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irteans of rendering Cbfi&ians modest , humble , forbearing , and charitable * aod with a steady appeal to the judgment of Perfect Goodness and Unerring Wkdotifr . Bigotry id sometimes the fruit of a man ' s bad temper , and of his crded * of undue sdf-iove , of high self-conceit ; while it is quite as frequentl y the growth of superficial knowledge and a contracted understanding .
Christian peace , good-will , and concord , and the order of civil society , depend , in a considerable degree , on the practical recognition of two principles—that " our own creeds are not necessarily the standard by which to judge of the sincerity of other men ' s belief in Jesus Christ , " and that " political rights and privileges should belong to all the subjects of a state , without any reference to their theological opinions . " When these principles are obeyed , the improvement of human affairs will be rapidly accelerated *
The letter before us , judiciously exposes the unreasonableness of making the imagined truth or falsehood of religious tenets a qualification for civil offices , or a ground of exclusion from them . It is by an extremely slow process that the world comes to admit such lessons of tolerance and equity ; but the Catholic Relief Act will have done more to impress a sense of justice and toleration on the minds of our fellow-subjects and fellow-men than the labours of the ablest philosophers and divines for many past centuries . Even among learned , exemplary , and usually candid Protestants ,
a sentiment has long prevailed , which , unfounded in itself , tended , we think , to delay the season of the complete toleration of their Catholic neighbours . With some portion of astonishment , but with more of regret , we have seen in the writings of Lardmr—generally so impartial , mild , and wise—an argument from the faith of the Church of Home to its [ real or supposed ] intolerance : and , as his reasoning appears to us incorrect , and , under a change of circumstances , might be productive of some bad effects , we will take this occasion of examining into its validity .
In his concluding observations on Diocletian ' s persecution , * he properly gives the following caution : ** If we would effectually secure ourselves from temptations to persecution , let < i& take care to derive our reli g ion from the books of the Old and New Testament , without adding other doctrines , not found in them , as important pftrte of religion . "
Of this advice we own the wisdom . A mind really enlightened and well infdrrned on the subject of religion , can scarcely fail oi being the seat of charity and perfect toleration . But we must object to the illustration and the statement which Lardner subjoins : " Where tran « ubstantiation , or other like absurdities are taught as articles of religion , there will be persecution . *'
This proposition we deem too broad and unqualified . Dr . Lardner had just been speaking of temptations to persecution : and had he now said , and contented himself with saying , that some creeds present temptations to persecution , while others are calculated to preserve us from it , nis remark would have been less exceptionable . He speaks of transubstantiation , or other like absurdities , " Now , by this kind of expression , he , no doubt , means all those complex articles of religion , which the feeble , restless wisdom of man has added to the plain
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470 Ghtkrch-of » England Men and Catholic Claims .
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* Works , ( 1788 , ) Vol . Vlll . pp . 328 , 329 .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 470, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/22/
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