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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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" Such reflections as these will have a great tendency to exalt a man ' s ideas of the dignity of his nature , and of the real extent and value of his intellectual and rational powers . A person accustomed to such views of the constitution which God has given him , will be animated by a noble ambition to act worthily of his high and honourable descent . He will be impressed with an elevated idea of the natural strength of tihe human faculties , and will not be deterred from excellent and useful undertakings the moment that any thing
in the shape of an obstacle presents itself . This is a habit in which , whether from a natural timidity , or from an injudicious education , mankind in general are extremely apt to indulge . They have been so long accustomed to yield every thing on the slightest opposition or struggle , that they presently lose even the power of contending with difficulties . Such persons seem often to have no idea © f trying the real extent of their powers , and never think of putting forth their strength to the utmost . The smooth and easy path suits them best , where no extraordinary effort is required ; where every thing goes on in a sort of regular routine . Whether it be from a weakness of character ,
from constitutional timidity , or from an acquired habit of estimating their abilities by too low a standard , they seem utterly unable to rouse the whole power of their minds to active and efficient exertion . They are not necessarily indolent , but they are not energetic . JVlore just and elevated views of the dignity of human nature , would tend greatly to promote a spirit of activity and diligence . We should then form a rational estimate in the outset of the value and cost of every acquisition , and no longer suffer ourselves to be dismayed and deprived of all presence of mind by the appearance of any obstacle that requires a struggle to overcome it . "—P . 44 .
Of a higher rank than these are those compositions which , faithful to the truth , clear to the reason , intelligible to the understanding , and familiar to the hearts of all , have , besides , a hidden beauty which brings them home to the minds of the educated and refined . Every corroborating influence should be secured in the service of religion . Every agent which can assist its operation , every support which can uphold its claims , every power which can confirm its dominion in the human breast , should be enlisted in its train .
The pleasures of imagination and taste should be associated with religion , that each may give to each " a double charm . " As long as the faculties of the mind are engaged in their due order and proportion , religion will be honoured and aided by their united devotion . It is undoubtedly true ; that a stronger appeal should be made to some than to others ; to the moral than the intellectual powers , and to the reason and judgment , than to the
imagination and taste . But the more general , the more powerful will be the appeal . Those are the most efficient ministers of religion who press the gospel truths with force upon tender and upon careless consciences , and fix alike the attention of benighted and illuminated mind 3 ; who can insinuate their influence into the most contracted intellects , while they extend the bounds of the most enlarged . Those are the most faithful teachings which penetrate to the hearts of the careless multitude , while they abide deep
within the recesses of the most sensitive soul . Those are the most faithful teachings to which the dullest eye looks up , to which the infant ear is turned , while the aspiring spirit is restrained , and the disciplined heart glows , beneath their influence . Those are the most faithful teachings which , like
the decree that is destined to bring into eternal union Jew and Gentile , bond and free , establish a relation of brotherhood between the ignorant and the heaven-taught , the wanderer of the earth and the citizen of heaven . Those are the most faithful teachings which resemble the glad-tidings from above , in the union of truth and beauty , of energy and delicacy , of simplicity and sublimity . Such , in the course of ages , may be the teachings of the ser-
Untitled Article
Sermcnsjvr Families . 457
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1829, page 457, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2574/page/9/
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