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Rf ^^ ^^^ H ^ ft ^ T p ^ a ciple-tQ wfQj $££ ^ r , ^ i ^ , ojr-rsfor .. any- side , # 6 aftgiy q , sf ^ ft ^; as it is to profess ieMdifferently any reli | iws tenets I SupgQse my opinions to be , that suck and such measures are conducive *
or it m ay even be essential , towards tjie seal interests of man \ that history abundantly testifies that such is their tendency , and that such and such persons are pre-eminently qualified to carry into effect these measures—can I then be other than a traitor to the
cause of truth and of humanity if I advocate other measures or if I support other men ? If , as a Trinitarian , I feel horror at entering an Unitarian place of worship , lest I may offend the Divine Being by associating with those who do not receive in faith
what I regards as the sacred tauth of Christianity ; and if , as an Unitariw > I cannot frequent a Trinitarian chapel froin a conviction that it would be arrant hypocrisy in me to pretend to sanction the latter warship-rupon what groundam I at liberty to forego the honest convictions of my owa
mind , that such and such proceedings are calculated to add dignity tp , pad to increase the happiness of , the human race , and in consequence to be at liberty to support measures of a di * F ' ecfljr contrary character ? Am * I not equkfjy a traitor to the cause of truth in tW oi * e case aa in the other ? If
it ; b § said that political princi p le may tye ^ crificed without criminality , why Vbfy npJt the same be said of religious principle ? For my own part , I can see no difference whatever : and I can hardly imagine that the doctrine which teaches that there is a
difference—that while religious principles should he maintained , political princi p les may be made to bend to the wishes-of friends , or to the promotion of self-interest and worldly aggrandizement—I can hardly imagine that the doctrine which teaches this , could
have the hold it has on the affections of men , if they were reasoned with frequently on the subject * The being frequently reminded of duty , is reasonably supposed to be no very uninflu * . en vial oiean by which ; to enable us
to keep the path of duty : on this ground it is that our weekly sabbatical exhprtations arc justified . It is no ^ t ^ a t we are at these stated period s ^ o aj ucjtiiji oiiiied of novd ties , as that
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w # s ^^ ii ^ ii ^( l ^!«) f ^]( p ^ ^ ii ^ ri 5 S& i % # qiir ^ i * ty | to lie feQfc < $ to # > kfefcalid so fe > rtl | . Sutrtii ^ a we j arej ^ totio ^ minded of r ^ ur ^ Ullecrt B dfo ty ^ rtJiufc fc , q € tl ^ ei iin | p ^ tafli % or ^ Nas ^ y ^ f ^ ft !
kering firnvly t ^ o prm ^ iple . And it may fairly ffe ^ hopfd i that : U h > &mng U > i )^ km ^ of what this duty is , that ca « s «« men so often jt # th 4 ^ fe \ yi 4 h iftne pgirty and to vote ^ ith another , s ^ «
But tbea the questi ^ pt returns , When are they to b § pi ^ pepl jrinfortiyed of what is ^ t&ir d u ? ty y ^ nd by who ^ n are they tv hay ^ this iaformatiua given ? They cannot be ¦ informed Irom the pulpit , because poBtic ^ are not to be iatrodueed there . They ean , therefore , he informed t > uly at seasons of election ? for member ^ of
Parliaiuent , © r at meetings connected more or less intimately with ekeliini proceedingsv But at these , it i » . saw by so ^ ne pers ; ons that the offioiuJ guardians of public mannetrs ^ ndjmix lic morals shouki not appear . But the question to be determined is ^ and it fe pjie- of no small importance , does the Christian minister desecrate his
office by being presept at such scenes , admitting that his views are pure , and ttot to h | s principles h ^ is firm I Or does he not , in the very spirit of his holy vocation , avail hunsslf of a great
opportunity of restraining passion , of checking intemperance ^ and of preventing that backsliding from the Ji » e of duty to which \ ve are all too much inclined , when urged l > y sordid selfinterest ?
These ideas have very forcibly struck my rnind of late in consequence of witnessing- during the late- election what I shall call most ¦ awful instances of want of principle . I have myself found shoals of electors , if I may so speak , voting for one party t please
some great man , while they were decidedly in sentiment with the other . I have myself known liberal clergymen voting , at the nod of superiors , for Anti-catholic members ; men , with radical reform on their tongues , swelling the ranks , in ignoble silence / < jf those who seetn to be horror-struck
at the idea of a change , But this , in a moral point of view , is a very shocking state of things , and it is a state of things which , I fear , from some cause or other , the patrons of our Btbk Societies never contemplate ; for ^
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583 M&r ^ J ^ iffw&fer
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1826, page 528, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2552/page/20/
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