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day of grace was past ; that there was no room for repentance left for them upon the earth , and who were consequently driven to despondency , to gloom , and to repeated attempts at self-destruction . I have stood by the bedside of the dying and sincere , but not cousistetit ,
believer in these creeds , and I have heard his screams of anguish in the anticipation of a speedy dismission to the torment of eternal fires . I have stood by the bedside of the Infidel ^ and have see n him departing this life strong in his infidelity , because he could nut believe that any Being deserving of Teneration would act as orthodoxy told him that God ,
whose name is Love , did . ( Applause . ) I do not say these things are universal . It would be absurd to represent orthodoxy , or rather what is called orthodoxy , as a complete mass of despair , and corruption , and prejudice ; but they do exist ; and they never will be banished from the country till these creeds are exploded also Much there no doubt is that we should love and venerate in the
professors of orthodoxy ; and we know that there are amongst the votaries of that creed manv , whose esteem would be to us more bright than a crown , whose friendship would be a well of affection in the soul , whose companionship we would covet as our best privilege , and of whom we would pray that our souls might be near to theirs in the day of
retribution and the kingdom of heaven . But the intelligent amongst them who may lament , cannot put these things down . They need us and our zealous and active exertions , although they may disclaim the aid , to strengthen them , to repress the over-weenings of bigotry , and successfully to struggle with ignorance and fanaticism ; and therefore we
must wage an unceasing war against that bigotry and despondency which the best ahiong them lameut as well as we , but cannot remedy or suppress without our co-operation and aid . But have we not something more than a mere antidote to these worst evils of a corrupt system of doctrine ? Have we not principles distinguished by their simplicity , beauty , and grandeur , the clear apprehension of
which , and their devout reception , must be a blessing to the strongest and the noblest minds , of which any faitli or country can make its boast ? Are there not glad-tidings to be proclaimed to all nations ? Do we not bring emancipation to that reason , of which so many demand the prostration at the door of the temple before man enters to worship ? Do we not bring the emancipa-
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tion of the heart from that bigotry which forbids them to love their neighbour as themselves when their religion differs ? We bring them that ; religious freedom , by which they are permitted to speak out their minds without being banished from the societies or churches which they prefer . We bring their hopes emancipation from that selfishness which thinks of a heaven , the joys of which are rendered more keen by the contrast of everlasting misery . The times invite us to redouble our exertions ; and the progress of improvement shews us , that religion must purify itself , and have more of expansion and elevation than creeds and articles of faith exhibit , to keep pace with the advancement of the human
mind : and the fact that education is advancing , and that the lower classes are becoming more enlightened , should stimulate us to give them that truth , without which the information which they acquire would be of comparatively little avail . A mighty change is taking place ,
by the diffusion of knowledge and the extension ofeducatiou , among the lower classes ( as they are called ) of the community , which will tend to the elevation of their character , and the security of their interests . They have indeed been its lower classes . Like the strata which
have been forming in the bottom of the ocean , the waves of wealth and of rank have rolled over them for ages ; but the principle of knowledge in them , like the central fire of which geologists tell us , will heave them up to the surface , ( loud cheers , ) and when this redeemed land appears , we claiai our portion to build
thereon the temple of truth , and to sow it with the seeds of righteousness and joy . ( Great applause ) What more can we , as a religious denomination , require before we go forth to the world , to seize the opportunities that may present themselves , and render them subservient to our purpose ? Is theological learning needful ? And is not ours the Lardner ,
whose works are a storehouse of erudition ? Is classical literature in request ? And have we not a Wakefield , who , when he had rifled all the treasures of Egypt , cast them down at the foot of the cross ? Is physical science necessary ? Ours is a Newton , whose mind has
unfolded the principles of the universe . Is meutal philosophy ? Ours are a LocWe and a Hartley , who opened the prinvipx * of mind , and the laws of the human understanding . Are unbounded versatility of talent and variety of knowledge required ? Ours is a Priestley . Are zeal and energy of intellect ? Ours i « »
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568 Intelligence . — Unitarian Association .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1830, page 568, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2587/page/64/
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