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    726 Past Times and present Times .

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    It was the remark of an ancient poet ( Virgil ) , that virtue herself is better accepted when she comes in a pleasing form ; and the same remark may be made of religion , which is the handmaid of virtue , or , according to some * it is virtue herself in her most dignified form and most becoming dress . The success of many a scheme and the spread of many an opinion have been owing to a respectable and often to an imposing appearance , fhe

    prejudices of mankind seem to favour that which is clothed in external charms ; and , although real excellence of any sort will obtain among the wise , and good its meed of praise , and even among sinners will not pass without a share of commendation , yet it more surely commands respect , and exalts itself in the eyes of the multitude , when it is accompanied by ? personal attractions , or obtains the recommendation of fashion or the public approbation : while the contrary maxim is true ; for we have seen in the history of many nations , that pure truth and Christian virtue have struggled bard and

    laboured long to little purpose , when they have been destitute of these recommendations * Show and pomp and ceremony have , during many centuries of the Christian era , been given to the support of the grospest tfitfors and the rankest superstition that ever disgraced civilized society ; and they have been received with willing minds and supported by loudj acclamations , because they have indulged the strong propensities of human < nature . and Jet loose the human passions . In many instances indeed they have maintained systems which were hostile to the propensities of man , and have involved numerous votaries in pain , distress , and even in self-destruction , ,

    Ostentation and parade will ever impose upon weak and shallow min ^ s , tha ^ think but little and penetrate no deeper than the surface—of which description , a large portion of every community is composed ; and , therefore , wehaye seen that , in the ancient pagan rituals , genius has been taxed to , add to their splendour and give them charms , and that a considerable part of that splendour and of those charms which upheld idolatrous worship , was afterwards adopted by the professors of Christianity in order to increase the influence which its teachers might possess , and rivet the spiritual chains with which they bound the minds of the disciples at large . Wherever the preachers of the gospel have assumed an authority in the church , and have published statutes and appointed ordinances , which the society have nothing to do with but to receive and observe , ihere it has been seen that splendid rites , rich vestments , and loft y temples , have been employed to maintain the dignity which , the priests of the altar have assumed , and to repress every inclination that might rise to assert the individual liberty of the worshiper of God .

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    character of one so highly estimated , and who possessed so much intellectual and sterling moral worth , as Mr . JSvanson . With not a particle of unfr £ eji $ y , feeling towards your correspondent T . F . B ., and trusting that he will not , in the present instance , have to complain of " a want of fair and open dealing , " I am , Mr . Editor , faithfully , yours , &c , WILLIAM ALEXANDER < . , , ¦ - 1 . > .

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    PAST TIMES AND PRESENT TIMES . AN ADDRESS .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1827, page 726, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1801/page/14/