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750 J > r . * £ . P . Smith ' * JtiftdicHtwn //)/ % Huffier , of Strasfargk
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to make no allowance for the influence of education , exclusive courses of reading , anti-evangelical connexions , and the endless variety of unfavourable circumstances incidental to individuals , which contribute so much to the formation of character , and among which I wish that we bad not to reckon the ignorant clamour and false vituperation of some well-meaning men ? Are we to pay no regard to the value of their services , the outward respectability , at least , of their characters , and the evidences of their sincerity , so far as their views went ? Are we to call for fire from heaven upon them and
their writings , because , in points of very serious magnitude , we lament that they see not as we see ? Who hath made us to differ ? If Dr . Haffner is to be treated with scorn and insult , and his name stamped with the crimes of ridiculing the Scriptures while he is recommending their universal distribution , and of being a downright Deist , under the garb of a Christian
minister—if this be consonant with truth , wisdom , and justice , then it is our duty to apply similar language to the persons and writings of Clarke and Locke , of Watson and Paley , of Lardner and Priestley .
Under the strong impression of Dr . Haffner ' s speeches , I wrote a respectful letter to the author of the pamphlet before alluded to , expressing my doubts of the correctness of his imputations , and earnestly begging the loan of the Preface to the Bible , upon which they are ostensibly founded . More than two months have elapsed , and my old friend has not yet favoured
me with any reply . In the mean time , I did not think \ t wrong to introduce among the Extracts which I have occasionally made from the foreign Reports ( and which you have inserted in the Evangelical Magazine , to the pleasure and benefit , I trust , of your readers ) , two passages
ot the Strasbur ^ li Society ' s publications : and I also thought it equally proper to make a reference to the accusations which have been circulated among us . 1 remark , in-passing , that Ale . thia is mistaken in supposing that
the Extracts which 1 have sent you are "in order to prove that the state of religion abroad is better than is generally supposed . " My object in translating what appeared to me in-
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teresting passages , was not to . n ^ Ve either the positive or the negative Of that position ; but it was to furnisha few authentic materials , on which yoUr readers might exercise their own . judgment . Apprehensive , I own , that I might not obtain the favour solicited from Edinburgh , I wrote to a fripnH
in the South of Germany , requesting him to procure for me the desired Preface . But before this application could take effect , and in a manner the most unexpected , and I must say providential , three days ago I was gratified with a copy of the work which I had so much longed to see .
Neither my own leisure , nor your limits will permit me to give any other than a very short account of this , which I must call a valuable and interesting production . It is entitled
Jin Introduction to the Knowledge and the Profitable Reading of the Bible . It occupies thirty-seven pages in ] arge octavo , having been printed to bind up with an edition of the
Bible : but the intention of so uniting it with the Bible was abandoned by the Strasburgh Committee as soon as they saw that it went beyond the idea of a brief Preface ; and it was resolved to be sold separately , as a Treatise which they thought likely to be useful in counteracting ignorant or sceptical
prejudices , and in promoting the study of the Sacred Scriptures . Whether this was a wise and good resolution is not the question ; I state it merely as the fact : and it is important to observe , that this resolution was taken and acted upon before the Strasburgh
Committee could possibly have h < id any communication from the British and Foreign Bible Society . The assertion of Alethia on this point , I trust , she will be glad to be assured is the very contrary to her name , the downright reverse of truth !
The first four pages of Dr . Haffner ' s Introduction are occupied with arguing the necessity and reality of a Revelation from God , and shewing that such a Revelation is contained m the Bible . Then follow brief sketches
of the contents and general character of each book of the Old Testament , the Apocrypha and the New Testament ; an < l the work is concluded ^ itn reflections on the benefit of readi » K the Divine Word , the duty of universally disseminating if , and g lad auut-
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1826, page 750, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2555/page/50/
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