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    decidepfcfeafc j ' it ^ fe impossible land , and , thongh some of their companions poiiifrb # tijirm bmch , exclaim , ' J 5 e-Juded things ! thelfe can be no beach tinfe # y < M &m melt clown these tremendous rocks . No I oiir ship is wrecked , and to the bottom we must

    go 1 All we have to do is to swim on till fate overwhelms us I' You do not deny the depravity of the human race * WeB * thai Is 6 &e step gained : it is allovvfeg i # e are $ mt aw&pi it is * figuratively ^ oui * % hipwreck < Behold us ,

    then , &l £ scattered upon the ocean , arid all anxious to be saved—all , at leiist , willing to be on terra firmathe -Humes , the Gibbons , the Vbltaires , a& well as the Newtons , the Lockes , the Johnsons , &c . The latter mak « for the beach : the foriner

    exhaust their strength about the rocks 9 and sink , declaring tliem insurmountable . The incarnation of a Be&yvicaffotis atonement ~ the innofcent suffering for the guilty ^ the seeming Inconsistencies of the Old Testament and tike ^ st »^ p « itime ^ of the New ^ 8 ^ &c .- ^ aire rochs which I am free fe

    own are , not easily melted down ; tmt 1 ^ may be certain that they inay be viewed from a point on the beach in less deterring forms , — lifting their heads mto the clouds mdeed , yet adding sublimity to the prospect of the shore on which we have landed , and

    by no means impeding our progress >> pon it . In less metaphorical Ian" >^ ger my Lord , it appears to me « iii * $ i . Freethinkers are generally more eager to strengthen their objections tha ^ solicitous for conviction , and Oic * wandering" into forced

    inferences ? ta pursuing the evidence of facts — so contrary to the example given to us in all judicial investigagat ions , where testimony precedes rea * soningy and is the ground of it . The corruption of human nature being

    self-evident , it i £ very natural to inquire the cause of that corruption , and as natural to hope tli ^ t there may be a remedy for it . The cause and the remedy have been stated . How are we to ascertain the truth of them ?

    Not by arguing mathematically , but by first examining' the proofs adduced , and if they are satisfactory , to use our reasoning powers , as far as they will go to clear away the difficulties that attend them . This is the only mode of investigating with any hope

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    of conviction . - m «^ return mymetapftoi ^ Me &e # ph otx ^ M ^ h we map find a ! footing , and be able to look around us ; on which bench 1 trust ! shall one day or bther see you takings ypur stand . I have done—and pray observe that Iliave Jeep t my word :

    I have not entered on metaphysics on the subject of Revelation . I have merely stated the erroneous proceeding of ^ FreethtnMng pJiUospphy , and , on the other hand , the natural and rational prpceeding of the mind in the inquiry after truth . The conviction must , and I arn confident will , be the

    operation m your own uaind . " Mr ||« ilias then adds , * Lord By-^ iok noticed , indeed , what I had written , blit in a very disco uraging manner . He would have nothing to do with the subject . We should all go down together , he said ; * so , quoting St . Paul , ' ? Let us eat and drink , for to-nibrrovv we die * I He felt satisfied

    with his creed , for it was better to sleep , than to walsp . Such were the opinions which occasionally manifested themselves in this unhappy young man * and which gave me a degree of

    pain proportioned to the affection I could not but feel for him ; while my hopes of his ultimately breaking from tlie trammels , of infidelity , which were never relinquished , received from lime to time fresh excitement from s&me

    expressions that appeared to me to have an opposite tendency . " At a later period ^ Lord Byro n was addressed respecting his infidelity by another gentleman , who has furnished us with the correspondence , attached to a second edition , just

    published , of an interesting little volume entitled , Thoughts chiefly de * signed as a Preparative or Persuasive to Private Devotion , by John Sheppard . This communication is of a singular and impressive nature , and shall be transcribed . It exhibits his

    Lordship in a more favourable light , and reflects some degree of honour on his memory .

    ' * To the Right Hon . Lord Byron , Pisa * " Frome , Somerset , Nov . 21 , 1821 . "MyIiokd , € t More than two years since a lovely and beloved wife was taken from me by lingering disease , after a . very short union . She possessed un-

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    fJr * 0 vtin&onJ ^ 0 r&B ff ^^ a ¦ ' ¦ ¦ •¦'< , l " - n ¦ ' . ¦ . . M ¦ - " : ¦ ¦

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Jan. 2, 1825, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2532/page/3/