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nte admitted to hear a sermon , or join in a public prayer , as that they Should * manifest any proofs of a fitness for heaven * before they are suffered to unite in affectionate remembrance of the death of him whose steps they ought to follow . Still less pretence is there for vesting in any earthly bosom the power of deciding' on the fitness of one who desires to perform tbat which he regards a duty . Even supposing that the Lord ' s Supper might , in some states of mind , be received to the guilt and injury of
individuals , the question whether this is the case or not , is one which their consciences are alone competent to answer : it is a matter which ought to rest only between man and his God . The Calvinistic minister who
refuses to allow all whom he believes unconverted , to come to the Lord ' s table , lest they should incur the Divine vengeance , tells them in his discourses , that if they do not profit by
his admonitions they will deepen the horrors of their eternal doom . They may " hear , " but they must not " eat or drink judgment to themselves /'
This exclusive svstem to those who have no other means of performing that which they regard as a duty , or of enjoying what they esteem as a privilege , except by undergoing the process required , from which their feelings or their consciences may
revolt , is a great and serious evil . A man may be so firmly a Dissenter , as to testeem it sinful to join in the communion of the Established Church ) he may "be so orthodox in his general sentiments , as to feel it improper to
seek the fellowship of those who differ with him , as to the person and work of his Master 5 and yet may be little prepared to pass through the ordeal which his fellow-christians require of him , before lie can unite with them
in celebrating the love of their common Lord . When it is remembered how large a portion of many congregations , who regularly attend publicworship mid assist in its support , do not appear among the members of the Church , it will readily be believed
that this case is not of rare occurrence . Men who may have no doubt of their own fitness , even oh the rigid principles of their sect , may shrink from disclosing the inmost movements of their soul to the critical decision of
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an assembly , in which the coarseminded ! and the illiterate often form a portion of their judges . Thus they find themselves excluded , not from office or honour or gain , but from the performance of an act which they believe enjoined on them by Scripture , or which they feel would nurture and cherish the deepest and most sacred of their religious affections . The Church of England is , in our opinion , very far to be preferred in its internal discipline . In its construction , indeed , a principle of inter lerance is recognized—in one of its
forms , eternal punishment , is denounced against unbelievers—but it 44 bears its faculties meekly . ' It is the mildest of all establishments which impose a test . It will not , it is true , bestow its honours , or suffer those of the state to be enjoyed by any who
refuse to yield to its authority , but it freely dispenses the ordinances of God to all who choose to share them . It suffers aay , who do not live in open sin , to come to its communion ; and thus incurs censure , and is abused by the Orthodox Dissenters . Their worst
accusation , indeed , amounts to that which was made in terms against the Saviour , " He receiveth sinners and eateth with them . * ' There are many traits of charitable feeling * scattered even among its forms ; which , though inconsistent with its articles , the
numerous men of true liberality in its communion fondly contemplate . Universal charity breaks through its ceremonials , and almost neutralizes it& dogmas . If it asserts all men are , by nature , tainted with Adam ' s sin , it suffers the guilt to be easily washed away in baptism :
u A little water clears us of this deed ; 11 How easy is it then 1 " It drops all its intolerance in the grave . It deposits the body in the earth , whatever . may have been the character of its late inhabitant , " in
sure and certain hope of a blessed resurrection . ' Tt prays for all as men , not as outcasts or heretics . The harshest opinions contained in its forms , are not principles of action , except in
its evangelical members . 'Ihey do not reach the heart , or poison the genial sentiments of brotherhood and affection , which unite us involuntarily to all who are made of the
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The Nonconformist . I ^ o . VIIL ~ 17 S .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1819, page 173, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1770/page/37/
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