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Untitled Article
and the virtuous , and even in the treasures of their own well-stored minds—which are shut up from a vast majority of the humbler classes—so that to the poor man the house of prayer ( if the bouse of prayer were to him what it ought to be ) furnishes almost the only opportunity which he now enjoys , of learning to know
himself , and of comprehending the magnitude and dignity of the rights , duties , and hopes , which attach to every rational and immortal being : and if the spirit of true devotion were felt by those who partake in the privilege of exercising it , it would prompt the unceasing endeavour to bring the whole family of man within its sheltering influence , and to make it a bond of universal sympathy and brotnerly love .
We are aware of the difficulty , which is often alleged , of adapting the public services of religion to the taste and capacity of the opposite grades of the social scale ; and for ourselves we should most sincerely regret , if , in the mistaken view of obviating this difficulty , the tone of religious instruction and eloquence were designedly lowered , and the high themes of religious contemplation , instead of taxing , as they might do and ought to do , the deepest
and most comprehensive intellects , and calling forth for their advancement and illustration the most splendid efforts of the imagination , the most varied contributions of literature and philosophy , and the choicest effusions of a pure and lofty sensibility , were left exclusively in the hands of those inferior workmen , whose confidence in their own ability to teach is often in exact proportion to their ignorance of the qualifications which effective teaching
requires . We hope we are not misunderstood on this topic . We would have no privileged class of teachers . We would have nothing approaching to an order of priesthood—for which there is not the shadow of a provision in the original records of Christianity ,. and with which its whole spirit is at variance . We would require of no man any other commission to preach the gospel of love and peace , than what he finds in the consciousness of native powers , and in the
sincere impulse of his heart to do good ; for we have known men , without the advantages of early education , and taken from the humblest walks of life , who have been , in their particular sphere , the most able , efficient , and eloquent teachers of the sublimest truths , and whom it was impossible to regard withoutdeep veneration , as amongst the greatest benefactors to their species . But still we maintain that the tone of religious instruction should be rather above than below the general standard of intelligence in the circle where a
particular ministry is exercised ; that the mind , instead of being allowed to slumber under the powerless repetition of exhausted commonplaces , may arouse and exert itself to reach the level on which th « preacher stands , may feel itself drawn upward to a higher sphere , and find its moral sensibilities only the more vigorously touched through the kindred excitement of the understanding . To stir and elevate , rather than to deaden and depress , should be
Untitled Article
728 On . the Relation of the Wealthy and
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1833, page 728, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2624/page/68/
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