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Untitled Article
in strict accordance with those principles of liberality and candour which every nobleman and every Christian ought to cultivate . I shall endeavour to perform the task imposed on me with the respect due to your Lordship ' s rank , and still more to the virtues which adorn your character ; but at the same time , with the higher respect which is due to the cause of truth and the interests of religion .
Those parts of your Lordship ' s address which appear to be most at variance with Christian truth and charity , I attribute to the prejudices of education , and with the Protestants of Fermoy cheerfully subscribe to the declaration , that " none can question the purity of your Lordship ' s motives . " I read with unqualified pleasure , that " your Lordship ' s exertions
to ameliorate the state of the population have been indefatigable and useful . " With them I join in the hope that " a better order of things may shortly supersede the present degradation of the moral character , and that the human mind , being expanded , through the genial influence of scriptural education , will assert its independence , and place itself in that scale of dignity which is characteristic of its nature .
You , my Lord , have approved these sentiments , and your approbation of them reflects a brighter lustre on your name than a riband and a star on their , high-titled wearer . The land may be proud of the nobleman who approves the manly , Christian sentiments of the Protestant inhabitants of Fermoy . It may rejoice to hear them re-echoed in your Lordship ' s " pious wish , " that " the great body of the people should become more happy ,
, rnore comfortable , more moral , and better educated . " Cheering and delightful sounds ; independence of the mind—dignity of human nature- * the people better educated , more moral and more happy ! May the inhabitants of Fermoy , both Protestant and Roman Catholic , live to see these glorious visions realized ! May the captive who groans in spiritual bondage be freed from his chains , and an age of servitude and darkness be followed by a millenium of liberty and light !
You seem to think , my Lord , that this " consummation , so devoutly to be wished , " is to be effected . by the " New Reformation Societies . " Of those societies you approve , because at their meetings persons of all descriptions have an opportunity of hearing whatever can be said in favour of or against doctrines which are questioned , and it is written in the Bible , " Prove all things , and hold fast that which is good . " 1 Thess . v . 21 *
This , my Lord , is excellent ; and as you have sneeringly observed that 1 " cordially concur" in an argument of the Rev . Mr . Maguire ' s , so do I now as cordially concur with your Lordship ; for it is the glorious privilege of one who knows and dares to use the right of private judgment , to assent to every truth he hears , and not to be deterred from its use or application b y any prejudice of sect or party . Fas est et ah hoste doceri . There is no divine prohibition against our being instructed by a foe as well as by a friend . J wish , without venturing to hope , that I were regarded by your Lordship as
the latter ; but though I should not be so fortunate , may I not trust that on this principle , or from a generous feeling of reciprocity , you will listen to a word in season , though issuing from the mouth of an tJnitarian Christian ? It is only by free and unrestricted discussion that doubtful questions can be determined * Controversy , when conducted by the " law of kindness , " is productive of much good in quickening the intellectual powers , in detecting latent error , in stimulating inquiry , and leading to right conclusions . The truth is struck out by the conflict of adverse opinions ; and by hearing , as
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434 Dr . Drummond ' s Letter to Lord Mvuntcashell .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1828, page 434, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2562/page/2/
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