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    the fcmt * $ ** t * cm af tl ^ Efir t , emt $% * iessfo require *) & siroprt of otj ^ er peopl e 's approbation . The state of doubt is , indeed , a state of trouble , to which every 0 H £ will be averse in proportion as he is upaccus famed to intellectual

    exertion and candid inquiry . £ ( eqce , whoever takes his opinions on trust has a thorough repugnance to be dis * . turbed by contrary arguments . In a note on this place the author makes an observation well worthy of

    attention : <* It is a curious fact , which , I think , may be observed in the history of persecution , that men are generally more inclined to punish those who believe less than they themselves do , than those who beliere more . We pity rather than

    condemn the extravagancies of fanaticism , and the absurdities of superstition ; but are apt to gro \ v angry at the speculations of scepticism . If any one superadds something to the established creed , his conduct is viewed with tolerable composure ; it is when he attempts to subtract from

    it , that he provokes indignation . Is it that we feel a sort of superiority at perceiving the absurdity of what others believe , and , on the other hand , are mortified when any body else appears to arrogate the same superiority over ourselves ?"— P . 87 .

    More fixed and steady sources of intolerance may be found in the connexion often subsisting between men ' s permanent interests or favourite objects , and the maintenance of certain doctrines .

    In concluding this Essay the author glances at the inquiry , how far these causes of intolerance continue in action , in the present day , and in our own country . As far as they a » re placed in the passions of mankind , we can only look for a mitigation in

    proportion as the passions are weakened , or placed under stricter controul : and the spirits of men are evidently softened by the improvement of the age , and the sympathies of mankind constrain that bigotry to be contented with reproach and invective , which in a

    former a # < 3 would have had recourse to more formidable weapons . The advancement of knowledge also lessens the intolerance which is fbuoo ' ed in ignorance ajud error * though it has not yet accomplished its destruction . Ihere i # stilj a boundary in speculation Ueyond wUjcli no one is aitowed l 0 Proceed ;^ . ajfc . which kmoceose te r-

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    minates and guilt commences $ ' a boiftv ^ clary not fixed and determinate , but varying ^ wit h the creed of every party ? " Although the advanced civUi ^ aUpnj of the age rejects the palpably absurd application of torture and death , it is n& to be concealed , that , amongst a numerous class , there is an analogous , though

    less barbarous persecution , of all wW depart from received doctrines—the persecution of private antipathy and public odium . They are looked upon as a spe-t cies of criminals , apd their deviations from established opinions , or , if any on ^ prefers the phrase , their speculative ei > rors , are regarded by many with as much

    horror as flagrant violations of morality , In the ordinary ranks of men , where exploded prejudices often linger for ages , this is scarcely to be wondered at ; but it is painful , and on a first view unacc ^ uatable , to witness the prevalence of the

    same spirit iu the republic of letters ; to see mistakes in speculation pursued with all the warmth of moral indignation ancl reproach . He who believes an opinion on the authority of others , who has taken

    ho pains to investigate its claims to credibility , nor weighed the objections to the evidence on which it rests , is landed for his acquiescence , while obloquy from every side is too often heaped on . the man , who has miuutely searched into the , subject , and been led to an opposite conclusion . There are few things more

    disgusting to an enlightened mind than to > see a number of men , a mob , whether learned or illiterate , who have never scrutinized the foundation of their opinions , assailing with contumely an individual , who , after the labour of research and reflection , has adopted different sen timeuts- from theirs , and phimtng themselves oj * frhe notion of superior virtue

    because their understandings , have been tenacious of prejudice * "Tlii $ conduct is the nposeremarkable , as on every side wq meet with the admission , that belief is not dependent on . the will ; and yet the same men , by whom this admission is readily made , will argue and inveigh On the virtual assumption of the contrary .

    " TWs is a striking proof , amongst a multitude of others , of what the thinking nuiul must have frequently observed , tbafc a principle is . often retained in its applications , long after it has been discarded as an abstract proposition , lu a subject

    of so much importance , however * Mi behoves intelligent men to be rigidly consistent . If our opinions are not voluntary , but independent of tlie will , the coafcijary doctrine and all fts-cooaequenoes ought to be practically ab&ndoried ; they Ought to hn weedfcd from the stnthoems ,

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    Review . —Essays on tfa F ^ rn ^ af ^ n # nd Publleatien af Opinions , 66 J

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1822, page 557, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2516/page/37/