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they dared not be silent , when they thought their open testimony called for by the interests of truth . Though your Lotfdsliip , ' tUerefdre ^ may differ fr < Sm such men in some points of faith , you must , at least / respecijttem { as , honourable , sincere , conscientious . You may pity or condemn tne errors ofraeiruri-28 1
derstanding , but you must approve the integrity of their heartsif ^ -P p ^' , 29 . " All denominations can boast of their Worthies , aid far belt rrtim the j * en which indites these words to refuse its tribute of tiraise 4 to ttie hoh&tMatid sincere , the good and the learned , of every sect and profession . Characters the most estimable for their talents and erudition , their candour' and honesty , are to be found in those churches whose tenets , the Unitarian thinks , have strayed farthest from evangelical truth . Fortunately for men , their speculastrayed farthest from evangelical truth . Fortunately for men , their
speculative opinions do not always produce the results towards which they tend ; for we can discover in the conclusion a danger of which there may be no visible trace in the premises . Instinct , habit , example , and a generous disposition , frequently p reserve men from the consequences of their false reasonings . Predestinanans act from a consciousness of their free agency . Those who , from gross ignorance of the gospel , decry good works , are often most active in their performance ; and some who speak of human nature as altogether
corrupt and depraved , demonstrate the falsehood of their theory by the rectitude of their practice . The Church of Rome may be justly proud of her Massillon , her Bourdaloue , her Fenelon : the Church of England , of her Barrow , her Jeremy Taylor , her Tillotson , her Hoadley : the Church of Scotland , of her Robertson , her Campbell , her Blair , her Chalmers . And , why not Unitarians of their Lardner , their Taylor , of Norwich , their Price , their Priestley , their Channing , and their Rammohun Roy ? And , why should they not shew that they have a ' reason for the hope that is in them / and as good reason , too , as the loftiest hierarch that ever wore a mitre , for the doctrines of his peculiar creed ?
"With the writings of the Unitarian authors just mentioned , let me recommend , as worthy of your Lordship's serious attention , those of Biddle , Firmin , Emlyn , Whiston , Lindsey , Wakefield , Wright , Belsham , Buckminster , Carpenter , Price , Bruce , Kenrick , Dr . Hutton , of Leeds ; and also the perodical publications , the American Christian Examiner , the Christian Pioneer , the Christian Moderator , the Christian Reformer , the Monthly Repository ; small publications , indeed , as to size , but replete with matter—all kernel and no
shell . Part of your Lordship's fortune could not be better applied than in promoting the sale and circulation of these works ; nor could you find any auxiliaries more powerful to assist your Lordship in carrying on that true reformation which is so much wanted . They would go to your Lordship monthly , did you invite them , as refreshing breezes that have passed over the garden of the Lord , with music in their voice , and fragrance on their wingssweeping away the noxious mists of prejudice , and diffusing light on your mind , and gladness on your heart . "—rp . 30 , 31 .
w * Who have written more ably or more learnedly in defence of Revelation than Unitarians—with more strength of argument than Channing—with more erudition than Lardner ? Who have been more instrumental in checking the progress of that infidelity of which they are slanderously accused ? By shewing that the religion of the gospel is not what orthodoxy would represent it , a chaos of contradictory and unintelligible dogmas , but a perfect rule of faith and practice , worthy of the most sublime notions which the human mind can form of God , and most consonant to the conclusions of improved reason , they ' have facilitated its reception with sceptical minds . They have made Christians of men who would have lived and died in unbelief , had
religion been presented to them only in those irrational and mysterious forms in which it is so much the fashion to have it disguised . They have stood in the gap against the irruptions of infidelity , and rescued many from the gulf of irre * - Figion , into which they would have fallen in their recoil from a false theology . " Beware , then , my Lord , how you charge with infidelity those who are zealous in promoting gospel truth , lest , haply , you be found even to fight atfainst God . ' ( Acts v . 31 . )"—P . 34 . [ To be continued . ] '
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Dr . Drummond ' s Letters to Lord Mountcmhell . 707
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1828, page 707, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2565/page/51/
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