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an « venk Its subsequent overthrow , m the reign of Cbarles I . was owing- to tbe power of tbe sword ; aftd in the course of a few year 3 parties became
so equally balanced , that , at the Restoration , it fell to the monarch to decide their pretensions , by throwing his own weight Into the favoured scale .
The reign of Charles II . was eminently the triumph of Episcopacy : For , notwithstanding there was a considerable party in opposition to it , yet , it * then bccfctne more entirely identified with our political institutions : and the powerftil circumstanced
of interest , education and habit , gra ~ dually rendered it the predominant religion . The power thus acquired * enabled the party to make its own terms at the Revolution , and to conn * teract the liberal principles of the new king , whose influence extended no
further than to curb the passions of the mere violent , and to restrain their talent for doing mischief . From this time , the interest of the sovereign heeame closely identified with that of the church- ^ stabtts he d , and has contiivued so to the present day .
It would throw some light upon the subject of this inquiry , if we were to search ifito the reasons that may be supposed to have operated upon our former sovereigns in retaining the present hierarchy * But the space ak * lotted to me will not allow of a de- «
tailed narratives At the time of the Reformation , the world was governed by arbitrary monafchs , who had emancipated themselves from the trammels « rf * he feudal system , and , by a train of circumstances , were enabled te consolidate , in their own persons , the
power that had been before divided between the aristocracy and the clergy * England then possessed the same con * atitutional forms as at present ; but ttoe legislative branches were without vigour , and betrayed a passive subttiission to the nod of the monarch .
As the Reformers were divided in their notions upon church-government * if * they had been left to themselves , a&cb party would have followed its ineUnaticns in the selection of a d * s * eipline , and the different forms of-religion , * common with -other institu * ttens , would have reaped the benefit of itoprorefnefrt Afforded by Hiereasecf
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kttfmtedge And experience . But so enBg&tened a procedure squared ag Kttte with the policy of the sovereign a * with the temper of the age * Tiifc
arm of improvement vnas to be paralyzed by a dull monotonous uniformity , and the rights of thousands sacrificed to a state ^ policy ve iled under the name of religion .
As Elizabeth and her successors governed with an absolute sway , the retention of ttte supremacy was with them a matter of first-rate importance , not only as it increased their power and patronage , but as it furntshed
thena with a numerous body of auxiliaries , whose interests werfe closely conaeeted wit& their own . Another reason that may be supposed to have influenced them tvas , the consonant of this form T > f ecclesiastical govern- * ment with that of tke state . Ths
hlefarchy co « ta 4 ued within its bosom a vast variety of official personages of different degrees , including a wealthy aristocracy , whose revenues enabled them to vie u'ith the nofcl ^ s , With
whom they held eqn&l rank ; and , beiBg expectants of pnefenrreftte , they swelled the t «> op of- courtiers , mid gave 6 clat to the splendour of royalty ; A third con » iderat 4 oii was the lax
discipline ef Kptecopa * ChtircheA ^ which put fewer restmints upon the induU gencies of the eotirt than were con * sistent with the snore rigid forma of Presbyterianisic Far be it from me to insinuate that Episcopalians ar ^ necessarily less strict in their morals than other peep 4 e . Human nature is
pretty much the same under every profession of religion ; and when temptations are ihrotfm ia the way , unless checks are provided ^ the bad paaskms will find a vent * J speak merely of the effect of the systetti under the comprehensive denoi » ina * tian of « i nationii church *
The long * reign of Elisabeth h&d * powerful tendency to consolidate th « interests of Chwreh and Smte . Tlih union wae farther 8 lfreBgthe < ied ki th « reign of h « r p ^ da&tie buccj ^ b ^ ot Jamea I ., whose absurd notions - < rf
government found mimerotfs abettors amongst an order of men , to whose religion h 6 became an easy convert . TUe vexa ^ tiot ^ which Vie suffered th <* n > to iiffict upon the Puritans , drove them rftil * fakh&r frixn t& * ishwroh , taxi , vom +
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342 Th * Neru ? onfon ) ni * t * Nxk XXVH .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1823, page 342, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1785/page/30/
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