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very great , and had Dr . Smith been in the place of Dr . Kennedy , the result would , no doubt , have been far different from what it was . The conference did not continue . Dr . Kennedy's friends remained unconverted With Lord Byron in private he had one oj * two interviews ; but having the
overwhelming load of Calvunsm on his back , he made tout slow progress in his labours . Having remarked that " the mass of superstition and hypocrisy which exists , not only on the continent , but even to some extent in England , is the cause of the infidelity of thousands , " Byron adds , ia reply to a remark of Dr . Kennedy ,
" I know the Scriptures sufficiently well to acknowledge , that if the mild and benignant spirit of this religion were believed and acted on by all , there would be a wonderful change in this wicked world ; and I have always made it a rule to respect every man who conscientiously believes the Scriptures , whatever external creed he may profess ; and most cordially do I detest hypocrites of all sorts , especially hypocrites in religion . "
His attention to the Scriptures was in fact considerable . More than once he expressly says that he was a reader of them , and it appears from the following that the Bible was his companion , ** I read more of the Bible than you are aware , " said Lord B ., " I have a Bible which my sister gave me ., who is an excellent woman , and I read it very often , " fc 4 He went into
his bed-room , and brought out a pocket Bible , ' * and by the readiness with which he turned to a passage which Dr . Kennedy wished to refer to 9 but which he could not at the moment find , he shewed that he was not a little conversant with the contents of the New Testament . Dr . Kennedy chided him for writing his Cain , and stated that it had been productive of mischief .
cc To myself it has / ' said Lord B ., " for it has raised such an outcry against me from the bigots in every quarter , both in the church and out of the church , that they have stamped me an iniidel without mercy apd without ceremony ; but I do not know that it has been or ever can be injurious to others . *'— " They have all mistaken my object in writing Cain . Have I not a right to draw the characters with as much fidelity , and truth , and consistency as history or tradition fixes on them ? Now it is absurd to expect from Cain sentiments of piety and submission when he was a murderer of his brother , and a rebel against his Creator . "
The ensuing words merit attention : " I do not reject the doctrines of Christianity ^ I wan t only sufficient proofs of it to take up the profession in earnest , ancl I do not believe myself to be so bad a Christian as many of those who preach against me with the greatest fury , many of whom I have never seen nor injured . They furnish the suspicion of being latent hypocrites themselves , else why not use gentler and more "Christian means
In reply to a question from his instructor , " What are your difficulties ?* " it is not necessary , " he said , " to mention more when I find sufficient already : there is , for instance , the doctrine of the Trinity , which is alone quite appalling . " The beginning of the reply of the learned Doctor contains so much simplicity that we cannot refrain from quoting it . " There is no more difficulty about this than about any of the others' * fsdL doctrines of Calvinism ) . The mention of this difficulty leads Dr . K . to abuse those terrible misbelievers the Socinians . This the learned Doctor seems to have been rather addicted to ; but , on one occasion , Byron and bis friends read him thereoi * a severe lesson , accusing ** him of being too severe on this
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Lord Byron * s Theology . # 11
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1830, page 611, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2588/page/27/
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