John Ward Dean
Published: 2017-12-02
Total Pages: 216
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Excerpt from Memoir of the Rev. Nathaniel Ward, A. M: Author of the Simple Cobbler of Agawam in America, With Notices of His Family Besides its wit, quaintness and sagacity, there is another characteristic Of the work so prominent, that it is not likely to be overlooked one, in fact, which has almost overshadowed its merits in modern days. The views there expressed on religious toleration, to which we refer, differ so widely from the liberal feeling on the subject now prevalent, that it is not strange they attract attention. But, however harsh these opinions may seem to us, they were not peculiar to this author; for they were shared with him by a ma jority of the people of his day, embracing the most numerous religious denominations then in existence, and much of the learning and piety of the age. There were few sects, when he received his religious educa tion, that approved of toleration and, though he, him self, had been favored beyond most ministers by foreign travel, his charity does not appear to have been enlarged by his experience abroad. He had witnessed in Hol land, and perhaps in Switzerland, a near approach to liberty of conscience as practiced at the present day; but he saw only the evils of the system, the rich train of blessings being concealed from his eye. It is true, the idea of toleration did not owe its exist ence in England to the generation for which he wrote. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.