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Untitled Article
to deny his religSoua belief , he then would have admitted him to swear ! And he furthermore informs the public , that if he did not fear a punishment in a future state he should entirely disregard the institutions of society , and especially the distribution of justice between man and man " A precedent had been set in this jWacise case which Judge HaUowell would have shewn wisdom in taking as his guide . I gather the particulars from " Ah Extract from a Letter , dated Elkton , 4 th April , 1822 , " in the Philadelphia Universalist Magazine , Vol . I . pp » 285 , &e . At the County Court of Cecil County , held at Elkton , a suit was brought before the Hon .
Richard T . Earle , Chief Judge , and the Hon . Lemuel Purnell and Thomas Worrell , Associates . The case having been stated to the Jury , and the Chief Judge having called upon the counsel for the defence to produce their evidence , a witness was brought forward , William Miller , who had been a Methodist preacher , but had become an Universalist . " Just as he was going to be sworn and give in his evidence , one of the counsel for the plaintiff ( Gale ) rose and objected to Mr . Miller ' s giving evidence in court at all , as he was instructed by his client [ John Miller , but no
relation to the witness , himself also a Methodist preacher ] to say , that Mr . Miller did not believe in a state of future rewards and punishments . * An Infidel ! ' exclaimed Carmical , the other counsel for the plaintiff . Upon which the progress of the cause was arrested ; a considerable interest was excited in all the spectators ; a consultation took place between the three judges , legal authorities were appealed to and read , and a witness named John A . Simpers was produced by the plaintiff ' s counsel to throw out of
court Mr . Miller ' s testimony , which was important , by invalidating his qualifications to testify upon the grounds of his religious belief . All that this Simpers could swear was , that Mr . Miller had publicly declared his belief that our Saviour died for all mankind ; that all mankind would be saved , and that he did not believe in a state of future rewards and punishments . The court having asked the witness if Mr . M . ever to his knowledge had denied his belief in the existence of God , and he replied in the negative i
Mr . M . then obtained permission of the court to interrogate the witness . Mr . M . asked him if he , ( Mr . M ., ) so far from disbelieving the Scriptures , had not always appealed to them as the bulwark of his faith ? The witness * knowledge was such , that he was constrained to reply in the affirmative . So that Mr . M . ' s princi p les brightening so upon investigation , because bottomed upon the truth , the Chief Jud g e immediately ordered the clerk of the court to proceed to swear him without further hesitation . Thus was an
attempt overthrown , which , had it succeeded , might have gone to establish a precedent whereby Universalists would have been , at least in this county , and perhaps this state , in a measure disfranchised . " Every sensible man must rejoice in the defeat of this attempt to exclude a man from the relations of civil life on account of his religious belief ; but the end here aimed at is the natural consequence of all inquiry into the faith of individuals before judicial tribunals . The inquiries would begin with
unbelievers , but they would go on to interrogate and disqualify misbelievers , that is , all who did not believe , or rather repeat after , some arbitrary standard that might chance to be acknowled ed by the court . Bigotry is always bad , but it is worst of all on the judicial bench : the Inquisition as carried on by churchmen is odious , but it is supremely detestable when " the holy office ' is administered by civil judge s . Wishing and hoping that our own courts may resist the evil in its beginning , and tnat all persons summoned as jurors or witnesses may beware of legal snares for conscience , I am , Sir , yours , &c , ROBERT ASPLANR
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Oaths of Heretics and Unbelievers . 263
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1827, page 263, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1795/page/31/
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