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Lord King ' s biographical summing up is concise and very judicious . Oa the subject of Religion he observes , . " The religious opinions of this great man may best be collected from his own writings : to an ardent piety , aud a firm belief in the religion he professed , was joined a truly Christian charijty for all those who differed in opinion from him . The religion of Locke , was tfyat revealed in the , Scriptures , which ,
in his opinion , was . the most reasonable religion in the woiflxL ; Qf the particular forrn ^ of his faith , it Js more difficult to speak , bemuse he wm always averse to vain and idfe disputations ; but for the dogmatical aud mystical doctors of $ he ( Jhurch li < 6 certainjy had no predilection . Reason was hternle an <} guide in every tlijng , * toleration was his text ; and he abhorred those only
who pervert that diyine precept , which teaches—to promote peace on earth , and £ 00 ( 1 will towards inttn . Those who rely upon his authority , and make use of &i | name , wquld dp , well to consider what manner of Christian he was ; and , wneiij they bid others believe because he believed , let them also teach as he' tauglitV and practisethose ^ ^ virtues wjiich he practised . * ' He lived i # communion wMih the Church of England j but it wjBl appear most " cle ^ rly ^ fro m Gktracts whfch wfHbe given from au unpublished reply to a work of Dr . SStillingfleet ' s , that he entertained a strong opinion that the
exclusive doctrines of the Chugcb of England were very objectionable ; that he thought their * inucn toA narrow and confined , and that he wished for a much larger # t < i easier comprehension of Protestants /'—Pp . 272 , 273 . On the subject of Toleration he adds ,
" It was within the compass of his life that the great question of Tolera ^ a was first agitated , and by his exertions in great part decided . For it must not be supposed that the Reformation conferred a general freedom of conscience , or liberty of inquiry in religious concerns . No greater latitude of examination ( € kceptin that one sense as set forth by authority ) was either intended 6 ^ permitted after the Reformation , than had been allowed under the Roman
CmUfeft . Oflje ty ^ dncy was replaced by another ; and the new Church was jio 1 ^ intoleraitt than Its predecessor . The civil magistrate first assumed ^ e dlt 0 ctioki of the Reformation in England , then formed a league with tjie Chureh ( falsely so called ) , and usurped that dominion over Opinion and faitli which ttie Popes had usurped before . The state-Church now made the sattie imperious demand for the prostration pf the Understanding , and tbe wilt of the ^ eojtfe committed to their charge , always so much coveted by every priesthood whicji Jiats the power to enforce it . We exchanged at the Reformation a fdreig £ i spiritual head , for an equally supreme dictatorship at home . All wm > ftre ^ hietf ib differ from the es tablished rule , were smitten by tiafc , doublet-Wk&l sjwtttd whibh the civil power wielderf against the Papists on one side , finSw fknatfcs * 6 h the Other . VMa citraqub nefeis , it treated witli equal seveVity thbse who'yielded tcro much ttf authority , a ' nfd th , ose ^ ho yielded tod " ) IWtIft one refigpeej ; , the Reformation conferred an unmixed benefit ; it dj ^ pferfeed'tfte w ^ Bllth tod b rok e the power of the priesthood : > s for toleratjp ^ qH &hf tr \ ie tidtfort of religious liberty , ; pr ai ^ y general frec ^ dooa of con ^ cien ^ w ^ 6 we | Be ^ l Apt in the ietotde ^ rW to what is cftUed ju $ Church o ? ^ ngl « u \ iL Qii'tW ctimrdffi , w 6 owe all thesfe % o the Independents in the time of the C <^ n iti OTi ^ alt ; b , and t ^ Locke , their most illustrious and enlightened
disiA The u lMe" fe followed b y iriariy highly jnteYftS < irlg M papers afiw ! frvi m ^ m ^ bf ^ e ^ h \ th ^ t 6 uhpxM ib ? theto ft * tti \ m& 6 uf ri&t&k to the work , w ^ hi |> we have pxo dotfbt they will pertrie With the interCfdt it is so calculajt ^ 4 tq ^? PJr ^ r " » l ? / It appears there is among the manuscript p&pers a book entitled Ad <*
Untitled Article
Life of John Locke . 647
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1829, page 647, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2576/page/47/
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