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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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\*\ th wmny tharrks . I dare say it is highly esteemed by those of that way of think * kig ; although its merits are quite lost on me . Ever since I knew anything I haw been a Trinitarian ; many of my nearest relations and dearest friends have died triumphantly in that faith ; and I trust , through grace , I shall never proless any other . * ' I am , dear Sir , < c Yo « r obliged and very humble servant , «« _ .
** ATr . Alexander Lean . " A copy of the reply to the preceding . " My dear Sir , Sept . 24 , 1813 . ** You say in your note to me when you returned the sermon , that you 'have been a Trimtarmn ever since yon knew any thing ; many of your nearest relations and dearest friend * hare died triumphantly in that faith ; and you trust , Through grace , you shall never profess any other . '
"Millions of idolaters , &c , have died as triumphantly in the faith they professed as did your relations and friends ; and kad it not been for the Reformation , you and I , perhaps , would have been little better than Idolaters ; and our departed relations and dearest friends , it is probable , took their religions tenets upon trusty as millions do at $ his day . " ' The Bereans were more noble than
those of Thessalonica in that tfiey searched the Scriptures to see whether those things were so / 41 If yoo wlfl fbllowthis exam p le , and should discover in any part df the Holy Scriptures the phrase ' God Che Son or God the Holy Ghost , ' or the word Trinity , and communicate the same to me , I shall consider myself under a great obligation to you . But till I find these terms in the Bible , it is a matter of indifference to
me what any person ' s conception of them may be . In my opinion they form no part of the system of religion which our Lord and Master Christ taught us ; and what any person in after ages faucifully may suppose he comprehends their ex planatfon to be , can be of no authority or importance to me .
"The longest period that you and I hate to live will tie trat short , when , to ufte « the words of oar Lord , I hope we ' lilkall' atectnd unto his Father autf our FMher , and < unto his God and to our God / *« I am , TfiAi very great regard , w MV dear Sir , " Your 8 in < sere friend and obedient servant , ** ALEXiUYDtoa LKAN . " Mr . Lean does not rank among what
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are called authors ; yet a little tract ; of his on the duty of Juries , which he was accustomed to give away , and which went through two or three editions , deserves the attention of those who are called upon to fulfil , as he often was , that duty . And he practised what he professed ; of which he gave an instance on the celebrated trial of Hig £ ins and Le Maitre . He was on that occasion one of the
grand jury , and the solicitor of the Treasury entered the room to attend the examination of witnesses . But Mr . Lean made such forcible objections to this practice that he was under the necessity of retiring ; for he justly reasoned , that no improper influence ought to be allowed in any case , and the higher the authority the greater ought to be the
guard against it . To place a man on his trial for life , or indeed for any misdemeanour , is a very serious concern . The accused is not in this case permitted to interfere ; and if , with all the advantages of preparation , the clearest evidence of guilt from the mouths of witnesses is not produced , it is highly unjust to subject a
man to a public appearance in court . It is to be feared that grand jurymen reconcile it at times to their consciences to put a man on his trial cm the idea that as their determination is partial , the petty jury will determine lightly , and Jess attention may therefore be paid by them to the merits of the case . But
their duty is of a higher nature ; and so thought and acted Mr . Lean ; requiring that a grand juryman should sift with the utmost care the evidence before him , nor suffer a man to be brought to the bar unless what was sworn to by the witnesses must , if not contradicted , necessarily convict the accused .
Mr . Leaq was seldom without some small religious tract in his pocket , winch he used with great discretion , and was in this manner the means of bringing many to a knowledge of the principles of that profession of Christianity which it was his great aim and desire to inculcate . In the family of the writer is a pa ^ e to be iuserted in a Bible , and which will long be preserved there , on the right use of the Psalins , pointing out those which are the most to be recommended to a
devotional Christian ; and on a short paper having been sent to him on the essential difference between a Trinitarian and a Unitarian Christian , he called shortly after on the writer to present him with half-a-dozen out of a thousand copies which he had just got from the press . He knew not at the time by whom the
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422 Ofotitfiry . — * Mr Ledn .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1830, page 422, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2585/page/62/
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