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meeting-house ; io hinder his entering the pulpit , for which another minister was provided- This , of itself revolting scene , was productive of great uproar there , and on this and several successive Sabbaths the town was in disgraceful confusion . Many of the lower order taking advantage of the
contest , proceeded to outrage , by grossly insulting some of the principal people , and breaking several windows . During the contention , on one of the Lord's days , after the constables were withdrawn , a personal conflict ensued between Mr . H ., with the assistance of two of his warmest
friends , and several of his opponents , who had stationed themselves at the stairs of the pulpit to prevent his ascending to it : in consequence of this the former were indicted for an assault , to be tried at the quarter sessions at Worcester , and were admitted
to bail ; but the trial never came on , it having been thought advisable to desist from a further prosecution . The issue of these violent proceedings was , that the minister was . under the
necessity of quitting the meeting-house , when he hired the assembly-room at an inn , and for some months preached to his attendants , stift claiming the house for which he had contended , as
having a right to officiate there , he being the ordained and proper mi * irister of that place . However this shocking disturbance might , be viewed as dishonourable to the cause of Dissent , it is impossible that it should have afforded a pleasurable feeling to
any , except the bigoted subjects of a church in which the exercise of just liberty in the choice of a teacher is precluded by purchase or patronage . By all others it must have been painfully witnessed , especially in a town accustomed from the days of the eminent Richard Baxter to a decent
observance of the Sabbath . At length , in order to terminate this lamentable affair , and either to give up the house , which their fathers erected for the worship of God , or to silence the minister ' s claim to it for Jiis life , a
proposition was made on the part of the majority of subscribers to nominate , an arbitration , arid . thus have * ecourae to the wisest mode of settling differences . This being acceded to , both parties entered into a legal engagement , under a penalty , of "five
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hundred pounds , to abide by the deci * sioih Accoidiugly two arbitrators , a minister and a lay map for : each patty , and an umpire , were appointed , who assembled at Kidderminster about Michaelmas 1818 , and having beard all the circumstances of the unhappy contention related by both sides , came
to this decision : that the expenses incurred by either party in law proceedings should be added together and jointly defrayed ; that Mr . H . might , if he thought proper * return to the Old Meeting-house , and preach there for the space of six months , and that at the expiration of the allotted term he should cease to officiate within
the limits of the parish . The time allowed him having elapsed , he has resigned his claim and left the meeting ; and the congregation is now at liberty to elect another minister . The people who have adhered to Mr . H . being indisposed to continue tbeir
attendance at that place , now he is excluded , are endeavouring to procure a new erection ; but whether they will succeed is at present uncertain . 1 conclude with expressing my of
sincere hope , that the cause Nonconformity may never again be dishonoured , in any of its branches , by such contrariety to the Christian spirit and practice . R . F .
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iiy&v Holleys popular Preaching and liberal Sentiments . SS 5
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Sir , York * May 4 , 1819 . MR . FLOWER ' s letter on the spread of Unitarianism in Kentucky , in your last Number , [ p . 242 , ] having probably excited some interest in many of your readers , I . pend you the following extract from a letter I received from a valuable friend in
Massachusetts , with whom I have the privilege of occasionally corresponding , written in December last . " Of occurrences among us , that which has most excited public notice , is the removal of Mr . Holley , the most eloquent pulpit orator our country ha $ known , from his society in
Boston to the Presidency of Transylvania College in Kentucky . Mr * Holley had distinguished himself by jhi » bold and animated discussion of theological opinions ; and though he had » ur * priced some by the freedom of his sentiments , yet bis clear and- forcible elucidation of Christian doctrines had made a great ixppres » oq . On his
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1819, page 355, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1773/page/11/
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