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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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distinguished him from almost every other man was a singular delicacy of mind , and a peculiar refinement of feeling , in every thing that concerned the feelings of others . He was careful even td excess , if there can be excess in that which is so amiable , to do nothing even in trifles which might appear to indicate an indifference to the pleasures or
comfort of another . " Oh , that in this respect some who once professed to adhere to his opinions , had been , careful to follow his amiable example ! The insuit to Mr . Thomas , which there is his own authority for asserting , caused him to leave Warehain , was offered at Mr . Brown ' s house , whither Mr . Thomas went by invitation . He certainly was
displeased that children whose parents worshiped elsewhere were admitted to the school , because he knew it to be part of a plan to induce the parents to attend the chapel , and thus to procure a majority of Calvinists in the congregation . But the insult most undoubtedly
proceeded from Mr . Brown . As to the remainder of the paragraph , 1 have authority for stating that several of the Calvinists paid up their arrears previous to the election ; and that this was done for the purpose of voting , is evident from their afterwards ' * remembering to forget" to continue their payments .
As to the next statement , Alpha did not keep the deeds m violation of any usage , nor obtain them by accident ; they catne into his possession legally , as executor and personal representative of his uncle , your correspondent ' s late fatherin-law . Hinc illae lachrymae . How the
deeds were obtained from their possessor , your readers are already apprized . With respect to the subscriptions being returned , a resolution to that effect was moved by your correspondent , who did not produce any letter from the minister , as he doubtless would have done had
any such existed ; the amount was the same as had always been received by the former minister , as well as by the Rev . James Brown , without any objection on his part . And now , Sir , allow me to give your correspondent a piece of advice—that it would be well before he attempts to answer a letter , to endeavour to ascertain its contents . Had he done so in the present instance , he might have spared much of his reply . I have never said that he told me he acted on the principle that the means were justified by the end . With many of his class , he seems incapable of distinguishing between an inference and an assertion . I could account for his con-
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duct on no other principle than that stated , and therefore considered it the true one ; if he prefers being though t unprincipled , I will not dispute the justice of his claim . I have never said that he was a deep intriguer . I protest I never thought so . Nature has seldom united much of low
cunning with depth of intellect ; though , because the ways of the former are often difficult to unravel , they are sometimes mistaken for each other . There are some minds of whom we may say , as . Dr . Johnson said of certain books , they resemble shallow wells , which when looked into , because they are dark , are thought to be deep ; on sounding them ,
however , a bottom , and that often a very muddy one , is soon discovered . Again , there is no such sentence in my letter as " an ingenious manufacture of small votes ; " although Mr . Brown affects to quote the words , I fear in this respect he hat * exemplified the truth of the maxim , that a guilty conscience needs no other accuser . There is , however , a
manufacture in which he has certainly proved his ingenuity—that of assertions ; nay , so prolific is he in these children of the brain , that , unfortunately for their stability , like Mr . Malthus's principle of population , they increase in a geometrical ratio above the means of support . As to the conversation at my house ,
it was by no means confidential , but was sought by your correspondent with a view , as he stated , to remove some misapprehensions as to his conduct , which he understood had been entertained by many of his former friends . I wish , however , on this occasion he had acted the part of a faithful witness . He has ,
indeed , told the truth , but has been unmindful of the obligation to state the whole truth , and nothing but the truth . I said , indeed , that I did not question the honesty of the opinions he professed , or his right to propagate them ; and 1 added , ' « Have you done so in a kind and charitable manner ? " He then said , " If
I had done as much for Unitarian ism as I have for Calvinism , you would have felt differently . " My reply was , " I might have felt differently , though I never , under any circumstances , could have considered such conduct becoming either a Christian or a gentleman . " That this is an accurate statement I am willing to
depose ; not , indeed , like your correspondent , to the sense of the words , because to do so I apprehend would be nonsense , but to the words themselves . And now , Sir , aUow me again to ask , leaving out of the question for the pre-
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438 Miscellaneous Correspondence .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1829, page 438, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2573/page/70/
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