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    Miscellaneous Correspondence. 869

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    V.

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    f)n Social Communion and Co-operation.

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    On The Retrospective Faculty * To The Ed...

    ness of feeling , " which your correspondent perceives in Paul ' s allusions to his state of bigotry and ignorance , which appear to me not only followed bsit prompted by emotions of holy rejoicing . Having

    Cl simply in view , " in all his references Ho his present or former state li the progress towards Christian perfection , " he i

    speaks of the things which are behind " as practically forgotten , without exempting from oblivion either his virtues or ins errors , his self-gratulation or peoitemt sorrow . If the conclusion of the essay in qnestion be obscure , I must attribute the blame to my own faulty mode of expression : but that it is mystical I cannot

    admit , since it is based on facts which the science of mind lias laid opeo to all . It is well known that in proportion to the improvement of the intellect , ideas of the past are presented to the consciousness , not only under a truer arrangement , but with a perpetual though gradual approximation to coincidence of time . When under the excitement of

    apparently impending death , the sceoes and circumstances of almost a whole life have been known to be presented in a single moment , i 6 in one vast and living group ; " arid Qvdeic ; is probably as well aware as myself of the infinite increase in the number of images presented to the consciousness in any one waking

    minute of the present year , com paced with any one minute of the tenth year of our lives . From these well known facts may be deduced a very clear probability respecting the nature of that

    revivification of the past , which we believe will take place after death . As ( in tlhe words of Qvfieiq ) Cf shame and sorrow will have no place where all shall be purified and perfect , " it appears to me that the sooner this grand consummation can be effected the better ; and that one chief method of achieving it is now to adjure the memory as the ocean shall be adjured hereafter to yield up , of all its innumerable deposits , those only which are immortal .

    Miscellaneous Correspondence. 869

    Miscellaneous Correspondence . 869

    V.

    V .

    F)N Social Communion And Co-Operation.

    f ) n Social Communion and Co-operation .

    To the Kditvr . Sir , I i $ F , <; insertion for some impartial comments upon the letter of V * . 1 \ H ., which appeared in your number for October last . I call them impartial because they are the productions of one who is a man of no party , who is a member v > i ~ no

    F)N Social Communion And Co-Operation.

    church whatever , and who wishes to be member of none but such ( if such there should ever be ) whose members frame their conduct as well as their professions uniformly in accordance with the doctrines and examples presented to us in the records of Divine truth . On

    Unitarians I have looked as possessing more than any other sect the spirit of liberty . Your periodical I have long been accustomed to peruse as the most liberal of all that issue from the press , and as an aid in the prosecution of theological and ethical inquiries . I have persuaded myself that the Unitarians are mem who can act up to the grand principles , while

    they echo the words , put forth by " The Watchman : f 5 > " Whoever , them , is the conqueror we will rejoice at the conquest . And amidst the pleasing visions which the prospect of an emancipated world presents , we will exult im the thought that liberty will make Unitariauism universal , if Unitarian ism be of God , and , if not , will give the dominion to that which is in such a case better

    than Umtarianism—the truth . " Let creeds be purified ; let liberty prevail ; let the gospel be preached in purity and in power , and we thank him heartily who is the minister of God ' s goodness , by whatever name he is known to men . " Taking this view of Unitarians I have anxiously looked for " some improvements in the construction of their

    societies ; ' but on higher grounds than the " improvement of the age , " and & i the example ( no ! let Unitarians never look there for example ) of rival sects and parties ; " a love of truth , and especially of religious truth . While I wish to shew that there is " a ,

    solid objection" to the scheme of G . P . H ., ( or rather of Dr . Spencer , ) 1 ascribe to it the merit of consistency in all its parts ; since it proceeds throughout on the principle with which he introduces it , " the example of rival sects and

    parties . " Worst of all , he borrows bis fourth regulation from that vilely corrupt Church , the Church of England . Oh ! my country ! that such a mass of absurdities and contradictions , such dregs of superstitions should be called your church ! I wish G . P . H . had defended

    his principles of church government at every step by a reference to the only standard which I or any Unitarian , or any true disciple of Jesus , can consistently uphold . We , freely-iiH |« irnng believers , Sir , receive the Bible , not because from our cradles we were taught to believe it divine ; but because in maturer years , after -close consultation ot

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1830, page 859, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/mrp_02121830/page/59/