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MISCELLANEOtJS COMMUNICATIONS.
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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.
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To the Editor of the Monthly Repository .
, sin , July 15 , I 8 O 9 . I consider the subject , taken up in your last number , ( p . 323 . ) respecting the causes of the decline in
that class of dissenters usually denominated Presbyterians , tyighly interesting . A correspondent , who dates from Liverpool , has written with good sense and
commendable zeal . I by no means deny that the causes which he assigns have their share of influence ; I presume to suggest , however , th&t they do not include the root of the evil . What reason can be
given that there shpuld be , in proportion tQ their number , a greater felling off to other classes of nonconformists , to the established church , to total indift ' erence or
infidelity amongst the Presbyterians than any other community of dissidents in the kingdom ? Amongst other sects , those who do not appear to be deeply impressed wuh religious considers
llww i frequently continue to belong to them nominally ; and if they do not often attend their re . ^ p ° us assemblies , attend-no other . V "list anafongst the Presbytcrians , ftot onl y a matrimonial connec"on , the obtaining of a lucrative
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place under government , pleasing an opulent relative , securing customers to a retail shop ; but the minister ,, oV some of the members of the congregation , differing ia
politics from the disgusted party ^ taking a different side to them in a general election ; or some family quarrel , some neglect or slight , not being accommodated with the
pew to which they give preference in the chapel 5 and innume * rable other things of as trivial moment , have excited numbers of them to quit the religious pro-, fession of their fathers . Do
Roman Catholics act in this manner ? Do Quakers ? Do Independents and Baptists ? Those who belong to the two latter denominations , indeed , not uncommonly shew themselves to be sufficiently capricious ; but then , when they quit one church or congregation , they repair to another oi the same faith
and order , and do not totally abandon the dissenting cause . I account for the singular defalcation amongst the Presbyterians , from their not hnviniz general Ijr imbibed those principles whicli would have induced tfctem to view their sectand its worship in a ? i im-
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On tTie JDectine of Presbyterian Congregations . 48 fo
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^ trjien \ cal l to mind these amiable properties in you , and thinjc Vm deprived of the p leasure of them , I can ' t help bewailing my loss , and S ivIng wa 7 to that sqrt of tenderness which will have vent at the eyes , which now drops on the jp aper . . . m .... I thought I had another side yet , for I
have , not half done , but find 1 have r ^ ii it out , and can only add my siacepest wi hes for your and Mrs . Say ' s , and dear Misses health and happiness I am kissing four hands , and am . with sincere respects ^ dear Madam , your and Mr , Say ' s affectionate friend , and humble servant , M . SHEPPARD .
Miscellaneotjs Communications.
MISCELLANEOtJS COMMUNICATIONS .
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ON THE i ) ECI . INE OF PRESBYTERIAN CONGREGATIONS * —
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1809, page 485, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1740/page/11/
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