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providing the . nation with religious jusfmetfoa and the convenience of jmbiie Worship ; it is not pretended that they , are anf part of Christianity , stud therefore they caanot be fairly represented as aay encroachment of the civil power upon the kingdom of
Christ * Wfeeo , however , not merely a form of worship and an order of teachers , but Christianity itself , as a system of true religion , is identified with the law of the land , and protected from the assaults of its adversaries by tecoporal penalties , I know not how
3 t woi * ld be possible to -represent it more completely as a kingdom of this ivorid . Every Christian , ^ by virtue ^ f his disripleship , possesses a right , aad a right which he is in duty bound to exercise , tOf proclaim that such ji representation amounts to ra libel < m the
character of Christianity . We ask foe the warrant frojaa the lips of the Author of Christianity , for this alliance ( between his . doctrine and systems of human jurisprudence . If the maxim be true in law , it has become so by a gro ^ s usurpation of that law , and
ought therefore to be abandoned . Its t&lje to authority was vicious from the beginning , and its long standing is therefore no just reason for its being contained . It has , in short , precisely that mark , which a great authority in these cases , has laid down as a
sufficient reason for its being no longer followed , —r-it is " clearly contrary to the Diriae law . " But , . quitting this positive declaration o £ the Author of Christianity , let any oaae -compare the nature of this reUgioiL with the poivfer and objects of
human laws ; and they wUl appear too essentially dissimilar ever £ a ainalgamate- The on « can never be justly regarded * S ; frart of ithe otherr until the broadeat distinctioiis in nature can be annulled at the will of advocates and ^ &d $ es . Ch ristianity is a system pf faith , lasting for tlie evidence of its
claims chiefly upon . the authenticity and genuineness , of certain , historical narratives . Its entire authority depead& upon its ; truth , aad ite authority with evary individual * iper * hi » belief of JA 3 j , ^ nith- Can . the law determine that the Christian lustoriea * ahall be
• The following uoble sentiments of * me of the few Archbishops that ever mkd $ sacrifice for cousdeiJce' §»!«? > de-
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worthy of oredit , and diat ^ ey shall appear so t © « Hiiife Maje&ty ^ subj ects , under pain of imprisonment ^ Or / cmi the law justly render hr < jrift 3 iAa ] , to deny the truth of that which is true or false , independently of any decisions which fiie law can make ? Histories
and doctrines appear , from their very nature tor be placed bey ^ o ^ d the sphere of judicial interference . What should ive tWhk of bein ^ f told ttiatM ; he-Mistoiy of Rooa € , - or the * latest 5 * heory of Combustion , had i > een made part of the law of England i" Surely , then , this maxim oan be nothiftgmore than
oflte of tko&e many emusing jwfions , ^ witii' which the law delights to charm aw ^ r the tediousness of its proceed-Ing 3 . -And howrevergsefiil ^ it naay be found , to enable fij | fpye * g ~ to effect what they would otherwise have no warrant for , when examined by the tests of reason and common sense ,
it appears altogether worthy to be classed with the well-known pleasantry of vi et armis . A system of religion which , like the Pagaa , or even the Jewish , should partly consist of certain ceremonial observances , essentially belonging to
it , might , with some little shostf of propriety , be ^ incorporat ed with the laws of acouaa&rjrj for , the interference 4 > f . $ he magistrate in such a case would not be wholly absurd and inefficient , though it should be erer so unjust . The religion consisting in external forms and
actions , would bear some analogy to the proper objeets of ciyil jurisprudence- But human la ^ vs ought , surely , to be boujitted in their contem p lated operation , ^ by the natural limits of human power : aj ^ d what pan hurmau power ^ 9 Fect for a religion ^ which has nothiog- ia it of a fpcisitive and
arbiserve thci attetitioii of oiir modern Church-Hdert >^ wfeo < Wish to ' sttrroiiti ^ 'Chrlstiaiiify titftikk peoaf sanctions : "^ Phe Irlie and genuine Cfaristiaii jreJigk ) B is a » plain , aud Wie ^ t , tiod , fh * $ uutere 6 WJ thJog , full oi sw <^ t cimcU > ur Jw 4 ? Mol& flpipjici ^ y * hath ao tricks hi it , xjoileftigii ^ fipqu pny roan , ' ood
biUy ^ ppIjr 1 « make JUinv m&b , w 4 g , a ^ d 90 , . happy fcj r eicer j ^ 4 U 9 uits not at i $ l w | tl ^ yfoq np ^ l ^ fth ^^ p i | ff ! , * n& inge-Hudtotfess at ' itL to pretend or desjre to be tkk ^ n ^^ iimtUrio ' tykrtfde itself tijjQijt r atff «^ * ttfiorif examitotipn /'A ^ hbfeliop&ancfWt's Address to JanK ^ IMkGOfWrk . ¦ ; : " . ; : /
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3 S& The , Nonconformist . Jto ^ X 3 IVI *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1823, page 224, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1783/page/32/
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