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The " Christian Guardian / a minor th eological journal , in the hands of the soi'disant " Evangelical" Churchmen , took occasion from the re-publication of the ^ ' < Apology , " to task the author , as if he had been guilty of apostaey . This class of men have been for some years accustomed to pay excessive homage to Mr . HalPs and their is
talents , present chagrin equal to their former admiration . Their " Review' * of the new edition of his pamphlet manifests the affectation of dislike of politics that is invariably expressed by the religionists that would bend the Bible and yoke the conscience to those very politics that foster corruption and tend to slavery . Mr . Hall exposes very plainly this
hyp ocrisy : " But a minister of the gospel , it seems , is on no occasion to meddle with party politics . How exactly this maxim was adhered to at the commencement of the late war , when military banners were consecrated , and the people every where summoned to arms
By pulpit drum ecclesiastic , Beat with fist instead of a stick , ' must be fresh in the recollection of my readers . The men who in the garb of clergymen bustle at electioneering meetings , forsooth , are not really such , but merely assume the disguise of that holy
order , since it would be uncamlid to suppose they can so universally lose sight of what is befitting ministers of the gospel . The venerable bench of Bishops who sit in the House of Lords , either attend in silent pomp , without taking any part in the deliberations , or they violate the diaracter of ministers of the gospel . We
must have been grossly imposed upon by the public prints which informed us of the clergy of a whole archdeaconry or diocese , meeting to petition Parliament against the Catholic Claims , since they could never with one consent depart so ' « tf irom the decorum of ministers of the
gospel . " ¦ The plain state of the case is , not that the writer is offended at my medf Mi"g with politics , but that L have meddled on the wrong side . Had the same mediocrit y of talent been exerted in eulo-Kizing the measures of ministry , hi * greet-1 I ] KS would have been aa loud as his
inactive is bitter . But it was exerted to expose public abuses , to urge the neces-* lty « f Reform , and lay open the tergivei-^ tion of the Heaven-bom Minister and fc miday Cellist , who , after devoting the
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day of rest to deeds of blood , has , by a strange fatality , obtaiaed a sort of political beatification * Hinc IUcb lachrgmceJ The original edition of the Apology" contained some passages of severe crimination against Bishop Horsley , and of glowing eulogy on Drs
Price and Priestley : these , it would appear from our correspondent Homo , ( pp . 168 , 169 , ) are somewhat altered in the present edition : enough , however , remains to excite the disapprobation of " Evangelical" Churchmen ,
and accordingly the " Christian Guar * dian" vents its pity or its rage at this desecration of a saint , and apotheosis of sinners . Mr . Hall ' s reply is , upon the whole , worthy of himself : we qualify our opinion , because we wonder that with his acute discernment he
should applaud or even admit the general " correctness" of Horsley ' s " speculative theology : " " Another head of accusation is , that \ have censured the character of Bishop
Horsley , whose character , the Reviewer tells us , is far removed beyond my attack , while I have eulogized Dr . Price and Dr . Priestley , Socinians . ' To this it is sufficient to reply that Dr . Price was not a Socinian , but an Arian ; he wrote
professedly in confutation of Socimauism ; and though 1 disapprove of his religion ^ principles , I feel no hesitation in affirming , in spite of the frantic and unprincipled abuse of Burke , that a more ardent and enlightened friend of his country never lived , than that venerable patriarch of freedom . Such were the sentiments of
the worshipful Corporation of London , who , in token of their esteem , presented him with the freedom of the City in a golden box ; such was the judgment of Mr . Pitt , who long professed hhn . self bis admirer , and condescended to seek his
advice on questions of finance . Dr . Priestley , it is acknowledged , was a Soc ' miau ; but it was not under that character that he was eulogized . It was a # the friend of liberty , the victim of intolerance , and the author of some of the most brilliant philosophical discoveries of modern times , for which he was
celebrated throughout Kurope , and his name enrolled as a member of the most illustrious institution *; so that my eulogy was but a mere feeble echo of the applause which resounded from every civilized portion of the globe . And are we suddenly fallen back into the darkiKwa and ignorance of the middle ages , during which the spell of a stupid and unfeeling
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Review . —> Ifatt s Apology for the Freedom of the Press . 183
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1822, page 183, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2510/page/55/
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