One of his first published sermons was on behalf of toleration for deists at the time of the Carlile prosecutions 1819. He gradually advanced from the acceptance of miracles to their complete rejection.
"A Biographical Dictionary of Freethinkers of All Ages and Nations"
Joseph Mazzini Wheeler
When the term first came into general use, about the end of the seventeenth century, it was mainly used with reference to those deists who were then attacking Christianity.
"A Grammar of Freethought"
Chapman Cohen
The ecstasy here does not depend upon the author's attachment to a dogma, but springs most frequently from a love of righteousness and humanity; hence the emotional appeal of the poet touches even those who are not deists.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell