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in Reply to the Letteik of D % iJ . & # e Smitftl % J $
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who was guilty of -any great breach of moral duty . ^ M . Mmari , I believe , kaew little of the state of society in other places , or of mankind generally , but from books , when he began to declaim agaipst the Genevese . If we would estimate fairlya . be moral ch&-racter of a people , we ought not to compare them with an imaginary community of saints , but with other people of the same period , and in the same state of civilization , and we ought to reside with both nations that yve compare together . When Dr . S . represents the increase of vice and profligacy and the relaxation of . manners to be notoriously
great in Geneva * I am compelled , from my knowledge of the contrary , to remind him " that he writes from his own resources only" and that he would have done better , not to have relied on those resources , but to have made
himself more certain of the facts . I repeat again , that until Dr . S . can name a single city in Europe of equal size and equally civilized , where there is less relaxation of manners , Jess vice and profligacy , less irreligion or blasphemy , than in Geneva , I must maintain that he has either written under great ignorance of the subject , or thut he has brought forward an accusation
against the Genevese , which is both unmerited and unjust , and this for no better reason , than that their religious creed does not agree with his own * An anonymous writer in a review ,
trusting to his owiir . resources , may , with a single dash of his pen , make what assertions he pleases , without fear of being responsible for ^ their truth ; thus the author of an article
in the Eclectic Review , has boldly siuted that what I have said in my Travels , of the persecuting spirit of Calvin and the Geuevese Ohurdh , is false ; he well knew that assertion Ayas easier than proof , arid he knew also that with a certain class of
readers his assertion would pass current without examination . When a > vriter tomes-forward in his own name , to acxuse or defend others , the case is dUlerent ; he ought to be less confident in Ills accusations , unless he be prepared with his proofs > for some regard Xo truth is expected even from ^ iigious eontroversiaiiats , if they light under their own banners .
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I believe the charge of irr ^^ fti i ^ sometimes made agaftist tliei G ei ^ ir ^^ by certain - yo ^ g JEn Wtkfr visit that city- ^ psii after tbeit ^ rriv ^ i on the GotitMetit ^ > &nd ^ h ^^ from rieg ^ lect in their education ^ havk no idea of religion as an internal principle forming the iriile of life , but consider the wfcote religious tN * ty of email to consist in g ^ ing . to tbtn ^ h ^ t stated times , and in ^ staining from c ^ daf and fox-hunting on ^ Sunday . Now , such persons seeing publicand private amusements going oh upoiitlie Sun *
day evenings , conclude that the Genevese have no religion whatever . Sunday is regarded by the Genevese , as it is generally both by Catholics and Protestants on the Continent , as a day for religious worship and instruction , and for rest and relaxation
also ; and after the public services are over , tea parties , and public and private amusements commence . Without entering upon the question , whether the sabbatical . observance of Sunday is commanded in the New Testament * I shall proceed to state , that in few cities on the Continent is Sunday so
decently and religiously observed as at Cferieva ; the gates are closed during the hours of public worships no car < - riages are allowed to pass , nor is it considered respectable to be seen in the streets at that time , except in cases of urgent necessity : after ten o ' clock-at night , profound silence generally prevails within the walls .
I shall riot repeat what I have stated at some length in my Travels , respect * ing the great care t ^ ken of the reli * gious education of tne young persons of both sexes in Geneva , nor the interesting ceremony of their admission as members of the church , when they
make a public profession of their faith , and partake of the Lord ' s Supper ; but shall here quit this part of my reply to Dr . Smith ' s accusation . Should any of your readers think I
have been too prolix , let them bear in mind the serious nature of the charge I am repelling . According to Di \ Smith ., a departure from what he deems orthodoxy , is attended with a , notorious increase of vice and intidc *
lity , or , in other words , Unituriamsm is , the parent of demoralization and impiety . This is the plain inference from Dr . Smith ' s , letters - but I dewy
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1824, page 517, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2528/page/5/
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