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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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Untitled Article
j 4 m / ii } cstima r ble privilege ? If we j ^ p \ i td sucqeed 1 / 1 candidly ' point * ijTig out ,, and clearly stating all the various causes of this ill-omfn-. eJngental phenomenon , we sliould . probably have advanced , onq step at least , towards its cure .
I n order to attain more precision in our ideas ^ we will first enumerate the various causes adduced by the writers above mentioned , aj > d then endeavour to separate
those which apply almost exclusively to these congregations , from those which in some degree operate in producing secession from religious associations of every denomination .
The principal causes assigned by your Liverpool correspondent , £ re the following : 1 st . The luxuries and depraved manners of the age ; 2 . Excessive fondness for free inquiry , leading to an undue use Of this privilege ;
3 . The opinion that attendance upon public worship is neither useful nor obligatory ; 4 . The alteration which hasta-Jken place in our ideas respecting the nature of the sabbath , and the manner in which it ought to be employed ;
5 . The alteration in our domestic habits , hours , &c . ( 5 « Cliange in the dress of fc » - Jjaaiks ; ... 7- A . persuasion that an attendance orv public worship is unwarranted in the gospel , and
improper . $ y Sabring : fI ) , ^ e > wajitj ot tfiose princij $ es wfaipH demonstrate * the im-, W > *?» r ' t Pf ^ fe . # * & eJr . ° wn i < % t 'A species of spurious , huerauty ; '" '
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3 . The want offL sect ^ M ^ n spfrft And lastly , by M ^ the tod refined laqguagejbf tlliiiarian mi-¦
nisters . . . ¦ *•¦ . fn respect to the greater p ^ rt of these causes , it is obvious to remark , that their operation is . iio otherwise exclusive on the coiu
gregation of the . nieefing . liousc , than as they give birth to , and are afterwards closely connected with , that general defect in religious principle and practice , which , if they do not
immediately induce a total absence from ail religious assemblies , will assuredly preponderate in favour of those , which are most splendid , most fashionable , and generally esteemed the most creditable . As far as
relates to these , therefore , it doei not appear what change in the manner of preaching in the . meet , ing-house , would be likely to produce any salutary effect . The
minister , it is presumed , already bears his testimony against the evils of luxury ; of depraved r ^ an ners ; of plausible apologies for non-attendance on divine worship ;
against improper _ attire ; and against thdse , inferences respecting the observance of the Sunday , erroneously deduced from that liberty in the observance of the Jewish sabbath , from frbfch Christ has made us free . I call hardly
admit , that everiihe setond tause adduced by Sabrinus , narftely , that of a akina'dr ^ parUuslibc rality , " operate * &kc ! t ! siv < % on the dissented ; ^ eaUyst ^ h . He
may indeed ^^ s ^ ^ uadc himself , \ visEihg ? o ^ O ^ ith tbi multitude . ~ tba& II ^^ ery ahiotoi . natlori otCWMSt ^ 4 ^ Ms «* J ¦ g ^ ie ; rai ciiriautt ii virt ^ 0 l » ^ wlU ^ qua / fV kar £ ixlthe riiVotfm th Mkktir , 'm&WBfW i&pM *
Untitled Article
fH > 6 On tlie jpec linc of Presbyterian Congregatio H ^
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1809, page 606, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1742/page/20/
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