , the cardinals and otter ecclesiastics of greatest eminence in the Papal Court , industriously opposed all his schemes of reformation , and , by throwing objections and difficulties in his way , endeavoured to retard or to defeat the execution of them . Adrian
amazed , on the one hand , at the obstinacy of the Lutherans , disgusted , on the other , with the manners and maxims of the Italians , and finding himself unable to correct either the one or the other * often lamented his own situation ,
and often looked back with pleasure on that period of his life when he was only Dean of Louvain , a more humble but happier station , in which little was expected from him , and there was nothing to frustrate his good intentkHisJ ***
On the principles of Hylas , Adrian was morally right in attempting to extirpate heresy ; for he was " truly persuaded that by his interference he
should benefit the community ; " but he was politically wrong ; for , not duly considering the actual state of men s minds , he attempted more than he could effect , and did ** more harm than good by his interference . "
We also learn , from the same histor ian , that Adrian , on his accession to the Pontificate , (< discovered no intention of aggrandizing his family ; he even scrupled at retaining such territories as some of Ms predecessors had
acquired by violence or fraud , " restored them to the original proprietors . It is impossible to suppose that the motives of sutfh a man should be debased bf the ' pernicious amalgamations of selfish passions ; " and , however I lament that he should have
encouraged persecution , I atn constrained to ackhowledge , ia the words * Robertson ' s Charles V ., II . 270 and 2 ? 5 . ' ' ' ¦ ' ¦
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of Hylas , that" I cannot coijdc ^ him , nor do I believe that lie witt be condemned at the supreme tribunals I must now , Mr . Editor ^ beg teave to otifer sffrnne remarks on the letter o £ your Norwich Correspondedtowliie I alluded in the beginning of this . I am quite ready to agree with the write * in thinking that * however much rwe
may , and we ought to respect leaic&iag and eloquence , our attention is more taken up with the truth than with m * elegant way of telling it * : " but Icfcmaofc forget that the apostle who has enjoined us to " let all things be < k > &e decently , " was carefiil not tml y to ^ sfe * an example of urbanity and pohtenes ^ , but to declare that die most suftieirt
zeal and the most perfect knowledge * unless combined with charity , profited him nothing . Even when reas € » i 3 before the profligate Felix ^ " ei rigb ^ teousness , temperance and judgmt ^ it to come /* te appears to have avoided offensive personalities , ua& to 5 hare left it to the conscience of his auditor
to make the application . I would ask your correspondent what gooft end he proposes to himself in holding up " the great bulk of tiie' ctergy ^ " to contempt and execration ? Are the minds of the Deoole crenerallv t > ret > ared minds of the people generally prepared
to receive a more simple and rational form of Christianity , than that taught by the Established Church ? If not , which I fear we must acknowled ge * vilifying the teachers will be far from romoting the interests of religion . * Should our Christian brethren be
treated with less respect , less delicacy , than the inspired apostle thought ill incumbent upon him to shew to the idolaters of Athens } He appears , from his advice to Timothy , to have been sensible of the errors into which indis *
creet zeal may betray those who are labouring for the reformation of others : " The servant of the Lord must not strive , but be gentle unto all men , apt to teach , patient , in meekness instruct ing those that oppose themselves $ if God peradventure will give them re ^ pentanceto the acknowledging of fhfc truth / ' St . Paul evnlently confiidera those who are involved in err ox and of
pr ^ udice objects cbmpafei 8 tan who are to be won by kindness . Jtis true that the great and successful Reformer of the sixteenth century did not imitate this bright examples but the indecencies of which Luther was
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On the € oritrov&rsy relating to the Punishment of Urihelidverx : 6 fi 9
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1820, page 659, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2494/page/31/
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