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excluded § e £ t ; wHh the favour shewn to Dissenters during the earlier periods of jttye Pfenoyerian dynasty , and the intimacy wfiichsuhsisted between tta more eminent Nonconformist divines and the Low-Church dignitaries $£ those days , contributed to soften , the prejudices of the Presbyterian gent ry ^ and -gradually Jto absprb them into ^ the bosom of the National Ctiurch . Their peculiar discip line ]> eing at length entirely abandoned among the
PresWterians , and the cloctrines of , the EstabUshment at this period being at least as lihexal as those of the Dissenters , and preached with more grace and . eloquence , there seemed little Jeft to excite sectarian vigour and zeal : and the . spirit of Presbyterianism , such as it ever existed in England subsequent to the Revolution , had it not been superseded by a new interest , must inevitably have died out before the close of the ei g hteenth century , from the mere mutft of definite and palpable objects on which to employ itselC The case
was somewhat different with the omer two bodies of Dissenters . They con-, sisted more of the lower classes of society ; their discipline was more popular ; their ministers Jived in closer dependence on their flocks ; they had less of literature and refinement , demanded a more earnest and impassioned Style of preaching , and were animated by a stronger spirit of opposition to the established hierarchy ? Jhesz were sources of life and vigour that did not exist , generally speaking , amongst the Presbyterians . But , on the other hand , the situation of the Presbyterians was hi g hly favourable to the prosecution of deep and earnest inquiries into reli gious truth . Their
strength Jay in the genteel and well-educated portion of the middle class , ennobled here and there by a lord or a baronet . TJheir . ministers were usuall y mqa of education and learning , who diligently betook themselves to biblical S tudies , in prosecuting which they were wholly unrestrained by creeds and articles frqqa following truth into all its consequencies . The result was a gradual change of ppinioji froin Orthodoxyto A ^ ianism , and from A nanism
tp what is ^ Qwxnoi : e peculiarly , called Umtananism ; perhaps nrat in the piinister ^ and then in the most intelligent and inquiring members of his congregation . The ministers , in regard ( o liberality of opinion , were usually in advance ^ ^ f ? ^ e majority of their people , ar ^ d could not look for any sympathy or co-operajtion , from tnem in the promotion of views which they were pbt ypt pupated to Receive , To demand i ^ nion and zeal from suc ^ i a scattered few , wj ^ o fyad rarely opportunities for interchange of t ^ oug ht and who , for tl ^ ye n ^ ost part , were men of retired and studious habits and averse from . pulb-) icfty , f t ufa ' X 9 expect t ^ t they should eX fh ^ bjt all the ardour and activity of a sect , would be ^ ab ^ ujd : and the dilemma , in which they found themselves witthe the
pjaced , tpf being . unable ei ^ er , to preach any longer the orthodox system , or to # arrytl ? e fej ^ lipg of th ^ i r con gregations along h m in 6 pe ; n ^ vo ^ al qf pew vjews , ^ rpve them to occupy a § prt of neutral ground , in ^ hfch they followed the epmpje of the more liberal clergy , and to preaeh ^ imp ^ t eintitely pn rapral topics , enforced by the general sanctions . of Chris-^ anUy . ^ be sermons of pur mp . st cel e brated Rresb ^ nan preachers , fprty or fifty years Jiffo , evjnce the ; Cprrectness of th \ s remark . This stvle of
pre ^ ch ^ ng was fi& suited to the multitude , and hardl y com |) afible with that ^ ert | o ^ e w ^ wth a ^ 4 Wp ^ ural unctipn of manper which ; s found so jnte-TfsttjiuK to their fe ^ ings ; <* nd p fpr tke mojre weal % and ancjeht families , ^ pt . w ^ m : Oie qjdsp ir ^ ft f P ^ e ^ eriani ^ m mi g ^ t , % ve been expected io mpmfr ' t % y jwere ^ eyeiyyearpa ^ smg p ^ to the jS ^^ i ^ mftiit . ^ Pr ^ e ^ i ^ n in ^ st was dmpst e ^ ipct : ; its anibi-^ iptts . ^ ui ^ anin ^ ^ racter v < ^ e Wfyfft . yfafa tJt % | ered to an . open fyS ^ frllAtoKm , ^ d ^ e ^^ ea ^ nt wj ^ t of ^ n ^ scriptural
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XJmtanati Christi anity . \ 79
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1827, page 179, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1794/page/19/
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