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sentation in quiet possession of the field . The defects of a prompt , active , fervid spirit , must be taken together with its worth and usefulness ; both or neither , is , in the present state of humanity , too often the condition on which what we most need and admire on the one hand , and what we most deprecate on the other , are proffered to us . And who would be without these
memorials of Mr . Belsham ' s zeal for the faith once delivered to the saints , even though he did sometimes rebuke too sharply ; or have lacked the aid of his trusty sword , because , like the Virginian troopers , he struck more heavily and cut more deeply than was necessary in order to disable the enemy ? Still , a failing it was ; a natural one , a common one ; a failing which the greatest men have participated , and which is associated with qualities by whose worth it is immensely overbalanced ; but a failing still ; and so let it pass .
Having made this admission , which we do most readily , though most regTetfully , and with a heartfelt wish that controversy may speedily mend its manners , it is an act of justice to Mr . Belsham ' s memory , and to the cause of Truth , to say , that there has been another charge upon him which we hold to be no fault at all , but to rank amongst his merits , and to be worthy of all imitation . He was no disciple of Fontenelle , who , had all truth been gathered in his closed hand , would not have loosened his little finger to let out a
particle of it . He had no conception of dangerous truths and useful errors . He spoke as he thought , and he wrote as he spoke . He had faith in truth , and left its tendency and influence to Providence . His doctrines were all exoteric , even to the opinion or the conjecture which they generated . Hence many timid Unitarians , of whom some did , but more did not , think with him on minor points , were kept in a constant state of tribulation and apprehension . They were afraid he would do harm by his speculations to the Unitarian cause . They were afraid that his notions would be ascribed to the whole
body , and supposed to be part and parcel of our common creed . They were afraid that the orthodox would be scandalized , and prejudice excited ; and , indeed , they were scandalized themselves ; and they took care to say so , and to deprecate the mischiefs which might ensue . We must dwell a little on this point , for it has a much higher importance , and a much wider bearing , than belong to it as connected with our estimate of what Mr . Belsham was and did , although his vindication is essentially involved in the remarks which we have to offer .
It is scarcely worth while , perhaps , to draw up a catalogue of the tenets which some amongst us have been , and even at the present moment are , so anxious to disclaim for themselves , and so fearful of having imputed to the Unitarian body , lest its comfort and growth should be thereby impeded . Yet it seems to us a very innocent one , and in most particulars , though not in all , to be founded in truth , and to harmonize belter than opposite notions en the same topics , with the great principles of our faith . Moreover , for
several of them very orthodox authority might be pleaded . He held the doctrine of Philosophical Necessity ; which is almost , if not altogether , a doctrine of Calvinism ; of which the most acute and complete defence is yet to be sought in Edwards on the Will ; and which has been the conclusion at which the ablest masters of metaphysical science , whatever thueir religious opinions , have almost unanimously arrived . He held the homogeneity of
man : not materialism , in the vulgar acceptation of the word , for that he distinctly and repeatedly disclaimed ; but that man is a simple and not a compound being- ^—his soul and body one aad indivisible . It was , consequently , only by a resurrection that he thought mankind could inherit immortality . But as no one can believe in the natural immortality of the soul
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On the Character and Writing's of the Rev . T . Belsham . 163
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1830, page 163, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2582/page/19/
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