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jjead , the Lord J ^ sus Christ ! Curse Jhem , all ye churche $ of Christy as I lespisers of tbat love and mercy which ss your portion , your life and your inheritance ! Let all the saints of " 3 rod , all that love the Lord , curse ;; hem , and rejoice to see the Lord coming forth mightily and prevailing against them to their everlasting ruin ! WVhy should any one have a thought cof compassion towards them who cdespise the compassion of God , or of imercy toward them who trample on
tthe blood of Christ ? While there is Ihope we desire to have continual { sorrow for you , and to travail in soul ifor your conversion to God . But if you be hardened in your way , shall we join with you against him ? Shall we prefer you above his glory ? May God forbid ! We hope to rejoice in seeing all that vengeance and indignation poured out unto all eternity upon vour souls II '
" It is impossible to listen to these appalling maledictions without trembling to think on what the author of them might have been under the dreadful discipline of the Romish Church * In another age and other circumstances this hierophant of Puritanism might have directed the holocausts of the Inquisition ! The
spirit of Jbt . Dominic breathes in every line ; and thus it is that when , once the medium of sobriety has been deserted , extremes often meet on one common ground of uncharitableness and intolerance . The lawfulness of these eruptions of zeal is expressly asserted by Milton in the fourth chapter of the second book of this work , where he says that * We are commanded to call down curses publicly
on tbe enemies or God and the church , and on false brethren and on any who are guilty of grievous offences against God or even against ourselves ! The same may be done in private prayer after the example of some of the holiest of men r On the whole , however , it is pleasing to
ooserve now tree tins treatise is trom aa intemperate spirit . There is little in it to remind us of the author ' s former ungovernable and savage vehemence , except occasional rumblings which shew tliat the volcano is not wholly exhausted . " Prom Milton ' s preface to this work it appears that he wa& dissatis-
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fied with all extant systems «* £ $ „ vinity . The citadel of the r eformed faith he considers as abundantly fortified in the quarter that looks toward Popery , but in other parts as lamentably unprovided with solid
works or able defenders . This state of things impelled him to survey the tovvers of Sion for himself—in other words , to cast away all human authorities and to examine the Scriptures by the light of his own independent and free-born intellect , aided * by devout prayer to the eternal Spirit that can enrich with ail utterance and
knowledge !'" So far the British Critic , with respect to the nature , character and authenticity of the work . Having acknowledged that " the author appears to have undertaken his labour with unimpeachable integrity of
purpose , and doubtless believed , that throughout the execution of it , he was submitting his understanding to the written word , " the critique concludes in a mingled strain of
panegyric and of censure alike honourable to his memory . The volume is here regarded chiefly as a literary curiosity , completing " the works of a writer whose gigantic powers have contributed to make the British
name respected and honoured throughout the civilized world- —the very name of such a man is to be numbered among the imperishable bulwarks of his country V After a long and elaborate Review of the Treatise on Christian Doctrine
the British Critic comes to the lame and impotent conclusion of its beifl f only a literary curiosity , because , forsooth , it demolishes the Tritheistn of the Athanasian Creed , a sin which , according to the damnatory clauses of that charitable formula ,, is not to be
forgiven in this world nor in the world to come . On the contrary , I have bo hesitation in declaring that its principal excellence is , and an ex cellence which attaches itself to no other body of divinity that I have ever seen , that the personal unity &f Corf constitutes
the central point , beaming refiug enwy throughout its pages , like the sun in the firmament ; whilst the other i » inor doctrines , resembling so many satellites , revolve around in their several orbits with an attractive but su bordinate glory ! Nor arc the s tanding
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S 2 S Estimate of Mitt&ri * s Theological Work ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1826, page 728, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2555/page/28/
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