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guilty upon the same offence , now deliberated for nearly an hour , and though they returned a similar verdict , accompanied it with a recommendation to mercy . The force of Mr . Hill's address appears to us to consist as much in its simplicity as in its strong sense and manly spirit . We take from it two passages .
* ' There is another part of the subject which requires your deep attention . It is , that if you put down attacks upon Christianity by force , when those attacks are made public by the press , you cannot , in our free country , put down private conversation , and if not , all you have before done only gives the Infidel a great
advantage over the Christian . When the press is entirely free from restraint , the unlettered man , pressed in argument by the Infidel , may fairly say , * I am not able to answer your objections ; it is not my habit of life to investigate subjects of this nature ; but publish your attack on revelation to the world , and I venture to
say , that you will receive a full and satisfactory refutation / Now , however , the Infidel may reply , * What ! expose myself to fine and imprisonment as a reward for opening people ' s eyes ! No ! no ! 1 leave the honours of martyrdom to those who have more taste for them . I may talk at liberty among my friends ; and that is
all I ask . ' Gentlemen , I must admit that a mode exists , by which you may prevent all departure from the religion of the country , and by which you may reduce all opinions to one uniform standard . There is an example which you may follow ; the experiment has been tried , and has proved successful . But then , gentlemen , you must make Spain your model
and establish an Inquisition . You must have a familiar in every house , and a spy at every table , and then , with the assistance of the rack and the faggot you may destroy all who differ from you ; but , gentlemen , what would be the consequence of such destruction ? Look to Spain , and you will see that freedom of opinion did not fall alone : —with it went
all that was excellent in the country . Spain fell from her rank among the nations , her commerce fled , her agriculture dwindled away , and her literature sunk iu | o barbarism ; until at length a revolution came to sweep away the labour of
whole ages of persecution and intolerance , and to give the Spaniards an opportunity of slowly retracing their steps to a line of sounder policy . Still this is your only alternative ; if you enter upon this path , If yoti prosecute for opinions at all , you will find no resting-place for the sole of your foot until you have entered the
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doors of the Inquisition . If \ you \ stop short of this , you leave the unb ^ ttev «* r still the opportunity of saying , f-1 could if I dare ; let me , and 1 can shew you that you are all wrong : but how do you answer my cavils , as you call them ? Do
you answer them with argument ? Do you answer them by evidence ? If you have argument and evidence , why not produce it ? The truth is , you have neither , and therefore you answer me only with chains and a dungeon . ' Is it not true that there has been in this country much more published against the
Scriptures than in all Europe , or even in the whole world besides ; and let me ask you , whether you are prepared to admit that we are an irreligious people ? If you were prepared to admit it , facts would deny it : I would ask you what nation can boast of so many Missionaries spread over the whole earth for preaching of the
gospel among the Heathen ; where did that mighty organ of Christianity , the Bible Society , take its origin ? Gentlemen , we have solved the problem ; wfc have proved that publications like this do not produce those ill effects appre- * hended by the weak and inconsiderate /* —Pp . 13 , 14 .
We are told that Christianity is part and parcel of the law of England ; I wish to God it may be proved this day , that we are so told correctly , because if Christianity be the law of England , then , gentlemen , you are bound to act in perfect conformity with the precepts of its Founder . If the Founder of our faith had
chosen to use force for its propagation , or against those who impugned it , what was to prevent him ? Why did he not employ supernatural powers against the Galileans , or why did he rebuke his disciples for desiring it ? But perhaps the Constitutional Association may suppose themselves to know better than our Divine
Master , in what way the interests of Christianity may be best promoted . Thank God , however , you are not the Constitutional Association ; you have neither part nor lot in it . Even if you should refuse to put faith in those great men whose opinions I have cited , and to whom we owe the clear evidence of the truth of
Christianity , you will bow down with reverence before him to whom we owe Christianity itself . As I read my Testament , the great character impressed on every page , is forgiveness of our enemies . I will not insult you by supposing that
you are so unacquainted with the Sacred Writings , as to render it necessary for me to cite passages fo * the support of my position ; nor do I wish to depend on insulated passages , if . this be not the , prevailing feature df the book . If the Scrip-
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632 Review . — Trial of John Bafhtey for Sediliofi .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1822, page 632, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2517/page/48/
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