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    OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENCE. i

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    Untitled Article

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    Occasional Correspondence. I

    OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENCE . i

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    On Paleg's Theological Opinions . To the Editor \ Sib , It appears to the writer of the following remarks to be an object not only of speculative interest , but of practical importance also , to ascertain the religious opinions of great and good men . A

    history of human opinion is a history of the human mind ; and he who would rightly and fully know the laws of the mental phenomena , who would desire to learn the proper methods of regulating his own faculties , must be an attentive student of the progress of opinion . What is true of opinion in general , is equally true of re * ligious opinion . It is not an idle question to ask what were the sentiments of

    a Locke , a Milton , or a Paley . The answer I would hot permit to sway my judgment , but it would not fail to interest my mind ; nor is it improbable to suppdse that the manner in which those great men sought for truth , may furnish me with useful admonitions ; and the

    results 'to which they came , create a presumption either in favour of , or against the sentiments I entertain . For on the supposition that they diligently sought for the truth , that they were admirably furnished for the investigation , possessed of the materials in which sentimen tig to be

    founded , and of a good heart and a sound mind , unbiassed by interest , and discip lined by exertion , I should , I confess , pause a moment ere I , finally made up J » y mind , should the conclusions to which they had arrived , * and . tfiose whicji had appeared correct to me ^ differ in many material a ^ nd essential fea ^^ sf . ; f 3 p ! not say that I would' discard my own conclusions in consequence of the supposed

    discrepancy , but I should ¦ certainly > think niyself called upon to review them with $ he greatest care * ' 6 n-the othe * luaftd , if agreement instead of dlVef&ity ' pf . 8 eIrii' nJ ^ ototatt ^ & !>^ &b < us ^ I fthoiild rejoice at the fact , and knowing theweakness of my owii p 6 wer& , their liability to error , ana thdr waiit of tlmt comprehensiveness so essential ' to the discovery of truth , 1 should feel myself corroborated in my sentiments , and proud of a similitude , however faint , to men endowed

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    with faculties so exalted , and dispositions so pure . * If , however , I deemed it my duty to recommend to others the sentiments I held , Isnould think it of great importance to set before them the fact , that some of the greatest and the best of men had , after the most diligent inquiry / been led to adopt similar opinions to . those

    which were offered to their acceptance . I would tell them that from this fact tnere arose a presumption in favour of their agreement with truth , and , by the authority of really great names , might not only diminish the prejudices which those whom I wished to influence might feel towards me , but also induce them to inquire whether these things Were , so or

    not . If , then , my views on ihia subject are correct , it is important to learn what were the religious sentiments of eminent writers of past ages , and ilietefote I have been led to animadvert on apassage in the Quarterly Review for October last , in which an attempt is made to shew that Dr , Paley was a Trinitarian . The first

    point that the Writer endeavours to establish , is , that Paley believed in the doctrine of hereditary and total depravity ; and this is the proof : " We hear from him of the deep , unfeigned , heartpierciug , heart sinking , sorrow of confession and penitence ; of imperfection cleaving to every part of our conduct ; of

    our sins being more ; than enough to humble us to-the' earth on ' the ground of merit . " Be it so j what Unitarian would hesitate to adopt such ianfeuage on suitable occasions ? v What is there said in these quotations of hereditary or of total depravity ; of inability to think a good thought , ' * or t <* do a good deed ? If the reviewer has : in the above quotations

    given , not ; Only Paley ' s view of human tfepravityV'buthia otonfalso , I must be permitted to-tellhltn , that so far Paley and himself , nowew&iieinay be ignorant of it , are ^ goad UniJtaflan ^ . > On this point Patey's sentiittenefl welre , in o \ ir opinion ,

    truly ^ scriptural , Thefewcrefl Writers conafcaritly represent man as a . sinner ; to him * i « f'thiff charactter , ; the Gospel , they say , is adapted ; and for ^ himi in Ms unhappy condition , it was devised . This view Paley was fond of setting forth to his hearers j it forms the ground-work of

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1828, page 854, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2567/page/54/