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Mtfcfc yott warn tne m your charitable i ^ oteti ^ nee ^ sfiid ^ it itf im ^ osd&fe fpr a young man suddenly to rtee up Against tile prmcjplfes ^ hicfe h& has imbibed -witfilife mother V milk , and # hidi he &asr fihutetelf pnblMy
mcttlcatted , and atr tHe saaie tiirie to dfetmite himself from a veiTerfcble teody cofiiposed of the most respeeted men in the nation , tvitftoitt appearing to he actuated by presumption and lin-Dvidled vanity . But tnay He who searches and who softerrs the heart
induce you to believe my solemn declaration , that I have often cried to the Lord , with one 6 f his prophets , Woe is me , a mini of Sirtfe and a man of contention , and that I have fiaany a time bitterly lamented that duty compelled me to break the ties
which connected me with those whom I had always honoured and loved as my earliest and oldest friends . To cultivate , to the utmost of iny oower ,
the spirit of peace breathed iH jrour words , I am about to reply to the < juestlohs you addressed to me ; and be not surprised * Gentlemen , if my answers on this occasion are not
couched in the same words , or in all respects of the samk tenor as those ^ hi ch I gave verbally last week . Those which I am now going to read are what I acknowledge . " * f
. . ? . . . * Do you disown every thing in your foririer writings and discourses which appears to represent the majprity of the members of the Genevan Church as destitute of Christiaiiity ?" €
Answer . * Yes , I disown the opinion if I have advanced it lightly , and if I have not founded those discourses or writings on gospel-truth ; but if I represented such or such persons as sinners , as not belonging to Jesus ,
I did right jiot td conceal or wealken the truth because those persons were outwardly of the Church of Geneva . I cannot therefor ^ di savow my discourse ^ or writings , if thejfr have expressed , with respect to oui * own people , or to any others , th ^ judgment
.. * The formec replies were negative ; these begiu with a positive ^ tK < followed by restrictions and reser ^ ationa vvliich qpnvertr i % into no * Without transcribing thfe ivhote of the : imttrtogtooYy , I tfill give ! KonVe exami ^ iesr .
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of the word of God against those wbti are tfce friends of the ivoMi" ^ " l ) d youi promise to say and to do nothing in future which may dimmish tire respect dud cdikMGne&iiffidk the members of the chufch ow&' t& tKeir pastors ?" Answer . 4 C Ye& 9 I promise to per forin my duty by te ^ htog the faithful that they Ought to honour those utko l
are over them in tke Lord- $ - hnd'lo esteem them very highly in l&ve for their worlds sake . But if , itl Christian love , I am bound to repose confix dence in the pastors who faithfully watch over their floek , my conscience enjoins me ta withhold my own
confidence and resect , and the eoufidence and respect of such as look to me for counsel , from those Who in things pertaining to faith and to the service of tike lidra swerve from the path of truth pointed out by the word of God . "
Do you retract every thing in your discourses , either public of mU tate > whiek has kd to the idea tliat you make a distinction amongst ottr pastors , of such as are evattgelfc ^ l , and suc » h as are not evangelical- ¥ " *'¦[ Answer . Yes . I retract the
drstinctiOft , if I have made it otherwise than the word of God makes and commands me to make it ; if I have done it vtith levity , I have beeri greatly in the wnmg and I disavow my judgment . As , however , the Holy Scriptures declare that there are truS antf false
pastors , true and fake ministers , true and false teachers ; as they enjoin us to guard ourselves and others against the seductions of the latter , I have fre ^ flfcfctly felt it my duty to point out the distinction , to designate one class as Mfhfui arid the other as unfaithful .
By naming some , I did not intend to pronounce c 6 ttdemftation on all the rest . ... I cannot retract Virhat I h&ve said /* " Do your promise for thiy future to submit tb ecclesiastical discipline and to all Afte regulations of thS Giynaistrit ^ P '
Aniwe * . Yep , 'I prdnwse it according to the vifill of the £ * 6 rd . It is my sittfcere desire ta bersribj ^ ct to all tlie ( fisdpline and to all the r ^ gUJutions which will not # 6 to ? id thf c ^^ cfen <^ ^ i i 4 teM tti d «^ riVer itfe ^ of ity ** for vWWk * altthte I % V&ft ^ Ki ^^ flrt ^ fret
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VOL . XIX . h
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we&fogw& ' Cmtrovws ^^ ^ 3
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Feb. 2, 1824, page 73, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2521/page/9/
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