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    In such & delightful world as the one ' we inhabit , this , which may be called a part of its moral government , is conformable to our expectations ; for the influence which propels men forward in their search after good is bound up in and is inseparable from their constitution . It binds them into

    societies and enables them to benefit by the advantages of society . Yet in the range of science one department is inaccessible . The mind of man , so curiously formed , wants one faculty . He is able to collect , to arrange , and to use the information he derives from outward and visible objects , but his anxiety is not satisfied . He wishes to know if he be not

    connected with other beings and with other times , and he finds no means of progression , no fulcrum for the powers of his imind , no star to direct him how to shape his course . But the

    finger of Omniscience has pierced the cloud , the hand-writing upon the wall has traced in fair and legible characters the interesting and grand result to which he is to be conducted . What

    has been revealed ? By whom has the discovery been made ? And how have mankind received the heavenly communication ? The prophet of Nazareth appeared

    in the simplest form and rank of society ; he grew up from infancy to youth , from youth to manhood ; he performed all the common offices of humanity , and enjoyed or suffered all the various relations of human

    socieiy ^ intellectual capacity appeared to be bounded by the sources of his information ; his message was delivered in the simplest language ; to learning and science he made no pretension ; infancy and childhood were admitted to his familiar

    instruction ; he appealed to his countrymen as to rational and intelligent beings ; he addressed his teachings to them as to men who could attain to knowledge only by the exercise of the understanding , and by argument and reason he sought to make them his disciples .

    We , on the contrary , have invested him with a mysterious character and rank ; we have declared that he was pleased and pained in appearance only ; that hia knowledge was only bounded by the objects of knowledge ; that types and figures and prophecies must all be familiar to the mind that

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    would understand him ; we have ransacked the stores of metaphysical subtilty , and coined a set of phrases when we would communicate our gleanings from the heavenly storehouse ; we have set apart a distinct order of men ,

    endowed them with a separate office and character , invested them with a mysterious official rank , exempted them from many of the honours and all the burthens of society , and declared that they and they alone shall be the authorized expounders of the

    heavenly doctrine ; that no man ought to enter or quit the world but under their direction or superintendance ; yye have denounced eternal misery upon all who shall venture to judge and examine , unless by such judgment

    and examination they come up to the orthodox standard , and as if everlasting damnation was not enough , we have endeavoured to abridge them of the delights of social life , and of as many of its honours and emoluments as we can command .

    And what has been the result ? Just such a result as such a course must lead to . Knowledge has not been power , nay knowledge has abridged its possessors of power . It has not been increased by the use we have made of the heavenly message , but in

    spite of it . The terms religion , parson , articles of faith , firm anticipation of the promises of the gospel , are considered as by-words of contempt , or marks of hypocrisy , and not by men who are themselves contemptible , but by men who by common consent are admitted to be benefactors of their

    kind . And if any of these highlygifted men have gained a glimpse of the heavenly messenger their view has been distorted and their ardour deadened by early and fixed prejudice against the world ' s idol .

    In these days of increased and increasing knowledge , what is to be done ? Let us take example from other sciences which are largely connected with the well-being of society . Put religious knowledge before mankind in

    its simplest form , invite them to a free discussion of its precepts , its discoveries , and its merits , take away the monopoly of the clergy , leave its professors to make their way solely by the exercise of their talents and . their industry , divest it of the jargon of the schools , permit every man to publish

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    272 Stnte of the Times , as td Theotogy .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1825, page 272, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2536/page/16/