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    same blood , and liable to the same sorrows . The Church of Rome , if it requires

    the most entire surrender of the reason * gives , at least , the most glorious return . If it inters the understanding of man , " it buries it in a triumphant grave . " Its severer parts are touched

    and softened by the sense of beauty atid grandeur which , amidst its absurdities , it cherishes : there is not more intolerance in an assembly of cardinals , than may sometimes be found

    in an evangelical tea party , and there is somewhat more { o strike the imagination and captivate the senses . If the divine representations of the Virgin and her holy child , that mixture of maternal love and of devout awe

    in the sweet countenance of Mary , and of childlike innocence with unearthly wisdom iii that of Jesus , do not justify the homage paid to the

    sacred mother , they have , at least , given us something which will make the world better and happier , when the spell of superstition is broken . To the Catholics are we indebted for

    these—for a thousand glorious representations of divine benignity and love —for pure and holy passion , tender sentiment and lovely shapes , coloured with the dews of heaven , and touched b } ' the pencil of an angel . The intolerance of Orthodox

    Dissenters is more un pi easing than that of the Churches of Home or England , because it is not like the former , softened and redeemed by the magic influences of beauty ; nor , like the

    latter , grown almost obsolete , and already half abolished iii the kindly dispositions of its members . It is an active , vigorous , and soul-pervading principle . It does not , indeed , prevent those whom it afflicts from

    exercising benevolence towards their fellows j it hinders them not from assisting the needs of those whom they term the outcasts of heaven , or from fervently attempting to convert them ; but it destroys all equal charities , all unison of soul , ail entire participation in sorrow or in joy . It cuts off those who cherish it from the

    great family . The mighty deeds of times of old , are to them " lighter than vanity . ' * The thoughts of early youth can scarcely stir or delight them . Between them and their fellows , in their diseased vision , there is already

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    a gulph fixed ; the seal of Divine approbation or of vengeance is already on the forehead . They have top much

    of nature remaining to burn or destroy those who partake not in their feelings ; but { hey live in . expectation of the day when thc ? y shall see itxkme by Jehovah . What hearty confidence ,

    what unbosoming of the soul * can that man experience , who regards himself as already an heir of heaven , and his friend or relative , in the road to eternal woe ? , O no ! There is no true toleration , short of that which looks at the heart , not at the opinions —which sees even the errors of

    humanity , when palpable , with a tender eye—which traces out kindred virtue amidst the imperfections of the worst , which disarms " the soul of goodness in things evil ;" . and looks beyond the

    grave , in fond , though humble hope , of meeting all whom it has loved here in the presence of their elder brother , whom to " see as he is , " will be to resemble . T

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    174 History and Present State of the Law relating to Marriage .

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    Sir , AS the propriety of making an appeal to the legislature upon the subject of the imposition of Trinitarian forms in the marriage service ,

    has lately been a topic of frequent discussion amongst those who are principally aggrieved by tlie present state of the law , I have thought it might not be uninteresting to your readers , or inappropriate to the general design of your valuable miscellany , to

    register in its pages the few cases to be met with in our books of reports , which tend , in any degree , to explain a fact , at first sight wholly unaccountable , namely , the tame relinquishment by the bulk of Protestant Dissenters , of a privilege , which the more spirited and consistent conduct of the

    society of Friends secured to themselves , at the time of passing the act of the 26 th George II ., usually called the Marriage Act . 1 shall preface the cases to which I refer , by an extract from Blackstone ' s

    Commentaries , and a few remarks illustrative of the legal notions previously entertained in this country , ( in common with many other Christian states , ) of the essential nature of the < matrimonial contract . / Mr . Justice Blackstone , in the 15 th

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1819, page 174, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1770/page/38/