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live soberly , righteously and godly , or become Christians themselves . This he thought very improper and objectionable * and no less than a direct profanation of a religious rite ; " and therefore refused to christen such
children , unless their parents made a profession of repentance , and solemnly promised to forsake those irregular and vicious courses , and lead for the future virtuous and pious lives . Some
willing l y complied with his requirement , upon whose children therefore he performed the said rite . Others could not be prevailed upon to submit to thift requirement , for which reason he left their children unchristened
which gave great umbrage , not only to their parents and such like folk , but even to his own ecclesiastical superiors , up to the very bishop—all blamed him for having any scruples about such frivolous , harmless and indifferent matters as these . Some
&iso even of the most decent among his parishioners disapproved of his refusing to christen the said bastard children , it being , as they said , punishing the poor things fof * the sins of their parents . Forbidding those of loose or immoral lives to come to the
Lord ' s Table was another circumstance that gave great offence , and caused him no small trouble . One of th 6 se was the greatest man in the parish , or head Squire of the place ; and a very fierce and dashing fellow he
certainly was . He , by way of retaliation aud revenge , set himself about picking holes in Mr . R ' s . coat . They were- not indeed of an immoral , but rather an uncanonical nature . Mr .
R . had allowed a certain worthy person to partake of the Lord's Supper sitting instead © f kneeling * He also had not made a point of wearing the surplice while performing the burial service and some other duties . He
had likewise taken the liberty of using the word honour instead of worship in the marriage service , aud moreover of curtailing occasionally the liturgic part of the public service . These deviations were magnified into serious misdoings , and looked upon by his superiors in a very unfavourable light . Wherefore his conduct was afterwards
more closely scrutinized y and from the examination , an / 1 confession , of his cliurchrwardens the folio wiug articles of accusation were extracted , upon v > rhich he was proceeded against in the ecclesiastical court—1 . That he
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did not read the Litany on Wednesdays and Fridays : 2 . That he did not constantly wear the surplice in ail his administrations : S . That he did not usually administer the communion on Christmas-day , unless it fell onaiSWday . Nor on Whitsunday . 4 . That
he did not read over the Canons and Articles twice a year . 5 . That there were two children unbaptized in the parish , which he refused to baptize , 6 . That he was in the habit of
conversing ( or was on friendly terms ) with one Mr . Richardson , an excommunicate person , —Now this person was a worthy , pious dissenting minister , who had been persecuted for
conscience sake , or for nonconformity , and excommunicated : and it was expected that no clergymen would con-Terse or associate with him , unless he recanted : which was a sort of
morality or religion which Rastrick did not approve , aud therefore did not choose to practise . —The first time he appeared before the Spiritual Court at Lincoln to answer to the
above articles or charges , he had nothing to do but only to retain a Proctor against the next court-day . When that time came , it fell out to be the very day when King James ' s declaration for liberty of conscience came first down into the country , which must have been in the spring of 1687-At this his second appearance , he
found the court very much down in the mouth ( as lie expresses it ) and far from the heat and violence in their proceedings that he expected . They did however proceed to business , and went over each of those charges , but came to no determination : not
thinking- perhaps the then aspect of things favourable enough to warrant a rigorous decision . However that Avas , Rastrick was now becoming more and more dissatisfied with the terms of conformity , and began soon to think of availing himself of the royal decla-10
ration of liberty of . conscience 4 "" his public station in the church , as he actually did before the close ot that same year . After which lie seems to have continued disengage till 1701 , when he settled with tltf Fresbyteriari congregation in "
town . ^ .. Thus was he forced to resign ^ * vicarage of Kirkton * after he had nou it fourteen years , whUe numbers sporting * fox-hunting * ^ J ^! ing incumbents were suffered ton **
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602 Memoir of John Rastrick , M . A .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1815, page 602, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1765/page/2/
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