On this page

• Text (2)

  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.

  • 

    Untitled Article

  • 

    Untitled Article

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    Untitled Article

    foi&ik How M&bfi sh crimmai at tiie jlmr of justice tos ^ iii ^ ged in his defence , that be feft bimiKsif impelled to do the crime pf which he stood charged , by same unknown power that he eould not ticeoUnt for ; £ fcat somethingseemed tm whiaper ta liim tfcat he inust proceed , and Utra him oft to the atrocious

    deed ! ; Oa the other hand , many an one , on his attention being i&rst attracted to this subject , has stated eases and supposed himself to be acting without motives , or contrary to the strongest motives , not perceiving that all the while hie mind was under a bias , and that he was influenced to decide as

    hedidby the wish to adduce an argument against the doctrine to which his old prepossessions were repugnant ;—that this at the time became in his mind the strongest motive . What are we to understand by the declarations of the wretched culprit in the former case , but that

    great was the strength of the motive , urgent was the * impelling influence , arising from the bad passions under which he laboured , and by which he was enslaved ? The strength of these blinded his . mind and indisposed him to , yea , urged him from , any thing like that calm reflection which would have

    recalled him to better motives and prevented the crime . These formed this evil spirit , the extraneous devil , to whose suggestion he would now , when brought to a more sedate state of mind , attribute the crime , of which he would fain seem incapable had he not

    been thus acted upon by a foreign pcjwsr , by a malignant foe , whose might he would readily suppose he had not the ability , < even if he had the will , to resist . In the one of thjese cases the party contends he haxlno power at all , much less a self-determining power ,

    yeft , that he was actuated . confjrary to his will by another power -y in the other , that he was entirely governed by this self-d ^ termijoing power , and that in opposition to the motives presented to hifl mind * The unbiassed , impartial observer can in the mean time perceive that bath the one and the other were

    all the while acting under the influence of motives , and were determined by that motive which , in the given cireumstancea , was , nt the moment of ^ Jeciaion , JtUe mo « t urgent . But W * # r ^ tolcL that the conscience , tltat t ^ e & < $ ltrfg » , which are part of our vw $ Wrtwe , Jteli im that we deserve

    Untitled Article

    direct punishment , vindictive punWb meat , punishment sepiratfefroaatbe effects or the natural cohseqt ^^ &f our actions . Now as to cOBacieace , do we not speak of a pure codjseiftftoti , an enlightened ^ Qi ^ iS ^ 3 ^ ciBi ' ' - ^^^ M ^

    conscience , a hardeaed conscience , Stp . i Wb&t can tliis imply but that the € ^ o sciences of men . vary ? Some . wiH accuse or excuse what others wiH condemn . Look to the several stages of human society , the progressive advance of civilization , the influence of

    Christianity on either bodies of men or indi viduals . Do we not find the cornscience varying in its dictates in proportion to the influence of these several causes ? The conscience of one tells him that swi patria is everything ; that all must be sacrificed to it ; that to rob , plunder , pillage , de ^ - stro y what belongs to another country , is all right and honourable - , but to do so to your own cpuntry is flagitious . The conscience of the bandit telis Mm

    that all is honourable , noble , great , and that in proportion to the difficulties and dangers he surmounts , by which he acquires wealth , glory and distinction . The conscience of the Arab ,

    wandering over his deserts , tells hirti he is bound by all laws , human and divine , to protect the stranger who puts himself under his protection , said seeks a shelter in his tent , but that the

    very hour he leaves him , he becomes a lawful prey . What was the conscience of the followers of Odin , whose delight and glory was in their feastings after battle , to drink the blood , and that out of the skulls of their enemies ? But our feelings in even this enlight ened day , and in this enlightened part of the world , tell us that we deserve

    this distinct , this vindictive punishment . Since we have seen that tl | e consciences of men vary so much , it may be very justly asked , how did we acquire these feelings ? Are not all our feelings derived from the l&w Qf

    association ? Are they not all formed , regulated , varied , by the customs of the country in which we are botfn , the manners of the age in which tftia Mvifc , the principles and practices of Hie family in which we are brought up , and the habits of thought and i ^ ectibh which we ourseivea cSntraicC ? Hence the ill-informed , th < 5 % n 6 rant perse cutor , guided by life fefeHngs , ^ lori ^ ih persecuting : ^ boie wliom he d * &m %

    Untitled Article

    Mr . Freeman on the Doctrine mf Neeewiip . 729

    Untitled Article

    VOL .. XV . ' ft B

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1820, page 729, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2495/page/41/