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tingubhed by that vigilant holiness , active benevolence , patience under trials , and , in a word , ail the fruits of spirifcuaL-mindedness , which are the
effects of a true , practical faith in the gospel I I can readily believe that L . J . J , may successfully have " exposed his mind to impressions" favourable to piety , and may have brought himself to feel love for a God who , when
his creatures cry unto him , is " talking , or pursuing , or in a journey , or peracU venture he sleepeth and must be awakened / 9 But general observation justifies the inference , that they who dispense with petitionary devotion are not the persons most remarkable for practical religion . Having disdained
those helps to human infirmity which a right knowledge of ourselves would lead us to prize and cherish , to what do they attain by means of their philosophic plan > To a decent morality .
But decent mitmlity is not Christian perfection . Isj it even certain that they attain to this I It has been said , and wisely said , that " either a habit of prayer will expel sin , or the habit of sin will expel prayer . " It is not matter of doubt or debate , that persons
who have unhappily acquired a custom of indulging some permitted sin , reason themselves into a neglect of prayer from a secret uneasy consciousness which renders open communication with God impossible : and if this be soy of which there is no reason to doubt ,
it is against all probability that a recovely from such ensnaring habits of 6 in can ever be effected by the mere " exposure of the mind" to virtuous impressions , or by any method short of direct application to the throne of grace .
Prayer is particularly an efficacious instrument for the amelioration of human character in seasons of affliction and adversity . When the hand of God is seen in circumstances that appear to
the natural religionist the effect of blind chance or of a sort of fatalism , the mind is brought to consideration , and meditates on the design of the particular affliction sent . The belief
that the wound is inflicted by Urn who " does not willingly grieve the children of men / ' sustains thfe mind while it purifies the affeetions . If " the broken and contrite spirit" be referred coldly back to ?* reason and common sense , * it mil be seen whether this Stoical
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acquiescence in the series of causes and effects * and the nature of things , will avail with equal efficacy to support and amend the hearts . ,
CORNELIUS-[ To be concluded in the next Number . } i *
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Unitarian Academy * ' 21
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. _ 1 x . - Lancashire , Sir , January 11 , 1821 . OBSERVE that our Unitarian bre-I thren of Liverpool have revived the
question relative to an " Unitarian Academy' ^ for the education of young men for the ministry ( XV . 623 ) . No one would rejoice more than I should at the re-establisliinent of so highly useful an institution , and particularly at a time when there appears to be a lamentable want of active and efficient
preachers of primitive Christian doctrine . I much fear , however , there are serious obstacles to overcome before we could expect the establishment of so important a measure as a new Unitarian College ; and certainly it would answer no purpose whatever to make
the attempt without fully ascertaining the public disposition to support it in a way equal to its objects . I am far from wishing to throw a damp over the ardour of my brethren in so excellent a cause , any where . Would to God I could be instrumental in
promoting that union of heart and hand among us which , if effected , would be equal to the accomplishment of all our wishes , and gladly would I do all in my power to excite a spirit of liberality and earnest Christian zeal among those who are blest with the means of
seconding the efforts of their active brethren in the cause of truth . Whatever may be our wishes , they must necessarily be bounded by our means of usefulness ; and as the more ? extended
object is , in my judgment , rather to be desired than expected , I trust I shall be excused if I offer a suggestion through the Monthly Repository , relative to a plan which I know has already been a favourite one with some of our
well-informed brethren , and particularly with the late Dr . Percival , of Manchester . It is well known , that b y the provisions of the will of Dr . Williams , a number of young men intended for the ministry , are entitled to certain exhibitions from his Trustee v on condition of studying ^ at the College at Glasgow . The Trustees
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1821, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2496/page/21/
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