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views of religion In other parts of Europe . In France , it is well known that there is a most respectable Protestant population . It is , perhaps , not so well known , that liberal views of Christianity prevail among them to a great extent . The pressure upon them by the Catholics has hitherto been so severe , that it has been necessary for them , for the common security , not to urge the points
of difference among themselves ; and Calvinism , in ail parts of the Continent , wears a much milder aspect than in Great Britain . But it is probable that among the Protestant clergy of France , a majority is not favourable to the Calvinistic scheme . They are furnished chiefly from the schools of Montauban and Geneva ; the former of which is served by at least some liberal teachers , and at the latter all bear that character .
In Transylvania , one of the seven or eight kingdoms of the Emperor of Austria , Unitarianism was not long ago one of the religions established by law ; but little acquaintance is possessed with Us present condition . At the establishment of the existing state of things in Holland , at the re- organization of Europe , the ecclesiastical assembly convoked by the
government , established liberal terms of admission to the ministry , and in that country , so illustrious for its past services to religion and learning , it is understood , in general , that something important has already been done towards a correction of the popular belief . In Switzerland , it is well known that just views of Christianity are gaining ground in different quarters , notwithstanding
the labours of emissaries of the English Continental Missionary Society , and the influence of the Missionary School at Basle , supported chiefly by English funds . The gradual , but thorough revolution of sentiment among the enlightened and exemplary clergy and people of Geneva , is an event of signal importance . A year and a half ago , the Unitarian successor to the chair of Calvin , walked with me to a rising ground
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in full view from the walls of Geneva , at about half a mile ' s distance , to point out to me the spot where the Unitarian Servetus was burned at Calvin * s instance ; burned by a slow fire of green wood , that his torments might be the more and the longer . As I went on such an errand in such company , I had abundant food for meditation on the little efficacy of establishments , creeds , and faggots , to keep down the truth as it is in Jesus .
** Such demonstrations in various quarters , it seems to me , Mr . President , are not to be accounted for on local and occasional grounds . They are symp * toms of that same spontaneous , general movement of mind , which is impelling the civilized nations of the earth towards the assertion of political liberty . Light is breaking in . There is a well-developed determination of the universal
mind towards truth . That progress to * wards the recovery of the genuine Christian faith , of which we have in disconnected quarters such gratifying evidence , as it is produced by a permanent , and , as I believe , day by day more and more efficient cause , I am persuaded we are henceforward to witness more and more extensively and distinctly . As it cannot fail to rejoice us , wherever it appears , I am desirous that we should take
measures to be acquainted with it . This Association affords facilities for the attainment of that object ; and if any addition to the cares of the Secretary would be too much even for the ability and diligence of the present incumbent of that office , I , for one , should be gratified \ f the government would take measures for the establishment , in due time , of a foreign department . Meanwhile I submit the following resolution :
" Resolved , —That this Association reciprocate the expressions of sympathy and regard they have received from the British and Foreign Unitarian Association , and rejoice in the exertions of the friends of truth in England and on the continent of Europe . "—Pp . 291—299 .
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192 Criticalt Notices .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1828, page 192, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2558/page/48/
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