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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Attempt t $ delineate &r . PmeHletfs Qharwlm * i $ 9
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pulitipai and literary sympathies with $ te re ^ iii % i 6 ii ^ fc | m the ( dai ^ je ^ whose hearts were frozen by an earthh
born philosopy ; he was not particularly fitted ftp , spread warmtli and earnestness arouud hjm , nor to exhibit Christianity iiv | ts ipost quickening form . He endeavoured to ineoFporate
with UjQitapacLism the chilling doo trines of the materialism of iW / S |^^ of the mechanical necessity of human actions , and of the suspension of con - sriausness for ages after death , an 4
adopted philosophical notions , ^ t | i $ y have feeea J ^ lsiely called , ja reg&rd to prayer , divine influence , &c . I think too that Ills literary coanexiona , his habits of physical research , and the spirit of the age , Led him to believe , that Christianity would be made more
credible by excluding from it th < t su >~ jwmaluml m Wick $ s possiWte | $ iv opinion which probably swayeii not a little his views of his favourite doctrines , and which , indeed * is not
uncommon anaong philosophers ; though to me it seems not very rational . " The result w $ s , that ^ e framed and propagated a system in many respects open tq tliQ charge , 4 & being cold and uufetey ^ flpg / ^
Dp . CHANlf P 4 G ^ S oii ^^ haracter is rw correct to ad ^ n it for a moment the supposition of an inteational misrepresentation of the , character of t > x . Priestley ?? but . I who knew J ) v . Priestley well , mil veiKture
to assert that a more erroneous rep resentation neveir existed . Dr . C allows , what indeed none can deny , that " Dr * P .- po ^ se ^ sed eminent endowments , together with ^ devotion to science and the muse of
ChristianitgJ * But he alleges , that " the distinctive traits of hia mind made hini too receptive of the . spirit af life : Iime 8 > which was a spirit of innavat 3 on m well q $ pf iuiprovernejit / ' If I
understand the meantmr ¦ of this obscure senstand the meaning of this obscure sen * tence , it i $ , % iji a * t > r * P . wm c < joistifcutianally disposed to innovafe aa well as to improve . I qaii onfy reply from my per ^ Qi ^ JL lj : iiovwledge p | Dr . P . ^ that he wua at no time desirous of ^ ny
innov ( UiQ r \^ mor al pliilasoplii c ^ l , or politiQal ^ vvhich * he ^ d aot regard as iM prQvemeqte v The relupta ^ c ^ which he di 8 ccwe ^ stt (* o adopting" the EVench theory pf c | iemistrjr f is a proof that
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^ mpre y rap y than by profoundness of thougl ^ ^ T 4 # d y et ^ l ^ JI ^ pi $ my w £ o were equally competent J to judge W ith J > r ^ fiU ^ f . ^| iii ^ , | r , ^^ % was m 0 &m *^
Distinguished t » idit M " < hp TV ^ a ^ lc ^ muqh disposed to innovation m ^ iU ^ phi j > wr j ^ 0 ^ m proof that he was an innovator upo ^ o ^ hepfdb ^ ts . . . / v ;¦ ¦ ¦ ¦ 5 ^;^; . ; :-
precision of thought , for comprehension pf i ^ i ^ fin- perspicuity B of eg ^ r pression , and for fofce of reasoning i ^ on 5 u !? jec ^ i > £ ifee ' i ^|^ p |^ p ^ ^ abs tract nature , as he undoubtedly was for quickaess of ftppre | iensioi 9 i and raipidity of composition . : - ,
^ MM / f says Piv , Cfom ^ itiff > < c perhapa Iqt his attaclunent to ji ^* § ic » l science , to confound the provi « 0 ea of matter and mind . " How an attache ment to the pursuit of one specie 3 of knowledge can incline a person la confound the object of it with
something totally different from it , is more than my humble intellect can comprehend . 4 < Constitutionally deficient in moral enthusiasm and deep f <^ lfeig : /^ r- ^ A very extraordinary a ^ aertion this from » gentleman who could not possibly ;
know what Dr . Priestley ^ s constitution was | I will take upon me , from my own knowledge , to affirm , that Dr . Priestley was constitutionally a man of & very ardent mind . He was early remarked for the eagerness with which he sought after , for the zeal and fervour with which he embraced ,
and for the courage with which he professed , what appeared to him to be important truth ; And indeed , what was it that drew upon him the hatred of men in power , and excited the
violent persecution which obliged him ultimately to relinquish his country ? Not his political tenets : pot his approbation of the early principles and measures of the French Reformers ,
for in these he only coincided with Mr , Fox and the Whigs of England * It was his zealous opposition to cede * siastical tyranny ; to all Church Establishments * as such ; and particularly to the Established Church of England . Audi that , not as Dr . C . would have us believe , because he was connected
by political and literary sympathies with the Revolutionists on the Continent , but because he was a sincere and zealous Christian ; because he waa
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1824, page 679, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2530/page/39/
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