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the dying should be as a spot of holy ground that would be profaned by exposure to the vulgar gaze . There should the miud be permitted to retire within herself , and shutting out the world , hold communion with God , on her bed , and be still . There should faith and hope , undisturbed by spiritual quackery and bravados , celebrate their last triumphs on earth , unseen but by the eye , unaided but by the hand of friendship and affection- There should ascend the fervent
prayer and the devout aspiration , to be heard only by the Most High , not to be re echoed by an admiring crowd—not to proclaim how a sinner can be converted , or a saint become doubly sainted , at a time when the world should have lost its influence , and in a place where vanity should find no admission . There should religion exercise her power iu
moving the patient to repent—to forgive , as he prays to be forgiven—to ' set his house in order '—to make restitution , and all possible reparation for past neglect , or violation of duty—to perform the last offices of justice and benevolenceto contemplate with devout gratitude the example of the Lord Jesus , who was made perfect through sufferings , and
* who , for the joy that was before him , endured the cross , despising the shame , and is now set down at the right hand of the throne of God '—and so to profit by the divine contemplation that it may elevate the thoughts from earth to heaven , from time to eternity . Yes : the Unitarian Christian ' s religion , which has been his faithful guide and comforter
through life , becomes his supporter in the hour of dissolution . It teaches him to look on the grave as the portal to immortality . It leads him , in spirit , to accompany the Saviour risen triumphant from the tomb to the mansions of glory ; and * ere this life be past , ' gives him a blissful anticipation of the joys of heaven . What gospel duties does not
Unitarian Christianity inculcate ? What gospel consolations can it not Impart ? Who live more virtuously and happily than they who act moat faithful to its principles ? Who die with prospects mure cheering , or more sublime ? We know to whom death is an object of
awful apprehension ; but it is not to the Unitarian Christian . They whose views of the Deity are clouded by superstition and fanaticism , who think the everblessed God influenced by partialities and prejudices , and ' altogether such an one as themselves' —they whose minds are tilled with the horrible creations of their own fancy , with Calvinistic monstrosi-
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ties , and images of blood , may regard death as the executioner of hell , come to carry into effect the curses of eternal , immitigable wrath . But the Unitarian Christian has not so learned of Christ . He regards death not as a grim tyrant , issuing fiom the realms of darkness to seize his predestinated victims , and hurry them down to realms of irremediable
wo ; but as the herald of Jehovah , deputed to undo the heavy burdens , and let the prisoners free—as the angel of a kind Providence , come to loose * the silver cord , and break the golden bowl !' —to fledge the immortal spirit to mount on high , that it may become the
inhabitant of a happier sphere , and approach nearer and nearer the Source of everlasting life , there to quaff immortality and joy , and join the glorious assemblage of saints and angels iu anthems of praise and thanksgiving 'to Him that sittetk on the throne , and unto the Lamb for ever and ever ! ' "—Pp . 27—29 .
The discourse concludes with a cogent exhortation : " We are well aware that the business of reform must proceed gradually : old habits and modes of thinking are not to be shaken off in an instant . A whole generation , perhaps two generations , must pass away before our principles come into full operation , or their influence be very
extensively felt . But we despair not of their final , permanent , universal triumph . An impulse has been given that will continue to act . The spriugs of the public miud have begun to take a new temper and polish , aud will not , we trust , be easily brought back to a state of rust and inaction . The greatest impediment , or rather the only impediment iu our
way , is our own supmeness . Let not our charity extinguish our zeal : let not our liberality generate iudiffereuce . If our principles are what we conscientiously believe them to be , fitted to advance the glory of God and the happiness of man , they are worth supporting by an open and manly avowal of our belief in their superiority—they are worth supporting by our influence , our conversation , our
actions , our writings , aud our pursesthey are worth supporting , should times itnd circumstances require it , at the peril of oar livea , with an apostle ' s spirit , and a martyr's self-devotion . Let us engage in this cause heartily , * as unto the Lord , and not as unto men , ' resolved to ' contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to » the saints '—the hallowed
faith which 3 having been long hid behind the darkest clouds of superstition , is now beginning to shine forth like
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Critical Notices . — Theological . 401
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1830, page 401, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2585/page/41/
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