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    to H- The nunaber by which we divide will o £ course be { peat , but so will alsqt the dividend ; and on this account , the quotient resulting to eachindividual : may bje much larger , than he would expect . , I * et us suppose , for instance , that the , country is on the eve of a war , and that the actual

    occurrence of this wai ; or , not , is likely to depend on , the expression pf public opinion . If the war should really take place , it is probable a hundred thousand human lives may be wilfully and violently destroyed , that is , a hundred thousand murders may be committed ; for this is the crime for which the

    aggressing p ^ rty . has to answer , in relation to every man that falls in battle , or by any other unnatural death . A hundred thousand murders may , therefore , ; become chargeable on the country , if a war be unjustifiably undertaken . . And among how many individuals is this , awful amount of guilt to be divided ? We have not here to

    consider the whole population , because the great majority , from various causes , exercise absolutely no voice nor influence in the matter . When we select from the mass that number onl y who take an active interest in political subjects , though without auy

    official character , hovv many hundred thousands of such there may be , I will not pretend to say , but I think it is plain , that a very awful share in the causing of a muraer may be assignable to each . ,. The same kind of reasoning , will apply with equal force to

    all other instances of public good and evil , whether , in religion , politics or manners , and may convince us , that we have more m our power than we might at first suppose . In the second place , xye are to consider not nj ^ re ly the effects of an

    individual action ., but of the principle which we adin ^ t , and , therefore , sanction . The part which a single in an can contribute , to the commonweal , inust indeed be sniall ; but the pr inciple that eaqk man is bound to do his

    part , if admitted and obs $ KVQ { t , will secure all that can be desired . The effects of general principles are something very different from those of indi-V 1 ( wj , « wtfipns - giicljL „ principles are rul P * 4 ft 4 ^ 4 from ; th ^ jro ¥ > r * & * nd of

    ave te ^ ncy , actions , and , ; Z r 9 m \ t& ¥ imH not fail Joprvduce tneor intended eflfeot , in the long rup .

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    To discern the general tendencies of actions is not difficult , but to calculate what may be expedient in a particular case , considered alone , is commonly beyond human sagacity . It is safer , then , for man to adopt rules of conduct which he is assured will answer

    on the whole , than to trust to his judgment in particular cases . Moreover , it is to the adoption of general principles , that we owe the confidence and mutual understanding which are the foundations of society . The same is the foundation of morality , and its important connexion with the present subject we have already noticed .

    Lastly , whether our influence on public affairs be great or small , we are still bound to use it faithfully , because it is our proper personal duty so to do . If it is right that a certain thing should be done , we cannot be

    absolved from performing our part in it , because numbers must co-operate , before it can be accomplished . We have to answer for our own part , and neither more nor less . But if we

    neglect this part , it cannot be said that we shall only share the guilt , nor if we perform this part sball we only share the merit . The whole guilt or merit of the whole transaction attaches to every agent . If a thousand join in a murder , each is guilty of the entire crime ; and with this remark , which seems to suggest very important reflections , I will conclude . T . F . B .

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    Hints to Prvzeh / tists . 3 & ]

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    Bath , Sir , Mat / 30 , 1823 . YOU R valuable Miscellany frequently contains very interesting

    communications concerning the state and progress of Unitariatiism , a cause to which I sineerely wish success , believing it to be that of truth ; but the more earnestly I wish it to prevail , the more I am concerned to observe ^ he

    manner which some of its advocates have adopted in their zeal for 'iteVHffusion . Zeal is good or bad in its consequences accprdipg" as it is , ^ employed by wisdom and knowledge / or

    stirred up by injudicious , though wejl mcaning persons , who mistake ; the excitement which < may Ue occasioned by many ; external circumstances for that real , permanent conviction , which can ; proceed onl y * froi % 8 obcfr thou ^ M and seriously repeated examinat&h .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1823, page 331, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1785/page/19/