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Untitled Article
However interesting Newton ' s private history , it has nothing to do with our present purpose . Briefly , we shall only say that , after a very trdubled youth , he took orders in the church of England , was long rector of the parish of St . Mary Wolnoth , in London , where he died in 1807 , at the ^ gfe ~ o £ 82 , highly venerated . He left behind several works . The most imtJOxtant of them to which
which ^ wj ^ n ^^ of appeared successively in a periodical to which he affllie ^^ hi ^ igrlanir ^ pr Omicrori . The * Narrative of his Life' is made up of letters addressed to a friend by Newton himself , to which some details respecting his latter years have been appended . These are the materials which have furnished us with the foundation of our present remarks .
Newton ' s writings possess great interest . By means of a very simple style , 'without any bursts of eloquence , he seizes oni the jeader by degrees , goes very deep into the heart , awakens the spirit of reflection , and leaves the mind disposed to religious consideration . There is no novelty in his theological scheme every brie has read some exposition of it ; it is common Oalvijrism . But John Newton opens his heart before you . He gives himself
up with so much confidence to the government of Providence , confesses with so much life his misery and moral weakness , reckons so securely on the mercy ~ and helr ^ of heaven ., that he communicates to you the feelings which animate hrm . He pours out the history of his moral wants , the remedies he found in the gospel , the means of making , them yoyr own , the effects they will produce upon yon . What he says , he has felt a thousand timesover , and he makes you feel it too . Such is the influence of
religion ! Whiie theology , the offspring of intellect , * presents herself to the intellect accompanied by definitions and arguments which often awaken doubt , religion issues from the heart , in < whieh she has her birth , and carries light and warmth to the heart . This practical tendency in Newton's works is . not an incidental one . It pervades them all . We could give numerous proofs of this ; we have only to select . Though faithful to the doctrine-ol the church of England on original sin , he rests upon the feeling of his own corruption as the most essential point to himselt-. ' 1 Many are perplexed , ' says he , ' about the origin of evil . For $ fe , I see that evil exists , and that there is a way of reparation : here I becin , and here lend . ' ' .
He is not fond of theories in whiqh the most skilful ' may be epi-Barrass § d , and which disturb the peace of toany chuVefies :- W makes one feel the inutility of them . Several clergymen w £ i # one day disputing in his presence about the priority of faitl ^ Qr repentance . After being silent nearly to the end ottheargumqm he at last took it up thus : f I have one question to a $ k . > AXd tiot the heart and lungs equally necessary to human lifeR Tell ine which first begins its functions ? This is very touch tke same
Untitled Article
290 REMARKS ON THE RELIGIOUS WRITINGS OF
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 1, 1833, page 290, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2623/page/2/
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