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Untitled Article
have represented the cruelties and persecutions of the Church of Rome as the greatest of her abominations , ought to have been peculiarly cautious how they gave rise to similar charges against themselves ; and lastly , because it is more painful to perceive a disgraceful blot among those with whom we are nearly associated , than among those who are further removed from us in principles and opinions * * * * .
It is not on any doctrinal tenets of any established church , whatever its adherents may believe , that we are to rely for the rejection of those intolerant principles which have for so many ages disgraced the Roman See . Luther , Calvin , Cranmer , Knox , the founders of the Reformed Church in their respective countries , inflicted , as far as they had power and opportunity , the same punishments that were denounced against their own disciples by the Church of Rome , on such as called
in question any article in their creeds . To have freed the human race from the dread of violence and persecution , in the exercise of religion and the pursuit of truth , would have conferred greater honour on Luther than the enforcement of any dogmatical opinions whatever . To his good intentions and incorruptible integrity the following work bears uniform and ample testimony , but with the restraints of his superiors , Luther could not shake off the trammels of his education :
and his highest aim was only to establish another despotism in the place of that from which he had himself escaped . In thus sanctioning , by his opinion and example , the continuance of an exterior and positive control over the consciences of mankind , he confirmed the pretensions of the Roman See : and may more justly be said to have shared its authority * than to have invalidated its unjust assumptions . But the principles of toleration are derived from higher views , &c . '—Life , pp . 337 , 338 .
This is boldly , and , with the exception of the passage we have marked in italics , we think most justly said . We cannot forbear expressing the pleasure we have derived from the perusal of that part of Mr . Henry Roscoe ' s work , in which the domestic history of his father is sufficiently , though sparingly , exhibited . His humble beginnings—the manner in which his character grew and expanded , morally and
intellectually—his early , self-denying , and unswerving attachment to her who was the companion of by far the greater part of his coursethe character of this chosen being herself , her love of whatever was beautiful in art or nature , her pride in him , the pleasure with which she ministered to his pursuits , and the strong good sense
and incorruptible integrity which kept guard over his tastes and her own , her deep maternal affection—all this is outlined only , it is true , hut it is touched with a masterly hand , and much is supplied by the short extracts from the correspondence of both parties . We have met with few things in biography more affecting than the history of this guileless and unbroken attachment .
On the whole , Mr . Roscoe ' s literary , public , and domestic life presents an union of great and varied excellencies , such as we cannot recur to without feeling a glow of heart , and a pleasure
Untitled Article
674 On the Life and Character of the late Mr * Roscoe .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1833, page 674, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2624/page/14/
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