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They differ about trimming . ' But we cannot subjoin another axiom of the same philosopher : ' Every religion is a getting religion . ' It gets nothing ; and so , whatever it be , it is sincere and harmless .
* Some contend that liberality is only indifference . Perhaps , as a general rule , it may be so . Persecution undoubtedly fans zeal , but such zeal as it is usually better to be without . I do not perceive any want of religion in America . There are sections of the country where some
might think there is too much , at least that its temper is too stern and dogmatical . This has long been said of New Eugland , and , undoubtedly , the Puritan ancestry of her citizens is still discernible as well in the coldness of their manners , as in the rigidity of their creed . But it is wonderful how fast these
distinctions are disappearing . An officer of the American navy , a native of New England , told me , that when a boy , he had sooner dared to pick a neighbour's pocket on a Saturday than to have smiled on a Sunday . I have siuce travelled through ail parts of the union , and over a great part af the world , and have learned ,
consequently , that there are ail ways of thinking ; and I find now , that my fellowcountrymen are learning the same . You will conceive how great is the change wrought in the religious temper of the Eastern States , when I mention , that the
Unitarian faith has been latterly introduced , and , in some parts , has made such rapid progress as promises , ere long , to supersede the doctrines of Calvin . There were , of course , some vehement pulpit fulminations in Massachussets when these
mild teachers of morals and simple Christianity first made their appearance . But , fortunately , Calvin could no longer bum Servetus , however much he might scold at him ; and , having scolded till he was tired , he laid down the ' drum ecclesiastic / and left his gentle adversary to lead his flock to heaven after his own way
This affords , I believe , the only instance of war waged by American theologians * since the days of the revolution . Polemics , indeed , is not a science at all in fashion ; nor ever likely to be so . Where no law says , what is orthodoxy , no man is entitled to say , what is heresy ; or , if he should assume to himself the right , it is clear that he will only be laughed at .
it required , however , sonae years to satisfy the whole American community of this fact . Although few cared to contend for Abe doctrine of the Trinity with the vehemence of the Calvinists of Massachusetts , &he Unitarians had still some prejudices < t . o encounter in other parts of the Union . Philadelphia , and even New York , had < $ heir zealots as well as Boston . In the
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latter city , they were few , but perhaps more noisy on that very account . It is some years since a Calvin is tic preacher here exclaimed to the non elect of his
congregation , * Ha ! ha 1 you think to get through the gates of heaven , by laying hold of my coat ; but I'll take care to hold up the skirts . ' Such an intimation we may suppose not much calculated io conciliate the vacillating heretics . The
teacher who points the way to heaven through paths of peace , and , by the candour and gentleness of his judgments , leads us to worship with him a God of love and mercy , may easily draw into his fold the children of such a merciless fanatic .
" American religion , of whatever % sect , ( and it includes all the sects under heaven , ) is of a quiet and unassuming character ; no way disputatious , even when more doctrinal than the majority may think wise . I do not include the strolling Methodists and shaking Quakers , and sects with unutterable names and
deranged imaginations , who are found in some corners of this wide world , beating time to the hymns of Mother Ann , and working out the millenium by abstaining from marriage . * " The perfect cordiality of all the various religious fraternities , might sometimes lead a stranger to consider their members
as more indifferent to the faith they so quietly profess than they really are . There is undoubtedly a considerable body scattered through the community , who are attached to no establishment ; but as they never trouble their neighbours with their opinions , neither do their neighbours trouble them with theirs . The extent to
which this liberality is carried , eten by the most dogmatical of the churches , is now well evinced in New England . In one or two of her theological colleges , the practice continued , till within some years , of inculcating one creed exclusively under the protection of the legislature ; but the legislature have now left teachers and students to themselves , and
even Connecticut has finally done away the last shadow of the privileges of her Congregationalists . it really does seem possible for fanaticism , or something very like it , and liberality to go toge-* " The SAtf&e ™ , as they are called , emigrated to America some forty years
ago-Ann Lee , or Mother Ann , thgjjr spiritual leader , was a niece of the celebrated General Lee , who took so active a part in the war of the revolution . She be * came deranged , as it is said , from family misfortunes , fancied herself a second Virgin Mary , and found followers , as Joa " ?* Southcotfc and Jemima Wilkinson «»<* after her /*
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486 Review . *— Views af Society and Manners in America .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1821, page 486, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2503/page/46/
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