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not of a friend , or of an unprejudiced looker-on , but of a warm opponent both in head and heart . "As oar object on arriving at any place was always to see , as soon as possible , whatever was most remarkable , we gladly availed ourselves of a friend ' s convoy to one of the Unitarian churches , on the next day , Sunday , the 7 th October , when a celebrated champion of these doctrines was to preach .
" A considerable change , it appears , had taken place at Boston , of late years , in the religious tenets of the inhabitants ; and Unitarian ism , or , as 1 find it called In their own publications , Liberal Christianity , had made great advances , chiefly under the guidance of this distinguished person .
" The pastor had just returned to his , flock after an absence of some months , and took advantage of the occasion to review , in a rapid manner , the rise and progress , as well as the peculiar nature * of the doctrines he so powerfully advocates . He struck me as being , in many respects , a very remarkable preacher ; particularly in the quietness or repose of
his manner . How far this proceeded from the simplicity of his thoughts , or from the unaffected plainness of his language , 1 cannot exactly say ; but the power which it gave him of introducing , where it suited his purpose , occasional passages of great force and richness of expression , was one of which he availed himself with much skill . It was
manifest , indeed , that the influence he held , or appeared to hold , over the minds of his hearers , was derived mainly from their reliance on his sincerity , whatever some of them might have thought of his doctrines . The tone of his voice was familiar , though by no means vulgar ;
on tfie contrary , it might almost be called musical , and was certainly very pleasing to the ear ; but whether this arose from the sounds themselves , or from the eloquent arrangement of the words , I never thought pf inquiring , a $ 1 was carried along irresistibly by tie smooth current of his eloquence .
" He began by greeting his friends with great auavity of address ; and if there did appear a little touch of vanity in the implied importance which he attached to all that concerned himself in the eyes of his dock , it partook not in the slightest degree of arrogance , but was very allowable , considering the real influence he had so long enjoyed . Indeed , from what I saw and heard , I should think he rather fell short th $ u exceeded the limita to which he might
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hare safely gone , when speaking to Ms congregation of the feelings , the hopes , and the iears , which rose in his mind on returning to Iris wonted duties , with health somewhat repaired , but not
restored . At first , this familiarity of tone , and almost colloquial simplicity of expression , sounded so strangely from the pulpit , that the impression was . not altogether favourable , but there soon appeared so much real kindness in all be said , that even we , though strangers , were not uutouched by it .
"He then gradually embarked in the great ocean of religious controversy ,, but with such consummate skill , that we scarcely knew we were at sea till we discovered that no land was in sight . After assuring us that he had been called to the front of the battle , though , in truth , he was a mau of peace , and a hater of all disputation , he described
with singular effect the lmpress-ion left on his mind , one day recently , by hearing a discourse in a country church where narrow views of mental liberty had been inculcated . Nothing certainly could be more poetical than , the contrast which he drew between ; the con&ned doctrines he had heard within the w ^ Us *
and what he eloquently called the free beauties of thought and of nature without . By the time the preacher reached this part of his discourse our curiosity was much excited , and I , for my owa part , felt thoroughly caught , and almost prepared to go along with him into any ? region he pleased to carry me .
" He next gave us an account of hi * share in the progress of the controversies to which he alluded , and ex plained again and again to us , in a variety of different shapes , that his great end ia advocating the Unitarian or Liberal doctrines , was to set the human mind entirely free on religious subjects , without any reference , he earnestly assured us ,,
to ope sect more than to another , but purely to the end , that there might be r in the world at large , the fullest measure of intellectual independence of which our nature is capable . He spoke a good deal of the Christian dispensation , to which , however , he ascribed no especial illuminating powers , but constantly implied , that every man was to judge for
himself as to the degree and value of the light shed by Revelation . Reason and conscience , according to his view of the matter , ought to be our sole guides through life , and the efficacy of our Saviour ' s atonement was not , as far aa 1 could discover , ever once alluded to , except for the purpose of setting it aside .
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Monthly Report of General Literature . 791
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1829, page 791, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2578/page/47/
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