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    on the late Tk&ol&gical < 2 oMrov&r $ ie $ atGen&va . 6 / 7 ? %

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    calfe " My M ^ a d ^ citiine df Filial p ^ t ^ eve ^ aii ^ , ^ tSfifter ^ at 411 item tftfe statement thus made by me , I £ aii assure him of thfc contrary . It is impossible far % ttiy jpefrson to read M-

    M . ' s pttmicatious i ^ itli common jeStice , arid eflt < 6 * taift sticfx all opinion . In a single sermon alone , I find exhortations np 6 a thfe vfcry topics which Mr . B . puts into tlie mouth of Mr . Rooke , the absolute necessity of tooly

    ivatchfulness , care , cautron , habitual dependence on divine grace , and constant prayer , in order to avoid temptations , and to be preserved in the path of universal obedience ^ exhortations which , in tenderness , pathos md s # fetigt& , incomparably exceed any thiftg % hfeh

    Mr . B . coiild pro d uce on the satifie subjects froin Writes of the modern school of theology . The fear of transgressing due limits prevents my mserting" some of those passages ftmn M . M . 'fc sermon oii Matt , xxvi , 40 , entitled , La Recktrte du FidMd : aft *!

    the same sentiments are to be found ^ in different forms of cOnnexidii , scattered through all his publications . IV . Mr . BafcewetPs pKilcipal object appears to be * o eotittadict my

    assertion , that " the relaxation of manners , among * all classes of th 4 GeneV ^ e , tocreased and spread ia proportion to the departure from the old theology . * On the contrary , he maintains that the old *' orthodox Genevese w £ re

    tiotoritius for cheiating and insincerity ; —and were greatly inferior in moral virtue to those of the present day . " A thermometrical accuracy ( if I may

    use the expression ) of comparison , in such cases , is plainly impossible . I most cordially admit that a coerced and mechanical orthodoxy was the neeess&rv result of the intolerant

    Calvinism of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries ; fcnd thfot hypocrisy , canfting , avarice , cheating and secret aftoniinations , weie t ^ ery Hkely t 6 be the sins of any ^ eo |) le uti ^ er s <> triiscriptural a system . Of thfc two , I conceive that undisguised profligacy , with

    liberty of religion to all who cho ^ e to be religious , Is a less evil than such a state of thing * . Yet , in forming cyuJestimate of the effect of tho&e opposite conditions of society tipon the i'rttereHs of true * % ibtt , there S ^ a circum - stance of differenrte necessary to be taken into the aceouftt . Whttt ^ V ^ ^ number of genuiae Christians Existed

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    tinder t ^ fe former ^ tcit ^ of Ihings , WoftM be overtopped a ^ nd hidden bj the general , tlioiigh insincere , profession of religion itk tlie great mass around them : thus there might fee rtiucfh tilie pietyy teat it Would be discOVerafiilnd

    bte only by lc ^ i ^ i ^ sid ^ iisee minute Ifttlttitfyj wti& frbtild not be readil y apw parent to my istr ^ ttge ^ ta Bi ^ h c )| i Bat net ^ a ^ when he vis ited Geneva m 1684 . t hiay remark , itt passin ^^ fhat Mr . Bdkevvcill is mistaken in saviift

    that Bufiiet's ** faith W $ & in p ^ rfbet aiEJcordance with that of the Church of Geneva ; " for he was nriia CalvJnist . Biit in the slate of a cotnMUnity in which ifti ' tiiorality is open and fearless ,

    any nunibet- of religious people vv ^ ukt be placed in ^ ktui ^ taiiceig quite the reverse of the former : they wotrld become eoiis ^ 5 c uous by the fot ' ee of cotitfa § t , arid it would not be difficult

    for sttfarigei'S to find than fcut . Mr . B . had certainly touch ionget e | rportwnity lot becothiiig acquainted With the state of society atnd morals at Geneva , than I could personally have . I may , however , remark that , daring the few days that I was there

    in 1816 , inquniefc Concernitig the state of religion w ^ re my ch ief object ; and I pursued them as actively and earnestly as I ( K > nld . Mr . B . was two Winters at Geneva : but his principal objects of attention were , I apprehend , natural science , literature and

    Statistics . Besides , his Views of religious practice and pure morals are essentially different from mine . He appears to feel no impropriety in ' * public and private amusements

    commencing" as soon as the public services of the L / ord ' s-day are over , that is aS three ( Aciuck : to jfne , the scene was extremely painful . I believe , equally with Mr . B ., that " religion is an in-5

    tfeittal principle / directing the life aecdrtlin # to the rtile Gtf ( Efvfee authority : and I fe 6 l . lt difficult , or even impossible , Id teorwiei ^ e of that pritt £ i < - j > Ie as taking delight \ i % ivo ^ Mly gaiety

    and 3 rtmsaft £ hts , and declhiing \<> a ^ ail itself of all the opportunity whleh otle day in seven affbrds , for domestic and secret , as Well AS public , exercises of sacred f&atfuctibik and devO *

    tio ^ n . Mn B . ttdim ^ es " the interesting < ierei ^ 6 tty of their ad mission as members of the ehtateb , when they make a public profession of their faith , and partake of tftfc Lord's Supper , ' I ,

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1824, page 675, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2530/page/35/