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Untitled Article
B ^ bf having compromised our principles , though < wr owa consciences are satisfied on the subject , —it is not easy to say . And let us , as Unitarians * bring the matter nearer home . Have not we , too , imbibed the spirit of caste ? Is it not true that uncharitable and hasty things are sometimes said by the zealous of those whom they reckon lukewarm—by the lukewarm * of
the zealous ? Are not those who disapprove of some modes of disseminating our faith , such as subscribing to associations or attending anniversaries , exposed to the charge of niggardliness or coldness ? And are not the wannest advocates of these things , in return , often censured without reason ? If this be so , let us beware . Freedom of mind is , it has been said , the glory of Unitarianism ; but it is not enough to discard oppression and interference from our creeds . The root of the matter must be at the heart ; and we have yet much room for improvement .
But it is not right to consider the subject only with a view to our religious relations * In the more common concerns of life we are constantly led to wish that men would trust opinions less and good feelings more . We are perpetually meeting with individuals who quench their own strong sense of right and wrong , while they obey the last good speaker . Where it happens , indeed , that the opinion comes from a friend of tried wisdom and experience , it must have its due weight and value ; but how often are great duties conceded to a mere show of reasoning 1—how often , alas ! even to flattery
pr fashion ! We have mothers bringing up their children with a higher regard to what may be said or thought , than what is right in itself— - ^ husbands refusing to alter their style of living , or forego their degree of consequence in the world , in order to procure the solid blessings of health and a good education for their children—children , when grown up , precluded from entering on fields of usefulness , not from the high motive of deference or affection towards their parents , but solely through fear of losing something of their worldly consequence ;—these , and a thousand minor influences , are always at work around us , and of them we would say , let them have all
that is allowable ; let every social feeling have its weight ; let parent and child , husband and wife , friend and brother , party and sect , come forward with all their claims on our affection and service ; yet still the Christian spirit , tempering all , reproving all , chastening all , will infallibly shew to those who faithfully follow it , where such claims may be allowed , and where they must be temperately , yet firmly , denied . "Wherever , through fear or favour , conscience is shaken from her steady seat ; wherever the influences of pure religion are turned from their just issues , there Christian independence is attacked , and there the attack must be courageously resisted .
It may be said that there is often a difficulty in deciding on the reasonable and unreasonable claims of society : and , no doubt , where education has not been conducted on truly Christian principles , a kind of feebleness of character is induced , which will make the independence , we speak of hard to accomplish . " Weakness , in every form , tempts arrogance . " But still religion confers , in a great degree , this discriminating power , and it is always on the increase in proportion to the increase of conscientious feeling . It is very observable , indeed , what quickness of perception and strength of resolve grow out of attention to the honest and unbiassed dictates of the
mind . There is , indeed , a kind of hesitating scrupulosity , which is commonly supposed to cleave to tender consciences , but this is chiefly manifested when the form of religion these persons have embraced is cumbered with many foreign and superstitious notions , which have tended to burden the mind with spurious ideas of right and wrong on those more questionable
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? ct 2 Christian Independence .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1829, page 782, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2578/page/38/
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