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guiled of her unfriendliness ,- and tor lay aside her anathemas ; though she often breathed a prayer for the conversion o ? one whose final security rested on no better foundation than a lOE&gfiife of obedience to the commands ' of -her
heavenly Father ! "Oh , Madam , if you were not a Unitarian I" pathetically exclaimed a benevolent clergyman , after conversing with her long and with deep interest on subjects of common interest . Mistaken man , though amiable in his errors ! I trust that he will hereafter be convinced that
the " pure in heart , ' * whatever be their religious persuasion , " shall see God ; " that the mansions of his heavenly Father ' s house are of far wider dimensions than he had laid them down ; that the impassable gulph separates not the believers from the unbelievers
in the Creed of St . Athanasius : and how will he start back with surprise ( if aught of prejudice and infirmity remain ) at discovering in the foremost rank of the countless multitude , clad in robes of white , and bearing palm branches in their handsone who he MS % S AAV 7
, * -f M . VWAAVXAVlJ A 4 .. & VAAVy& « i AJk *** M . ^ V * . * - ^ J \ r f f V AAV had , perhaps , once trembled to think must be banished for her opinions to the regions of outer darkness and unceasing woe ; at beholding the Son of Man himself conversing with " publicans and sinners" !
But " you Unitarians live well /' said a zealous Methodist to a friend , whose error he lamented , " but you do not die well . " Look at Dr Priestley employing the last glimmering light of the lamp of life in defending the truth of the Christian revelation . Look
at Mr . Lindsey , steadying the trembling hand of 82 , to prove by his writings " that all is of God and for good to all . " Look at Dr . Cogan calmly conversing at his brother ' s fire-side , a few days before his expected decease , on the advantages of death under the system of Divine Providence . Look at
Mrs . Cappe , who ,, to the last throb of life , continually wished the happiness of the whole family of man , redoubling her diligence with the lengthening shadows of her setting sun , foregoing the rest which is the appropriate
enjoyment of age , and overtaken at last in the very midst of the protracted -abours of the pen and tongue , to promote the highest interests of her fellow-bein gs ! But I forbear , Sir ; a lengthened
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panegyric would be an offence against the gentle spirit of its subject . Long , long will those who enjoyed the benefit of her society , ? remember that benevolence which was spread over her whole social intercourse , and wrought into the lines of her countenance .
May her intelligent female acquaintance in particular , be stimulated to supply the vacant place in the pages of your valuable worlt 9 and in the circle in which she moved ! GEORGE KENRICK .
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Sir , August 12 , 1821 . LATELY met with a tract entitled , I "The Scripture Account of Prayer , in an Address to the Dissenters of Lancashire , " by the learned and pious Dr . John Taylor , which has tended , in no small degree , to confirm me in my
• • .. m m m * % opinions as to the impropriety of cramping the spirit of piety , by subjecting it to the controul of a previously composed form of words in public prayer . In the hope that a little more attention may be drawn to this
important subject , I will proceed to quote some passages from the learned author , whose observations may not be less worthy of the serious consideration of our young ministers in particular , from their having been the last
production of his pen . " Prayer doth not properly consist in language , how curious and elegant soever , but in the real sense , and sincere desires of the mind . It is the heart , not the tongue , that prays . It is the true and sincere devotion of the
heart only , that can make our prayers acceptable to God . Those expressions , therefore , are the most proper in prayer , not that are adorned and polished by the rules of human eloquence , but that are adapted to convey the sense and affections of nious . Draviner sense ana airections ot pious , praying
souls , and every wise man will prefer that language , how plain and simple soever , which penetrates and excites his heart , before all the elegance of smooth , flowing : and harmonious periods , which please the false taste of curious , delicate ears , and are apt to
lead the thoughts to attend more to the diction than to the duty , to the words than to the sense . For which reason , the language and style of p rayer is the n \ ore improper , the more it appears to have been laboured . Some in St . Augus tin ' s days ridiculed the
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On Free Prctper . 519
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1821, page 519, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2504/page/15/
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