On this page
-
Text (1)
-
<>
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Adopting The Same Order In Which Tormer ...
Gee . I 1 L the _deftyiag _<*&<* _& f ffie _pvrvoti _* in tfcfc TMitt _^ _ftO _oftt _tite , _# _^ _tM _Wbtk in _question _vtafc th _^ _fefbt _^ not a ffl _^ l . I li _kp _^ _fesii _^ d , _fettWeffe _^ _^ _P the Chief Justice _^ _tfirefctkm wad ii 6 t cort _^ tly _iifctfed _* _^ tttJ fe _£ _& _6 _tf r tW o _& _fer _Jiafges _( B & ytey and tfolroyd ) _eanfitied their _opifeiftn ' _c _& _m < _Mjfo ' _& _^^ _StSiafc that the _language _contained in the work in _qttestibn , •* _Willed did _Hbt ttiemy deny the godhead of Christy but _stated Mm to be an _iirijtotftGr _attd a _tfiiiMerer ' in _praitfple , was at _fcomftioft taw , _ntid still is , a libel /* But M _* . Justice Befst , in _htejttdgnte _& t _; though e 6 nfitkftig himself asi f _& f _$ _sT direet _opinkm _gt > es , to stating / •* that it Was art _indtetablfc _fctffettc _& to speak of Jesus Christ fn the manner that he is spoken of iff _thlf _^ dbR _& _ititfn , ** goes more fully into the general _tjlifcstiofi . We Will state the whttlfc _Jfadgttteirt td 1
given in the Reports : _" Bb $ t , J . My _Liotd Ohtef Ju _^ tfc _^ _repofteto-iid _^ _that he t ( M _tfe jii _^ that it was an indictable offence to speak of Jesus Christ ill th 6 _fnUttiie _^* ttot he is _Broken in this publication for \ vhich this _defendtmt _fe _indietfed . It
cannot admit of the least _dotibt that this _direction wa _^ _COttrebt . ' _Itlie 83 Geo _, III . c . l 60 > has _made ibo _alteration in _rtie _conlttion law _freJaiSVe ' 'Hi & libeL If . _previous to the passing of that statute , it tvtfiiM ha _^ e h t _& n a libel to deny , in a _^ y prtnt _^ d W 6 i * k _> _thfe divinity of the _sercoAd '| fe _^ ft ) ft & e _^^ the same publication would be a W > _el now . The 5 $ Q _6 D _» 111 . d . ' 1 _^ 0 ; ks 4 t _# title expresses , is an Act to relieve persons who _impugn the _daeMte _^ _df th _^
Trinity frl > _in certain penalties . If _tve look at the body at the AH to _^ ee frtwn what penalties such persons are relieved , we find that they are _tlrepenaltifed from which ike 1 William and Mary , _seSs . 1 , c . 18 , e _^ tnpted _uU Prot 6 _staiit Dissent _^ s , _except such as denied the Trinity , and the _penalties o _^ disabilities which the 9 and 10 William III . imposed on those who denied the _TPrttilif - The 1 William and M _& _ry , _ses _$ _. 1 , c * 18 , is , as it has been usuall y called , aft Act of toleration / or _one which allows Dissenters t 6 worshitv Cfodm _the iftQ & _g
that is agreeable to their religious _opmiohs , and exempts them firota _punishment for non-attendance at the Established Church , and _hbttCOhfoitttlty to its rites . Thfe Legislature , in passing that Act , 6 ti \ f thought of easmg th _^ consciences of _Dissenters , and not of allowing * them to attetn | Jt to weaketi the faith of the members of the Ghurch . The ' 9 and 10 William III . Was to
give security to the Government by rendering * men incapable of _office whd entertained opinions hostile to the established religion . The only penalty imposed by that statute is exclusion from office _; and that penalty is _mcftttrsd by any manifestations of the dangerous opinion , withotit proof of _int £ _ntioti in the person entertaining it either to induce others to be of that _Opinion , bl * in any manner to disturb persons of a _different persuasion- This _statute rested on the principle of the Test Laws , and did not interfere tvith tha
common law relative to blasphemous libels . It is not necessary fot the to say , whether it be libellous to argue from the Scriptures against the divinity of Christ ; that is not what the defendant professes to do . He argues againsc the divinity of Christ , by denying the truth of the Scriptures . A ivofk containing su < _Sh arguments , published maliciously ( which the _luiy in this case have _ftroftdy is by the edmratm law a libel ; and th _6 Legi 3 latujre had ne _^ er al tered tbia _laW _^ nor can It ever do _fco _Whilst the _Ohtistian _reiifdoti la
considered to be the basis of that law . ** The drift of the whote _argument of the learned judge _appfeaite to b _6 ' "t itty , y that the common km _jurisdiction over _reliMons _ofifecrces , which alti tho _^ _6 6 f _expression of opmion _^ has _Aeverbe _^ ii _totrehed by tire statutes oti thfe _stlbj _^ _et _; that the office of the latter has been to repress , not the expression of _ottfni < _ta , but opinion _itsfclf for 8 f _» te ptirbo & es : that the Tolerattoti Act _te-tteiited these out opinion _itsftlt FOP 8 f _» te ptirj _^ o & es ; that the Toleration Act _tepfeaifeci _Xfcese as tb
acts as to Dissenters generally , _feavin _^ t _ltem Open _bfcft > r _£ ptt _& _Wft _^ tit _fbf _^ xpre «« iifg _« _r ki _^ _uteMltif h _^ _atlte _i 3 piM < _yttS _5 that the _TMiilty Afct _iroS one _rf the _stitne « ot-t , dii _^ t _^ d against entef * Minbi _# ni yf _opitttoK- nti _thb # _&&&*&<> _f it - that _cotts _^}« _i _« _Lrty tfi _^ _te _peal of it _Repeals _bnlf thfe _strttfch \ mch th _^ _^ _egi _^ ia _^ _ruro _bad _mim for et « t _^ put _^ os _^ , ntrd _leurte the typ _^ _li _impuffnera of the _Trinity _^ % h _^ Tok _^ _itiOtt A _« lift _ths _IMteetfeKtf ;* _^ _ttfl \ _WM _fabte _% _&& _ha b _] te to _puhfebraeik _^ tf _ift _^ k _^ fa _ed th _^» _^^«^ t _% _tti _^ i _x _tte E & _UtittStaja _Reli gion . Thas argument , so far as it relatefrtO _^ _MSfcenters collectively , we may safely
<>
<>
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 4, 1823, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/smrp_04061823/page/9/
-