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m Reply to the Letters bf Mr . J . Pyt Smith . tto * T * lL 59 $
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not so , all the lamentations and reproaches whidii Dr . Smith bestows upon the Geiievese , amount to mere drivelling , and had better have been reserved for his friends nearer home ;
Now l&fc u& see how the case really stands , divested of all extraneous considerations . Geneva and Edinburgh were the sister queens 6 f the Church of Calvin ; they were the southern and the northern Zions of Calvinism ; they had the same creed , the same
ehurch government , the watch-towers qf their faith burned with the sacSe fierce and troubled flame , and shed a lugubrious glare over the Protestant world . For nearly a century , the leading men in each city * fully proved
liy their deeds , that they h $ d drunk deeply of the cruel , contentious spirit © f Calvin ! and but very sparingly of the spirit of Christ , which produces the peaceable fruits of righteousness . But it is not with the ancient history of these cities that we are now
concerned . In niy last letter I have described what Geneva was in the days of its orthodoxy . Fortunately , we liave at present nothing to do with the uncertainty of history ^ for JDr . Smith has tpld us that the depravity of Geneva has been progressively
increasing y we will therefore talce it in i ^ s present state , when its depravity is at the li % hfest pitch it has ever been , for at no period was its departure from life faith of Calvin more decided aatfc avowed . I say we will take it in its present state , and
compare it with Edinburgh , which being- the head seat of government of the Kirk of Scotland , has remained under the sweet , preserving influences of Calvinism . Geiiev ^ ivjas we have before stated , has publicly departed from that faith a century since : but it is only as cities , that the moral comparison can be made , for the
members of the Genevese Church being nearly all resident citizens , can only be fairly compared with citizens in other states . Now Edinburgh is ^ according to Dr . Smith's position at the present day greatly , very greatly superior to Geneva in moral virtue and piety , for it has retained its faith ; and therefore has resisted the tide of
moral ; corruption which has overwhelmed Geneva . Such ( I say ) is pr ought to be , according to Dr . Smith's position , the present relative , moral ,
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and religious conditions of the two cities , the one surtk in depravity rind infidelity ,. the other splendent with faith and piety—a holy community of saints . But will any impartial person , who knows the two cities , assert th ^ t
such is the case ? Will any one believe the assertion , were it made , that there is less vice * less intemperance , less profligacy , less infidelity , in orthodox Edinburgh , than in heretical Geneva ? Where the latter city has sent one iniidel into the world , h
might not be exaggeration to say , orthodox Edinburgh has sent a thousand fold the proportion * so much for the preserving influences of Calvinism . Geneva , it maj ^ be shewii ,
has escaped , if not entirely , at least in a great measure , the contagion of infidelity , and it has escaped by the 1 very cause to which Dr . Smith ascribes Its fall , nam ^ ly ^ by having W rational religion , which requires &a
one to believe what is contrary to scripture and reason . The distinction between contrary to reason and above reason , is well understood both by the pastors and pedple . iferhaps J > r . Smith may say , the comparison between Edinburgh and Geneva is not a fair one , as the tide
of moral corruption has set lhmot ^ strongly to the Nortli than the South * butt what is the value of the divine , preserving intfiuence of Calvinism *^ if it be onl y useful in stopping little tides , and has no power to resist great ones ? If so . it ismtet efficaciouswhere
its aid is least wanted . The evident tendency of Dr . Smith's letter is to declare that Calvinism has stopped the tide of moral corruption wherever this faith prevails ; but I might direct the inquiry nearer home , and ask Dr . Smith , whether the Calviuists in London and its vicinity are less desirous
of wealth and honours , or less worldly ? , minded or selfish than their neighbours ^ The accusation of , open flagitiousjie ^ s and dissolute manners , would be as true if applied to -the
English Calvittists , as to the members of the Gerifcvese Churcjij but it would be a foul libel i £ Imp lied fl * either generally ; I am willing to admit that English Calyinists may fairly rank for molral virtue with the
members of other Dissenting- societies , but I cannot allow that they are superior , nor do 1 believe their owii miuistcrtf
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1824, page 595, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2529/page/19/
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