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    heed the voice of the charmer ; he mti ^ Mk&f . ^ ^ v ¦ - ¦ ¦ ¦ - •^^^^ fidc ^^^ -fbildWIii ^ liMtege for qrtB ^ oi r ; Vtcrt oiily as one of the best ifetitfetf far that ^ artktilai' and immedlafe gfifecf ' wliicfr the preacher purposed , biif for the sake of Its general application tfr theological controversy ; with the additional recommendation of its being a warning againat a danger to which the Unitarian especially is not unfrequently exposed .

    ** It would be religiously charitable , also , to consider whether the objectionable tenets which different sects profess , are in their hearts as well as in their books . There is unfortunately so much pride where there ought to be so much humility , that it is difficult , if not almost impossible , to make religious sects abjure or recant the doctrines they have once professed . It is not in this manuer , I fear , that the best and purest churches are ever reformed . But the doctrine

    gradually becomes obsolete ; and , though not disowned , ceases in fact to be a distinguishing characteristic of the sect which professes it . These modes of reformation , —this silent antiquation of doctrines , —this real improvement , which

    the parties themselves are too wise not to feel , though not wise enough to own , must , 1 am afraid , be generally conceded to human infirmity . They are indulgences not unnecessary to many sects of Christians . The more generous method would be to admit error where error

    exists ; to say , These were the tenets and interpretations of dark and ignorant ages ; wider inquiry , fresh discussion , superior intelligence , have convinced us we are wrong ; we will act in future upon better and wiser principles . This is what men do in laws , arts , and sciences ; and happy for them would it be if they used the same modest docility in the highest of all concerns . But it is , I fear , more than experience will allow us to expect ; and therefore the kindest and most charitable

    method is to allow religious sects silently to improve without reminding them of , and taunting them with , the improvement ; without bringing them to the humiliation of formal disavowal , or the still more pernicious practice of defending what'they know to be indefensible .

    The triumphs which proceed from the neglect of these principles are not ( what they pretend to be ) the triumphs of religion , but the triumphs of personal vanity . The object i& not to extinguish dangerous error with as little pain and' degradation as possible to him who has fallen into the error ; but the object is to exalt

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    ourselves , and to depreciate our theological opponents , as much as possible , at any expense to God's service , and to the real Interests of truth and religion . " There is another practice not less common than this , and equally uncharitable ; and that is to represent the opinions of the most violent and eager persons who can be met with , as the common and received opinions of the

    whole sect . There are , in every denomination of Christians , individuals by whose opinion or by whose conduct the great body would very reluctantly be judged . Some men aim at attracting notice by singularity ; some are deficient in temper ; some in learning : some push every principle to the extreme ; distort , overstate , pervert ; fill every one to whom their cause is dear with concern that it should have been committed to

    such rash and intemperate advocates . If you wish to gain a victory over your antagonists , these are the men whose writings you should study , whose opinions you should dwell on , and should carefully bring forward to notice ; but if you wish , as the elect of God , to put on kindness and humbleness , meekness and long-suffering , —if you wish to forbear

    and to forgive , it will then occur to you that you should seek the true opinions of any sect from those only who are approved of and reverenced by that sect ; to whose authority that sect defer , and by whose arguments they consider their tenets to be properly defended . This may not suit your purpose if you are

    combating for victory ; but it is your duty if you are combating for truth : it is the safe , honest , and splendid conduct of him who never writes nor speaks on religious subjects , but that he may diffuse the real blessings of religion among his fellow-creatures , and restrain the bitterness of controversy by the feelings of Christian charity and forbearance . "—Pp .

    15—17 . The excellent spirit of these remarks is diffused throughout the discourse . The author thus recapitulates its topics and concludes : ** The arguments , then , which I have adduced in support of the great principles of religious charity are , that violence up ^

    on such subjects is rarely or never found to be useful , but generally to produce effects opposite to those which are intended . 1 have observed that religious sects are not to be judged from the representations of their enemies ; but that they are to be heard for themselves , in the pleadings of their best writers , not in the representations of those whose

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    852 Critical Notices .

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1828, page 852, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2567/page/52/