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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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riit mMM'wa / t tfteiniited tkat ¦ mwinfilinii eoejihs < fllufiilAiJtt « mMiVnd iw moty mtwMUnwiy ** nfc * of mwwywot , * wh an «^ feet ** rfrtrcilitUig cam— , at this memorable period displayed .. Time was j *« ed * d Jo * t | fc 4 eT *» feftpftsn * of their qatqral ^ &cty ; and in thepe effects , whether w * Jiop ^ to the cipytj ^ n of gr ^ at individual minds or to the alejat amelioration of institutiQns , ai ^ L &e dwiaiofi of a more intelligent social spirit , there is nothing to disalfeomit , or to * bit down our rising faith in the progress of Chrfetmd communities . At the expiration of the next seventy-five year * Bfteogi toad mude his gigantic surrey of creation , and traced a nigh road of disoevery throwgh ittroost dificult defiles ; Galileo had invented the Tel&soope ^~ th&t magie eye wherewith to read the luminous lessons of the ilrmainent *~~*^ d had brought to the shrine of science the four moons of the planet JUjpt fer— % coronat of gems , offered in gratitude for her gift of this new . sense ; and Shakspeare had presented to the world the wisest of human productions , — the work in which the intuitions of genius approach most nearly to ( he confines of inspiration ^—in which life will receive illustration , and man will see his image to the end of time .
' Another interval ; and the wandering luminary returned just time enough to be the torch which followed Milton to his grave , and led on the philosophy of Newton to its modest throne . Locke too was at that moment busy with the human mind , engaged in such researches into its capabilities and weaknesses , into the sources of its fallacies , and its means of attaining truth * as must inevitably cut up the strength of intolerance by the roots , banish from society the malignant confusion of guilt which resides in the will ,
with error which belongs to the understanding , and prepare the way for that spirit of serene and dignified charity which Christianity itself can never produce , except in combination with a knowledge of human nature . 4 It was inevitable that the improvement of society should now assume a less imposing form . Providence appears to forbid the ascendency of solitary genius for many generations in succession * The vastness of its onward bound distances immediate pursuit ; a pause must be allowed for humbler
minds to overtake the position it has seized . In science , the truth to which it darts with almost the ease of intuition , others must reach by the stead y march of labouring reason , over the successive steps of evidence . To climb the eminence to which it attains would render ordinary faculties djxzy , did ifcey not palpably feel how firm the footing at every stage , and accustom their vision to the prospect as it grows . Accordingly , the age of discovery is naturally followed by one of circumspection . After so fleet a transportation through scenes of various wonder and magnificence , knowledge sits down to
make up its journal , and reduce to order its tumult of impressions . And in poetry and art , the first effect of productions of the highest order is to overawe all neighbouring minds ; the last , to inspire them with kindred creative power . They exhaust for a while all the perceptions of beauty ; and time must be allowed for new ideas and perceptions to arise , for new types of thought and character to be struck out , before any rival excellence can rise up . The higher kinds of merit being preoccupied , mechanical < u * d material * rather than ideal excellence , is for a time the only superiority which is attainable . The desire , moreover , arises to dwell on the emotions of admiration , to recur to them in cooler moments , and trace them to their
source . Hence it is not surprising that , in the next period * Milton should be replaced , by Pope ; for the successor of genius is precision ; and criticism follows production . The social amelioration , however , was not 1 mm real Ibr bemg 1 ms eonftricwnis . The great conquests of Newton were not injAoriaasly ftllowed up , Hatidti found wr Scripture a voice moat heavenly . The pure * mfa fa d aM < S 0 ooi » pii » bed fiesfceiejr broke into speculations whicli ooewd a qm flira > of itinitnis . and . siUDned on * 1 *^ iiiroeedinnr aro some of t oys most tmn * lVri ^ fSmuMm mffi % iMl ~ ii& ice what at tw ttiitaim of a oomc ^ mr i jwdt wuumt vanmi mm iwiiniiiR novor , in wn w ni 'Wmtumw rtiurpwi inmi
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1835, page 754, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2651/page/62/
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