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Untitled Article
bigotries of the actual world—was destined to supervene at a much earlier period than is common with any order of fine intellect , and more especially the highest It nas been mentioned that his first literary production was induced by the persecution of the benevolent and philosophic Priestley . Literature , to say
the truth , has very little to do with the awkward effort ; but sincerity of feeling , clearness of understanding , and the early manifestation of principles which time and circumstance have shown to have been , fixed as the northern star , have everything to do with it . The following is a copy of the letter that appeared in the f Shrewsbury Chronicle ; ' and the editor was not a little surprised when he subsequently learnt that the writer was a school-boy :
c Mr . Wood , — 'Tis really surprising that men—men , too , that aspire to the character of Christiaus—should seem to take such pleasure in endeavouring to load with infamy one of the best , one of the wisest , and one of the greatest of men . ' One of your late correspondents , under the signature of " OYAEIE , " seems desirous of having Dr . Priestley in chains ; and , indeed , would not , perhaps , ( from the gentleman ' s seemingly charitable disposition , ) be greatly averse to seeing him in the flames also . This is the Christian—this is the meek , the charitable
spirit of Christianity—this the mild spirit its great master tau ght ! Ah , Christianity , how art thou debased ! how am I gr ieved to see that universal benevolence , that love to all mankind , that love even to our enemies , and that compassion for the failings of our fellow-men that thou art calculated to promote , contracted and shrunk up within the narrow limits that prejudice and bigotry mark out !
' But to return . Supposing the gentleman ' s end to be intentionally good ; supposing him , indeed , to desire all this , in order to extirpate the doctor ' s supposedly impious and erroneous doctrines , and promote the cause of truth , yet the means he would
use are certainly wrong . For , may I be allowed to remind him of this , ( which prejudice has hitherto apparently prevented him from seeing , ) thak violence and force can never promote the cause of truth , but reason and argument alone ; and whenever these fail , all other means are vain and ineffectual ? And , as the
doctor himself has said in his letter to the inhabitants of Birmingham , that " if they destroyed him , ten others would rise as able or abler than himself , and stand forth immediately to defend liis principles ; and that were those destroyed , a hundred would ^ L Jk V
appear , for the God of truth will not suffer his cause to lie det fenceless . v This letter of the doctor ' s , though it throughout breathes the pure and genuine spirit of Christianity , is by another ctf your correspondents charged with sedition and heresy ! But , indeed , if such sentiments as those which it contains be sedition
and heresy , sedition and heresy would be an 'honour : for all their sedition is that fortitude that becomes the dignity of man , 2 Y 2
Untitled Article
and Character of Willium Htitlitt . 581
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1835, page 631, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2650/page/3/
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