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Untitled Article
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Untitled Article
Sent down to earth , from brighter worlds above , . ' To fit mankind for scenes of peace and love—That the glad tidings fraught with hope and light Should , by perversion , make the wrong * seem right ; Should clothe with terrors new the tyrant ' s might ; And , touch'd by subtle priestcraft ' s fiendish wand , Steel against martyrs persecution ' s hand . Who could believe that precept 3 , whose each line
Breathes forth a mercy general , divine , Spreading a glorious hope from pole to pole . Without distinction , as without control , Should be by man ' s perverted mind abused , Till sect to sect that mercy has refus'd ; And priests and zealots , mad with impious pride Kept grace for those alone their test has tried , And closed the gates of bliss on all beside .
No ! true religion is a gift which Heaven To man , and not to any sect has given ; As minds expand and change , so alter creeds , And virtue not in forms consists , but deeds . The Indian hunters , as their woods they roam , To furnish forth , their board or rear their home , Trust in the Spirit which their paths protects , To shield the roof their simple toil erects ; Trust that their chiefs , for virtuous acts renown'd , Thro' death shall meet in some bless'd hunting-ground , Shall there still halloo on each fav ' rite hound , And 9 with renewed activity , pursue Paths happier than their earthly footsteps knew . And are not these the same ideas Which lead The Christian forth to virtuous thought and deed With mind exalted and expanded creed ?
Yes ! for the same great Father of mankind To difFrent states has difFrent thoughts assign ed . Not more could hunter ' s joys the sage inspire With Heaven ' s high hopes and virtue ' s holy / ire , Than could the wand ' ring savage understand The sage ' s prospects , beautiful and grand : Yet both were fashion'd by one mighty hand , } Which both shall guide to happier homes afar , Thro paths of virtue led by Faith ' s bright .
Yes ! Faith—which never has the good forsaken—Tho' doomed to be by man belied , mistaken : Not that wild faith which zealots deem alone Can in an hour for a whole life atone ; Can wipe from darkest brow the deepest stain , And give to man his innocence again ; Nay more , can give to him who still has wroug The deeds of darkness , and affliction brought artth Even to their doors to whom he owed his life ; Can give to him who graspM the murd ' rer ' s knife ,
Untitled Article
196 Dovedale .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1833, page 196, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2610/page/52/
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