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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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awu » piio * of ^ pwiority , by declaring , ? itber that ti * JUAgttt i * net worth consideration * or that , those who pretwd' to Uttdarttaad itj do no such thing ; the author dhi not understand it him »* if ^ &o > Now this is generally % practical demonstration of a m * H b ^ iof fairly beaten out of the field , without admitting he ha * Imt the day . Nor does he feel to have lost it ; for his misapplied wit * fulness as to his right of opinion , remains the same , or rather has become incorrigible by opposition ; and , as to the question at stake , he is now very liable to pronounce it ' all nonsense ! ' This
character stands for a very large class ; one to whom it may fairly I * denied that the individuals have an equal right to an opinion , whose grounds are in ignorance and self-will , with thos 0 whose grounds of opinion are in knowledge and reason . Let us now offer a few words to the latter class . These indi
viduals , many of whom influence public opinion , are bound by a duty they should feel pride in fulfilling , to give any new and va luable truth its first impulse towards a due position in the opinion of posterity . But oh , philosophy , how unworthy are thy reputed disciples of the name I In proportion to the importance of a truth , has its admission been procrastinated ; the timorous have
foreseen tome change—all changes being dangerous to the eye « f weakness—And have prophesied a shock to society ; the venal have speedily been arrayed against it , to misrepresent , vilify , and lidicuU *; whita the ignorant have either beheld it with a vulgar and distorted eye , or overlooked it altogether . All this is to be borne with sufficient calmness , and a sigh of pity rather than a
sensation of contempt ; for it is melancholy , even to bitterness of heart , to see how arduous is the task of persuading mankind to adopt any real means for their own good : they would jump at the conclusion , but are blown aside from proper progression by every temporary wind . All this , be it repeated , may be endured with a catholic shrug of the shoulders ; but a very different feeling t » excited by the contemplation of the fact , that such truths have
been continually opposed or utterly neglected by those who did understand them , and ought to have loudly asserted their valuta instead of denying it , or leaving them to find their way into notioe how and when they might . The cause of this is to be found in don * flicting interes ts , private passions , and prejudices , because scarcely any man has a paramount passion for abstract truth , being ready
at all times to bring it into practice . If we feel pity for mankind we feel indignation at the great majority of its teachers . ' How green is this grey world 1 ' But a new class is springing up «*» freah advocates are in the field , with an integrity of active print oiple equal to their abstract knowledge ; they oome late , but not too late for the groaning heart of nature—end God speed ibmm men on their way .
The difficulties attending the popular pro <» ulgati # n of any abstruse theory are obviously great : but if it be § 31 arduo lift apdl
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1835, page 743, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2651/page/51/
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