On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
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.
-
-
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
that have the truth , and those fthat would have the truth , be afraid of error ? Seeing truth discovereth dark ^ nd dangerous wayes of error , though abroad , in open books , even as light discovereth dark and dangerous places , though abroad , in open high wayes ,
and as the more dark and dangerous the waves be , tbe n > ore necessary and needful will light be found of all that travel ; so the more dark and dangerous errors be , the more needful and profitable will t ^ ruth be found of all that would travel to heaven . But some
may object and say , let all this be granted , yet it is no wisdom , we think , to bring dangerous errors into the light , that so many men may stumble at -them , which * iot being brought to light would not so much as be known to
some "I . answer , no more than a rock that lyeth hid under water , which ( for want of bringing into light ) many men may make shipwreck thereon , and so stumble and fall neverthelesse , though it be not so much as known to them
before . Therefore , as a rock in the seas , ( though not so much as known to some , ) yet { for want of being known ) many men do stumble and fall thereon , and so perish , both men and goods ; so an error , though not so much as knowne to some , yet for want of being made known , many men stumble and fall thereon ^ and 50 perish bodies a ^ id
souls , which is the more lamentable . And as rocks ia , the seas , the more they manifest themselves the more furtherance in the way of heaven . And you shall understand , that errors being brought to the light of th $ word of < jlod , will vanish as darkness before the
light of a torch ; even as the chaffe before the winde cannot stand , . so error before tru $ h cannot abide : therefore it is no hindrance but a great furtherance to have all erroneous roclcs in the haven to heaven made known a < nd published . "—Pp . 22 . 23 .
Busher has no hesitation in recommending tha ^ t even the Mahommedajis should be allowed the free . exercise of tUeir religion , and the right of defending it when attacked in controversy .
The only prohibition he would make is against railing ; but then he would punish the Christian < railer against Iniidels , as the Infidel railed against Christians . Experience has proved that even this
Untitled Article
restriction is better and more safely to the interests of society , enforced by public opinion , than by the civil magistrate ; With this single exception no discovery in the great branch , of poll , tical science under consideration has
been made since his tune . Rusher's work fell into neglect , and though it was republished during the civil wars , yet its principles had made so little progress , that even Milton objects to the toleration of Catholics on the
ground of their being idolaters ! Locke , too , falls into an error as fatal , though not so absurd . He talks of the opinions held by Catholics being dangerous to the security of the State . Ft is painful to write the names of Milton and Locke for any purpose but to hold
them up to admiration and reverence 3 if , however , it be true that some imperfections are necessary to that close alliance with humanity , which is requisite for strongly exciting the feelings of affection , we may not love the memory of these great men the less from
knowing that they were not exempt from the frailties of their species . They lived in an age when the Church of Rome was a bitter and powerful enemy of liberty , and when Catholic ascendancy in this country would have been a severe evil , not only as regarded its immediate effect on our own interests ,
but as respected the ultimate interests < of the whole world . The light of freedom is now so widely spread , that no cloud , however brostd and dense , can entirely shut it
out ; but in their time the existence of liberty depended on the fate of England . We may , therefore , explain , though we cannot justify tlie narrow limits of their views .
It is , I know , a favourite opinion even now with men whose general principles will deserve the praise of liberality , that although it may be safe in the present day to grant Catholic emancipation , there was a time when , for the reasons to which I have alluded , it was just and wise to withhold it .
If the doctrine that political exclusion ought to be attached to the profession of Qbnoxious or even dangerous opinions is ever true , it must be under the following circumstances : where the minority , having the most enlightened and benevolent views , exercise power more favourably for the community than the majority would do u
Untitled Article
460 The Nonconformist . No . XXI .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 460, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/20/
-