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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Untitled Article
•"' . TJ fie ^ spgl , ¦ & $ tidt ®} fete > piaM atfdiiirteaDgilild > faioiaf Gfittodn&billtfl tie& -b \ 'lt'tM' i ^ f ^ t b » ijtari » x »[ begitis ta ^ nimfiiijt ) oa ; k , Tal ^> ttimx \ fe ; aUSttAo umWfrm& ^ ttfUsMj " , Slro darkens what ( is . ckfiriy fH ^ law&stoialJi fefMi » plep dttb'ie ^ % httt { tlafei * wbfd ^ of ^ Ood ari&rms , i iand affirattsijtekatilt < wfostlpMttyelyi d ^ tii ^ l ' ® he dtt ^ sibm ' tb 6 ifM her c reed a ) dcoifdikig ; to | ttie Script ^ esy but thfe ScrjipMtfea afc « 3 or $ » g « to ^ 3 ier screed' ; aindnheneejItbeMHoest violeiit twfefetirtgiof their meaning , false readings , false inteirpretation ^ fal 8 ecritiei 9 msji and ' obstinate retention > of interpolated words ' and' texts . * Stje > € Otefsfcructi an enormous pile'of doctrines on one or two Hebrew prluraMj audio vbrldoks the * nine hundred' and ninety-nine singulars , any one of which * < is Sufficient to 'subveW the whole of her Babel . She makes : awful inferencesfrom uncertain
pfemises , and despises the positive conclusions which are already j fanned for Us in the * word of inspiration . She is frill ofine < imffruittes and contradic tions . She invests man with the attributes of * the Almigfatyi and humbles the Almighty to the coadition of man * Scripture exhorts us to •* work out otor ofwn -salvation with fear and trembling . ' She ridicules the idea of our d *) ittg aught to promote any such object . Scripture desires us not to judge , lest wfc be judged . She constitutes herself universal judge , and condemns to
unutterable woe all who are not of her way . Scripture desires us to bless , and to curse not ; she curses , and blesses none but her own . She speaks of charity and liberty of conscience ; yet , for a dissent from her opinion , would deprive the steward of his stewardship , and make a desert of the poor man ' s vineyard . When wisdom pauses and reflects , she dashes unblushingly forward ; for ' fools rush in where angels fear to tread / The Scriptures exhort us ' in understanding to be men . ' ' Prostrate the understanding I * exclaims Orthodoxy . She treats reason with contempt and scorn whenever it is against her ; but pays it due homage when she thinks it will plead in
her behalf . She sinks judgment , and exalts imagination . She becomes literal where she ought to be figurative , and figurative where she ought to be literal . She substitutes feelings for principles , faith for practice , and the glosses of her own carnal mind for the spiritual truths of the gospel . Having tried to extinguish * the light that is in us , * she kindles a taper by a spark of her own folly , to guide us through regions that are glowing in the splendours of an unclouded sun . Unhappy they who follow its guidance ! Polluted by its colly , and blinded by its smoke , they may bid a long farewell to the pure air and the cheering light of heaven . "—Pp . 43 , 44 .
Letter Fifth and last opens with some judicious observations on practical reform , which we would press on the attention of all legislators , and particularly those ( they are but few ) who are disposed to take an interest in the fate of poor deserted Ireland . " You have expressed your desire for a new reformation , and no desire can be more laudable . It is the wish of every good man , in every age and country , to be not only a witness , but an actor in such projects as tend to advance the happiness and exalt the dignity of his species . It is delightful
to mark the progress of improvement in arts , sciences , commerce , agriculture , and in every branch of political economy ; to see regions long inaccessible penetrated by highways and canals ; the wilderness converted into a garden ; havens of safety constructed on inhospitable shores ; and mines of wealth explored in rocky and mountainous regions . Nor is it less grateful to the moral taste to witness the developement of the mental faculties—ignorance retreating before knowledge , vice before virtue , and superstition befc > re religion—a people emerging from darkness to light , and from the miseries of barbarism to the blessings of civilization and refinement .
" To effect such objects as these seems to have been the business of the , early reformers among the Heathens ; for the Heathens , my Lord , had reformers as well as we , and their example appears to be not unworth y of imitation . They justly supposed that a due attention to the manual employ .
Untitled Article
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1828, page 737, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2566/page/9/
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