On this page
-
Text (2)
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
Untitled Article
Mr . Editor , Oct . 2 , % 1815 . HAVE had the happiness of be-I ing for nearly thirty years the minister of a respectable society of Unitarian Christians on the broad basis , in a populous country town . So
many circumstances concur to render my situation comfortable ; I have so few worldly cares , so many kind friends , and such serious and candid hearers , that I am often induced to adopt the exclamation of the Psalmist , with heartfelt gratitude to the gracious Disposer of my lot , " The lines are
fallen unto me in pleasant places , yea , I have a goodly heritage . * ' I have indeed experienced those trials , which every pastor who has the charge of a society for any considerable time , must expect . He cannot but feel anxiety for the hazardous situation of inexperienced youth surrounded by tempta-
Untitled Article
tions , and for the melancholy case of those of his flock , who at any time err from the path of virtue . He can not but tenderly sympathize with his afflicted friends * and partake of their sorrows . Death will dissolve the most
endearing connexions , and he will be often called to bid his final adieu to those whom he highly valued , and whose loss to the circles of private friendship , to the cause of religion and the community at large , he most sensibly feels and sincerely laments .
To trials of this kind , Sir , I am no stranger . Occasionally also some who were my constant attendants , either dissatisfied with the doctrines they heard from the pulpit , or influenced by some other motive , have withdrawn from our worship , and " the
places among us which once knevr them , have known them no more . * I am led to these reflections by a letter , to which an accidental circumstance has lately directed my attention , sent to me a few years ago by a
respectable young lady who left my ministry for the Established Church , alleging as the reason for the step she had taken , her disapprobation of my religious sentiments . The following is my answer , with such alterations , omissions and additions , ( and these
are considerable ) as the revisal of the copy with a view to the press has suggested . If you think it calculated to assist your young readers , in their serious inquiries respecting the pure
Christian doctrine and the proper object of religious worship , it is much at your service for insertion in your valuable Repository . A UNITARIAN MINISTER .
My dear Madam , That all Christians have a right te judge and act for themselves in religious matters , in things which concern God , conscience , and their eternal salvation , is the first principle of Protestantism . I cannot possibly
therefore disapprove of the step you have taken in the exercise of this right , provided it be done with all due deliberation . I have always felt , I now feeh and I trust shall always
feel a disposition to value and reaper worthy conscientious persons , however much they may differ from me in religious sentiment . My genera l strain of preaching you know to oe practical , and when led occasionally
Untitled Article
0 g § Letter on Conformity to the Established Church .
Untitled Article
William Semple , Esq . Wadsworth Busk , Esq . Edmund Offley , Esq . Eben . Ratcliff . Loudon .
1749 . Henry Cutler . John Bradfoot-, Mercer . Chowbent , Lancashire . Jos . Browne . Coventry , London .
Nathaniel White . Hinckley , Leeds , London . Newcome Cappe . -York . Thomas Blake . Crookherne , West . Joseph Gel lib rand . Tottenham . Henry Moore . West Modbury .
John Walker . Framlingham , Suffolk . Peter Rocquet . Trade . Andrew Behmen . Trade . P . A . Dehondt . Trade—bookseller in London . Earl of Dunmore .
William Rose . Tutor . — -- Henderson . 1750 . Ratcliffe Scholefield . Whitehaven , Birmingham . Thomas Robins . Bromwich ,
Daventry . H . Holland . Prescot , Ormskirk . Matt . Rolleston , M . D . Trade . Win . Proctor . Witney , Stamford . John Alexander . Norwich , Longdon . Thomas Tayler . London . William Howe . Essex .
— Jackson , Coventry . — Boulton , Baptist . Dublin ,
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1815, page 688, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1766/page/24/
-