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been abused in other parts of it . . And those truths , which grate -on darling corruptions , are kept back & > r fear of displeasing . But we must not thus handle the word of God deceitfully . " " A scrap of it shall be divided
from the rest , no notice taken of the nature and design of the discourse t © which it belonged , and a foreign , perhaps a quite contrary sense , shall be annexed to the sound of it . An obscure passage , so in itself , or made so , shall be set up in contradiction to the holy , just and merciful nature of God and the whole
stream of the scriptures . A text of peace shall serve to furnish out a proclamation of war ; and the most abominable things be recommended from it in the name of God .
Scanty as is the biography of a Standen , Bowden and Billingsley , the reputation of acting consistently with the principles of Protestant Dissenters , attaches to their names , in the affair of JMr . Stolon ' s ordination , from whom
ethers had withheld their testimony of friendship and fellowship , because he refused to subscribe to the articles . which they prescribed as a test of true faith . Mr . Biliingsley found it proper to vindicate his own conduct , on this occasion , in an appendix to a discourse entitled * ' Rational and Christian
Principles the best rules of conduct . ' To such as are acquainted with the history of the Trinitarian controversy in his day , and with the manner in which it was conducted , there will appear in the passages that have been quoted , a propriety , point and force , that do credit to Mr . Billingsley ' s judgment and intergrity .
3 . Another name mentioned in the preceding Memoirs is that of Mr . John Withers ; of whom a gentleman who Was his contemporary has left it on record , that " he was a hater or priests and of priestcraft , and a very worthy , learned man . " He was one of the
ministers of the three dissenting congregations at Exeter , first in connection with Mr . Joseph Hallet * Sen . and Mr . Peirce , and after Mr . Hallet ' s death , with the last gentleman and Mr . John JLavington till Mr . Peirce was ejected . Mr . Withers was chosen into this connection in 1 7 ^ 5 . When the ministers , who took an active part in fomenting the Trini ^ tarian controversy , proposed that this
* Pcirce ' s <« Western Inquisition , " p , 79—83 . f Ibid , p , 11 .
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declaration , < c I believe the Father , word and spirit to be one God , " should be set up as a test of Orthodoxy , he offered his reasons against it , in a speech prepared for the purpose . The substance of his reasons were ; that to bring in such a test was contrary to the good old rule , allowed by all divines and lawyers , " That no man is bound to accuse
himself ; " applicable in his opinion , as properly to errors in judgment as to crimes in practice : that the declaration was no other than a discriminating test , which would mark those who declined it with infamy , and to require it was an infringement of the common liberties of
¦ * * * * ¦ • _ mankind , an inquisition into men ' s consciences , a ransacking of their minds and a piece of ecclesiastical tyranny : that it would condemn the puritans for refusing , and justify their adversaries for imposing the oath ex efficio ; "which was enjoined by those , who if they had no reason ,
had more authority to support their requisition : and , that it would be introductory to other innevations , opening the way for one test this year and another the next , and giving a sanction to every man who could set tip as the head of a party , to make a new creed .
Mr . Withers objected also to the proposed declaration in itself , as the expression was not to be found in the ancient creeds , which owned the Father and 60 * to be one in nature , but declined calling them one God : that the words were those of one of the most
notorious heretics Paulus Samesatenus , Patiiarch of Antioch , and would countenance those who embraced the Sabel » lian notion * . Mr . Withers , at a subsequent assembly of ministers , was called upon to deliver his ideas on the doctrine of the
Trinity , and he declared himself in his own w ® rds . When Mr . Peirce and Mr . Joseph Hallet , Jun . were , on the ground of their supposed Arianism , ejected from their pastoral connections , Mr . Withers was at first implicated in the same sentence of exclusion : but afterwards he was received again by his congregation . In this connection he died .
" He was well known , " says Mr . Peirce , " by his excellent writings' )* . " The titles only will shew to what ob * jects of utility and importance the talents and pen of Mr . Withers were de-
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250 A Supplement to the Memoirs of the Rev * Hubert Siogdoii .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1809, page 250, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1736/page/4/
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