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Untitled Article
people— -so were the ranks of Unitarian Christians thinned , and so
were replenished those of the enemy , till at last the change was completed , the defection universal . No , not universal . It has never been so . From the first till the nineteenth century there have not failed to exist witnesses to the supreme Deity of the ^ G . acLaad _ Eaj ^^ first age they , and they alone , existed with a faith yet unmarred ~ b ~ y ~ h ~ ea- " thenism . Gradually their purity was sullied . Still Unitarianism , though in a corrupted form , prevailed during the first 300 years
after the Saviour ' s death . From the end of that period till the commencement of the dark ages , Unitarians , under the more common name of Arians ^ still abounded ; nor did a century pass of the interval which elapsed till the revival of letters , but it recorded the testimony of some to the almost lost and generally forgotten truth . With the revival of letters began the revival of
Unitarianism . Among the earliest debates excited and fostered by the mental agitation that prepared and finally effected the Reformation , anxiousi atiti sustained inquiries respecting the Xrinity held a prominent place ; and amongst the first victims to the fury with which Papists resented attempts to undermine the towers of their strength , and the defences of their corruptions , were eminent Unitarians . Yes , and the reformed church , the moment
that it had freed itself ffofarpersecution , turned persecutor , and haled Unitarians to the prison and the stake , or drove them . to find a tolerating and peaceful asylum among the ~ followers of Mahomet . Many a worthy perished , whose name is unrecorded except in the book of life 5 and many more to whom as yet the tongue of history has failed to render the tribute they deserve . The first restorers of the doctrine of God ' s unity rank , however much a misjudging world may slander them ,, among the excellent of the earth . In power of mind and goodness of heart , in
acquaintance with the scriptures and intercourse with God , in strength of principle and patience under wrongs , they have , as a body , rarely been equalled , never surpassed . The first voice , in favour of religious liberty , not for a party , but for a world , that modern Europe heard , they uttered ; and age after age , till the present moment , they have transmitted the holy cry , its accents growing more strong , and loud , and clear , and powerful , as they have passed down . There is none of the more civilized countries of Europe where Unitarians have not , since the Reformation , been found , and there has ^^ equally been none where they have not
been bitterly and strenuously persecuted . But in Poland they gathered their hosts at the very commencement of the Reformation . There they flourished for a while , affording an asylum to those of kindred views whom other lands drove into exile , and making no contemptible efforts , nor without some success , to extend and establish their sentiments in surrounding nations . At last , however , another king arose who knew not Joseph , Him
Untitled Article
332 THE TRUTH TELLER .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1833, page 332, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2625/page/12/
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