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REVIEW. <€ Still pleased to praise, yet not afraid to blame." — Pope.
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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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Art . I . — The Precepts of Jesus the Guide to Peace and Happiness , extracted from the Books of the New Testament ascribed to the Four Evangelists , with Translations into Sungscrit and Bengalee" Calcutta , printed at the Baptist Mission Press . Circular Road . 1820 .
Art . II . —The Friend of India . No . 20 . February , 1820 . Serampore , printed at the Mission Press . 1820 . Art . III . —An Appeal to the Christian Public , in Defence of " The Precepts of Jesus . " By a Friend to Truth . Printed at Calcutta . 1820 .
PTHHE first and last of these pam-JL phlets , though published anonymously , are known to be the production of the celebrated Ram Mohun Roy ; of whom an . account has already appeared in our pages . [ XIII . 299 and 512 . XIV . 561—569 , XV . 1—7 .
The publication which stands second in the list , contains an article attributed to the Rev . J . Marshman , entitled , " A Christian Missionary ' s Remarks on ' The Precepts of Jesus / &e . " Appended to this article are some observations from one of the
Editors of the Friend of India ; and these seem in some measure to have called forth the very able and spirited appeal contained in the third pamphlet . The whole forms one of the most remarkable controversies that ever arose ; and its interest to Unitarian Christians
can hardly be exceeded by any thing that has occurred of late years . The distinguished character of both the principal parties ; one so eminent for the noble stand which he has made against the long established idolatry and gross superstition of his
countrymen and the other , admirable for the disinterested labours of many years in the cause of Christianity in India—the scene of the controversy , Calcutta , the capital of that vast empire which
involves the interests of sixty millions of the human race , and especially the remarkable testimony borne by such a man as Ram Moiiun Roy , to the truth or value of those ^ principles which Unitarians regard as the essential and
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characteristic doctrines of Christianity , confer upon these publications a claim to our greatest attention , and afford room for most important reflections . The Editor of the Friend of India
appears to anticipate the interest which Unitarians will feel in this controversy , and in a strain of misrepresentation which is unhappily too common , enlarges upon the advantage which he imagines thay will take of it :
€ C It is well known , " says he , " that in Britain and on the Continent there are many , who , while they do not openly deny him , earnestly wish to degrade the Redeemer of the world to a level with Confucius or Mahomet , and to contemplate him as the Teacher and Founder of a sect
instead of adoring him as the Lord of all , the Redeemer of men , the Sovereign Judge of quick and dead . These viewing the Compiler of this work as a man new to the subject , and not yet biassed ( as they term it ) in favour of any system of doctrine , will insist on his being far more
likely to discover the genuine meaning of of the Scriptures , than those who , educated in a Christian country , have been conversant from their youth with the generally-received interpretation of scripture ; and , giving him full credit for having examined the whole of the Sacred
Writings in the closest manner , will be pleased beyond measure to find , that by the testimony of an intelligent and unprejudiced Heathen , they have in Jesus Christ a teacher who cannot search the heart , " &c . —P . 29 . Whether this is precisely the ground of the satisfaction which Unitarians
will undoubtedly experience on the present occasion , must be left for the Unitarians themselves to declare . It is probable that they are not so unfurnished with the principles of interpretation as to look for confirmation of
their own views of controverted passages of scripture , from the explanation which an Indian Brahmun may give of them . This is not the kind of testimony which they will expect f ^^ m Ram Mohun Roy \ nor does heptetehd to afford it . Whether he has perused any of the writings of Unitariafll | j | 6 e 8 not appear . In all probability ; $ ie is
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Review. ≪€ Still Pleased To Praise, Yet Not Afraid To Blame." — Pope.
REVIEW . < € Still pleased to praise , yet not afraid to blame . " — Pope .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 477, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/37/
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