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assent . By alt m&nMftdi 1 tin ^ $ is& yre do not mean every iftdivv&ti&th&fok out ewcepthn . Wfe do hot intend , fot instance , to include idiots ) but we
mean mankind ing&tieral . Now , I think , I know itiany things , which mankind in general ate very capable of learning aftd understanding , if they will take the trouble to do so , which
yet cannot be said to be very easy . It can hardly be doubted , I suppose * that at least nine out of ten of mankind , if taken at a proper age , may be taughtrthe chief rules of arithmetic > , though these are so for from being
very eatip , that they are certainly far more difficult to understand than the leading principles of morals . Indeed , the very phrasfes " take the trouble ?* and * ' set themselves to search /* plainly imply that all is not perfectly easy , but that the ^ e are some difficuU ties to be overcome by persevering labour ; and I will add , by all the as * distance that the learner can obtatm For I will not hesitate a moment to satisfy Mr . Cogan ' s curiosity , by
answering in the affirmative the question which he suggests , but modestly doubts whether he has any right to put to me , concerning the propriety
of calling in as often as it may be needful , the aid of some person of superior mind , to explain whatever may be obscure and difficult . I would , however , advise Mr . Cogan not to distress himself with fears , lest the
instructor should shew something of the spirit of the usurping priest , of which I thiftk there is little danger ; for to repeat what I have elsewhere said , there is " this unspeakable ad * vantage in favoui * of Natural Religion , that whoever Undertakes to inculcate
its pare and salutary maxims , is on a footing of perfect equality with his fellow-men . " He can assume no dicta- * toriai authority , nor exact from them any implicit obedience . As he can--not have the shadow of pretence for " dominion over their faith / ' he must content himself with being the 4 *
helper of their joy . " Iti shon , it appears to me that the quotations from Locke are extremely u&fortitiiftte , and not in any degree relevant to Mr * Cogan ' s purpose ; and , as he has not produced any other authority to justify the use of the language to which I objected , I must consider his omit-
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tihg to do $ oy as a tacit admission > t&at if I it was iifc tf the * ¦ ¦ istoguag ^ fM misstatement and earieifcure , it w& $ * to say the least , a liiiti too sWoftt * .
I proceed now to remark &a the surprise which Mr . Cog-an expresses at my objeetittg to . his notion of the Valuei of A&Hef without evidence . He tells us he is very sure that it is true i
and he maintains , *< that there are multitudes in every Christian Country who are altogether incapable of de * aiding on the truth or falsehood of th& Christian religion /^ Now , if he inettns that there are multitudes who are
incapable of deciding with cett ^ tnty on the external evidence of Ohristi ^ iiilyi that Is > of the truth of every miraefe related in the New Testattsenfc , ot in any writer of the earliest Gbri&tiai * age , I not or * ly admit the truth of the ?
position , but I go a gTeat de&i far- * ther . I believe that thei * e is not one man upon the face of the earth who . is competent to the decision . Btit if his meaning be , that men in general have no adequate means of judging
whether the important truths inculcated in the New Testament , are worthy to be received and acted upon , I must be allowed to diffetf from him in toto . For , being fully persuaded that Cicero was right in vindicating ' the authority of Right Reason in his
book De Repubhca—that St * Paul was fight in asserting the universal obligation of the Law of Nature in his Epistle to the Rom& , ns > - ~ that Bishop Sherlock was right in maintaining that " the religion of the gospel i 3 the true ? original religion of Reason atid Nature ^—^ that Locke was right when he
said , that God had discovered to men the Unity and Majesty of hfc EOertial Gddhead , and the tt-uths of Natural Religion by the light of Rea * son "^ -that the leafned and excellent
Lardner was right in affirming ** that St . Paul was not wont to deny and contest , but to improve , the natural notions which meti had of rfcligion " - ^ that thfe ReV . Robert Robinsott was right in Saying , ' * to cdnforttiity be * . tWeen the dictates of Natute and the
precepts of Revelatiott , is th £ Bb ^ Pnoo ^ of the divinity of the latter *^^ fcnd that Archde&eon Paley arid & thou ^ ^ and others hav e been right iti tt&seft * ing the authority of both itofiUMl aiitt supernatural revelatiofi- ^ and having
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Mt . Mfcrtik ir * Meplp t ® Jk / ri 6 $ gtifa > t ys . Matutql Miligim . Wk
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1824, page 221, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2523/page/29/
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