PROPOSALS FOR A MORE GENERAL DIFFUSION OF THE SENTIMENTS OF THE FREETHINKING CHRISTIANS. To the Editor of the Freethinking Christians' Magazine. SIR, AS S a constant reader of your Magazine, and also an ap◄ prover of your sentiments, I wish to give you a hint for a more general distribution of them among the common people; I mean among those whose reading scarce ever extends further than their bible, and a few children's story books, or an almanack; or we shall have them soon all Methodists or Infidels: for within these twenty years, nay I may say these ten years, our churches are nearly deserted. A few days since a return was made by the bishops of the proportionable number of dissenting meeting houses to those of the churches; but I assure you, that is a very false return of the number of the people; for the dissenting houses are full, while there are scarce any one in the churches. And then there are more people than are in both together, that attend neither, and perhaps the best Christians of the three parties; and I look on these particularly, and many of the others, to want only something that would appear to them reasonable Christianity, to form them into a community. And what I wish to point out in the first place, would be for you to distribute with your Magazine one paper each month, of not more than from four to eight pages, closely printed, and make an addition to the price of your Magazine accordingly; also that each subscriber may have as many copies of this paper as he chooses, at a certain price, for distribution among his neighbours, or that any one may subscribe for those also, exclusive of your Magazine. This paper should point out the defects of our establishment, also the superstitions of the Methodists, and other dissenters; and your sentiments of reason in religion. Many papers in your Magazine would be very well suited for the purpose. As to Christophilus's truth of the Christian religion, I do not think it is much wanted among the commonalty, there being very few but what are Christians; but only to dress away the rubbish that has been heaped on it by interested priests. In these should be inserted some facts relative to the present management of church affairs, and the bartering and jockeyship that is used among priests of all denominations; and short essays to point out your rules of teaching the truths of the gospel. I have just fallen in with an advertisement in the Evening Star newspaper, for the publishing a pamphlet or magazine, called the Protestant Advocate, which confirms me, that you should make use of the above hint, as this Advocate is like the advocates in law, to lead the people from the truth to serve their own interest, and that of priestcraft. I cannot help observing, that we should soon all enter into your sentiments of reasonable Christianity, if it was not for the old prejudice which priestcraft is endeavouring to keep up; and till the rights of the poor to the revenues of the clergy be advocated, and they are fully established in that right, no reason will be effectual to the propagating your sentiments; for mark the great wealth of the clergy, drawn principally from the people, who have little interest in the kingdom-the nobles generally draw tithes instead of paying them-the merchant and manufacturer can say prayers in their own way without paying priests-and the lawyers are studying the best method of promoting litigation;-so that the expence for carrying the souls of the whole empire to heaven lays on the farmer and the landowners of small property. Your's, &c. October, 1812. IT J. S. M. ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE UNDERSTANDING. "Mind, mind alone, gives value to the man." To the Editor of the Freethinking Christians' Magazine. SIR, T is a lamentable circumstance, that in the 19th century of the Christian era, the understanding of mankind should be so little advanced beyond animal instinct; knowledge has indeed been slow in its progress, or rather it seems to have taken a retrograde movement; for where are now our Senecas and Socrates? moralists who practised what they taught, and taught by what they practised. Where are our Solons, or our Numas, under whose auspices cities rose, commerce flourished, and arts and sciences rapidly advanced-who lived but for the happiness of their people? Or where are our modern martyrs to religion, who, like Jesus and his disciples, laid down their lives to seal the truth of their doctrines? Alas! Sir, we have them not in our days. We have priests who preach morality, but practise it not-we have monarchs who reign, but cities are ruined, commerce stagnates, and science dwindles into idle speculation; and we have martyrs, but they are martyrs to fanaticism, to ambition, or revenge. Did men but know the miseries attendant on ignorance, and the pleasures they forego by neglecting to improve their intelJectual faculties, every man would then become a student, and the world would be peopled by philosophers. Then indeed would be a golden age-swords would be beat into plough shares, and spears into pruning-hooks, and every man would sit under his own fig-tree; but the human mind has many long and tedious marches to make before that period can arrive-to cut through many a rough maze of investigation, to wade through many a bog of sophistry, and to climb many a steep mountain of knowledge and science, before it can successfully lay claim to true philosophy. The difficulties we meet with in our first steps towards mental improvement, are such as frequently deter many from continuing the pursuit ; a weak mind is easily frightened, and dangers often appear formidable, only because we cannot see their extent. Firmness and true courage are the attributes of exalted virtue; but timidity is the companion of ignorance, and will often tremble only at the shadow of danger. Let not those, therefore, who are just entering the field of knowledge be too much alarmed at its no vel appearance; be not dismayed, but push forward with vi gorous energy; press hard upon the difficulties before you, and you will soon find them wheel off to the right and to the left, leaving you without further molestation in full pursuit of your journey, every step of which will open to your view fresh scenes of pleasure and delight. But let me now revert to the intended object of this essay, which is to shew the method by which the mind can be improved; and to point out some of the greatest impediments that are opposed to its progress. What is the human mind? It is a collection of ideas received through the medium of the senses, and arranged by the mental faculties into tribes, classes, or associations. The two things that require most of our attention in forming this mind are, first, the acqusition of useful ideas; and, secondly, the right ar rangement of them; for he who has the largest stock of useful ideas, arranged in the most proper order, has unquestionably the best understanding. Amongst the innumerable classes of ideas that are within the sphere of attainment, those which are gathered from nature stand pre-eminent. The man who is well supplied with natural ideas will reason naturally, unless they are badly arranged and we usually find, that in proportion as men are unacquainted with the things that are in nature, and with the laws by which they are governed, so they are incompetent to correct reasoning, and consequently to right judgment; for to reason is to compare ideas for the purpose of finding out how they agree with each other, and what difference there is between them; and to judge, is only to determine what that difference is. Now the foundation of all correct reasoning is na. ture; whatever agrees with nature is rational; whatever disagrees is irrational; and virtue itself, if it did not accord with : the dictates of nature, would cease to be virtue. Correct ideas therefore, of nature, are of the first consequence in the acquisition of knowledge, because they form the basis of correct reasoning and those books which delineate the wonders of creation, and develope the laws by which they are controuled, should be sought after and read with avidity: these, in conjunction with the impressions which we daily receive from surrounding circumstances, will give an ample provision of ideas; but it is not the simple possession of ideas that will give a man a sound mind; the principal work still remains to be performedthat of arranging them. There are some men who have an astonishing collection of ideas, and yet are incapable of reasoning with precision on the most simple subjects: the cause is obvious-their heads are like brokers' shops, that contain much good furniture, but huddled together in such confusion, that not a single piece can appear to any advantage, and the greater part lies buried in the heap'; so it is with minds that have more knowledge than they can well digest: they pass through life without ever crossing the line of mediocrity in good sense; but had they been taught to arrange their ideas, they would probably have stood high in the ranks of wisdom.. Books will furnish a man with ideas, but will not teach him to arrange them: it is reflection, it is thinking deeply, that will give a man that sound comprehensive mind sufficient to make him uniformly a man of principle; it is this that will enable bim to see things as they really are; to "look through nature up to nature's God;" to strike out new truths, or to revive old ones; to survey the wonders of creation; and to analyse himself, the most wonderful, the most intricate, the most compound, but the best organized machine of all. This it is that will turn every idea to its proper account; that will make a little knowledge go a great way, and cause him who has but a small portion of time for study, to appear much wiser than he who devotes his whole life to the acquisition of ideas, but forgets the more important part of arranging them. Conversation is also particularly useful in forming right associations, but not that sort of conversation that is too generally in use. We seem to think that the society of a companion or a friend is a license for trifling and frivolous talk: this may do very well for temporary amusement, and when nothing else is required it is sufficient; but it is not the sort of communication that is calculated to improve the mind, nor is it that which will at all times give pleasure to a wise man his business is to get wisdom, and to use it; nor is he ever better amused than when employed in one or other of these pursuits. The conversation most conducive, to improvement, is that which enters into the illustration of principles, or the examination of opinions; for there is no man, however well informed, but who has yet to learn the beauty of some principle, either in natural or moral philosophy; or who has still some opinion that wants correction: this is the province of conversation; for such is the nature of the human mind, that with every possible exertion of its own towards gaining correct notions, there will be still some error left behind, that but for the kind and impartial eye of a friend would ever remain : and not only so, but as there are no two men whose ideas are exactly alike, the coalition of sentiment will open to each a fresh source of information, and tend to enlarge as well as arrange the general understanding; but men who would receive this advantage from conversation, must remember to seek for companions that are fitted for it. It is not every fool a man meets that can either give or receive information; nor does charity in its most extended light require that he should throw away that time in trying to beat sense into a blockhead, that might be better spent in rational society. Men whose object is to promote knowledge and virtue, and who are active in the pursuit of that object, are best fitted for associates; for in their society wisdom presides, and receiving her full tribute of attention and respect, directs them unerringly towards the palace of truth. Another useful means of arranging our ideas, is committing our thoughts to writing. A man cannot write without first determining on what he shall write; and he cannot determine without some reflection. It is true, the immense heap of rubbish, in the shape of books, proves that if men cannot write without reflection, they can at least write without sense; but this is an abuse of the practice, to which the best and most salutary means of improvement are at all times liable. Men may write nonsense if they will, but they are not obliged to do so; nor will that man be liable to fall into this error who keeps his proper object in view. Men who write for the instruction of themselves or of others, should remember that good sense is the principal thing; and he who neglects that, to make fine sentences or round periods, had better not! write at all: it will only get him into the habit of substituting sound for sense; but if he studies to put good sense in plain and clear language, he will serve himself and others too; for it is that which every rational man is in search of: and here I cannot help strongly recommending the plan pursued by Dr. Franklin, and some of his friends-a plan which, I can say from experience, is productive of much good. Let five or six individuals, who are desirous of enlarging their understandings, form themselves into a society, and meet once a week; let each write an essay upon one and the same subject, to be appointed by the society the week before; and at the next meeting let each |