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uniformity bound the nations in iron slumbers , that it has become a crime to praise U . man for talents which the whole world admired , and for virtues which his enemies confessed , merely because his religious creed was erroneous ? If any thing
could sink orthodoxy into contempt , it would be its association with such gothic barbarity of sentiment , such reptile meanness . What renders the wretched bigotry of the Reviewer the more conspicuous is , that the eulogy in question was written almost immediately after the Birmingham Riots , that disgraceful ebullition of
popular phrensy , during which a ferocious mob tracked his steps like bloodhounds , demolished his house , destroyed his library and apparatus , and , advancing from thence to the destruction of private and public buildings , filled the whole town and vicinity with terror and dismay . What sort of a Christian Guardian the Reviewer
would have proved on that occasion , may be easily inferred from his passing over these atrocities in silence , while he discharges his malice on their unoffending
victim . The maxim , De mortuis nil nisi bonum , admits of exceptions ; and as I am vilified for censuring Bishop Horsley , whose character , it is affirmed , * is far removed beyond my attack , ' while I praised Priestley , the Socinian , justice compels me to
remark ( what the Reviewer probably knows well enough ) that in the virtues of private life , Dr . Priestley was as much superior to his antagonist , as he was inferior in the correctness of his speculative theology . '—Pp . 5—7 .
The " Evangelical" conductors of the " Christian Guardian" are masters of the art of controversy , and have brought in the names of Hone and Carlilc to embitter their accusations .
Mr . I fall is justly indignant at this artifice . Does he not , however , display some portion of the willing prejudice that he condemns , when he attributes blasphemy to the publications of Mr . Hone ? lie himself .
truly defines blasphemy , " the speaking conturneliously of God , " and we are persuaded that the writer last named , would feel as much horror as Mr . Hall or any " Christian Guardian " at such an outrage upon public feeling as well as upon piety .
]> et Mr . Hall expect no more compliments from clergymen and bishops and ministers of state ; the following passage fixes him for life an unaccommodating , untumeablc Noncorforinist :
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" In relation to the question of ecclesiastical establishments , since I am challenged to produce any passage f Scripture which sanctions my opposition to them , I beg leave to refer him to our Lord ' s declaration : * Every n ]
which my heavenly Father has not plant . ed shall be rooted up . ' That national churches , or exclusive establishments of religion by the civil magistrate , are one of these plants , will not be denied , since nothing of that kind , it is universallyallowed , existed during the three first and purest ages of Christianity , and not being authorized by the great Head of the Church , it must , if we believe him , be rooted up . I have used the term great Head of the Church , by way of
distinction from that little Head which the Church of England has invented , and on which , whether it be a beauty or a deformity in the body of Christ , the Scriptures are certainly as silent , as on Universal Suffrage and Annual Parliaments . " —P . 9 .
We have seen , in the second of our extracts , that Mr . Hall regards the memory of Mr . Pitt with no peculiar veneration ; he concludes the Letter with some very bold animadversions upon the character of the celehrated minister :
iC Having already trespassed on the patience of my readers , I shall close with one remark on the eulogium pronounced by the Reviewer on the character of the late Mr . Pitt . He appears to be extremely shocked with the freedom and severity of my strictures on his conduct , as implying a forgetfulness of his singular
disinterestedness and his ' perfect devotion to his country . * As this has become a favourite topic with the admirers of that celebrated minister , it is necessary to remind them , that there are other vices besides the love of money , and other virtues besides that of dying poor . ^ may be easily admitted , that the ambition
which grasps at the direction of an empire , and the pitiful passion for accumulation , were not the inmates of the same bosom . In minds of a superior order , ambition , like Aaron ' s rod , is quite sufficient to swallow up the whole fry of petty propensities . —Far be it from me
to wish to withhold an atom of the praise justly due to him . That lie devoted much time and a considerable portion oi talent to the affairs of his country , w undeniable . The evils which he l > brought upon us were not the production of an ordinary mind , nor the work of * day , nor done in sport ; but what I # > "
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184 Review . — HalPs Apology for the Freedom of the Press .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1822, page 184, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2510/page/56/
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