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    464 Ita&ligence ~ Fr 4 etK \ hhihg Christian ? Petltioh .

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    in Rome , being a superstructure of Ignorance and Mystery , of Heathenism and Popery , maintained b y worldly riches and power , and guarded by the sword of persecution , is , by your petitioners , regarded as part and parcel of that city shadowed forth in prophecy , that great citv which hath made merchandise of

    men ' s souls , by whose " sorceries all nations were deceived , " in which was " found the blood of the prophets and the saints , " but which God , by his judgments , hath threatened to destroy . That in this spiritual Babylon your petitioners can , as the true worshipers of God , have no lot nor inheritance . Yea , rather than partake of its abominations , they are prepared to suffer on the altar of its idolatry , mingling their lives with " the souls of them that were slain for the

    word of God , aud for the testimony which they held , " Viewing the Church of England as part of such a system of political religion aud corrupt spiritual power , regarding the form of marriage , as contained in the Book of Common Prayer , as one of the rites of such a church , how can your petitioners conform thereunto ? "How

    ( in the language of Scripture ) " can they do this thing aud sin against God ?" And if , haply , on the grounds of false doctrines and corrupt practices , no objection existed against the Established Church , yet will it be evident to your Honourable House that , denying as they do the authority of any established

    religion > rejecting the claims of any priesthood , refusing asseut to all public social worship , your petitioners stand too widely separated from the Established Church , and , indeed , from all other religious bodies , ' to join in any religious act with any party , other than their own , the true church of God .

    Your petitioners , in addition to these their broad and general grounds of objection against the religion established by law , of which the marriage ceremony forms a part , further and especially object against that particular ceremony : — That it makes a religious rite where God has made none ; marriage being a natural and civil right , which is nowhere appointed in the Scriptures to be entered upon by means of a religious

    solemnization . That it is a Popish rite , first rendered compulsory in the church by a corrupt pontiff ,, as a means of increasing the revenue of the clergy ; and that , though nominally not regarded by the Established Church as a sacrament , or mt / stery , it is in substance , and even in

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    terms , made such in the present Cutirelf liturgy . That , by reason of Its origin from the Popish Mass Book , together with the obsoleteness of certain of its terms , its forms are superstitious , its meaning has , in some instances , become obscure , its assertions false , and its allusions indelicate , offensive , and revolting . :

    That the worship connected with this ceremony is idolatrous , the language of prayer being therein addressed to " Christ , " who , as the Christ , that is , the Anointed or Messiah , is in Scripture expressly called " the Man Jesu * , " " the Son of Man , ' * and who hath himself proclaimed , " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God , and him only shalt thou serve . "

    That it is open and avowed Polytheism , a plurality of gods being expressly worshiped aud separately invoked therein , as " God the Father , " " God the Son , " and " God the Holy Ghost , " such Polytheism being contrary both to the laws of God aud of our country ; to the laws of God by the

    declaration of the apostle , that "to us there is but one God , even the Father , of whom are all things ;** to the laws of our country by the 9 th and 10 th of William III . cap . 32 , as amended by the 53 d George III . cap . 160 , which alteration of the law still leaves exposed to civil disabilities and imprisonment all persons who shall " maintain that there are more Gods than one . "

    That your Petitioners , with these views of the Church marriage ceremony , and of the Established Religion , of which it is a part , have ever held it impossible for their members to submit and to subscribe thereunto on occasion of their marriages , without publicly , and in the face of the Established Church , protesting against the same .

    That the delivery of such protests by your petitioners , together with their refusal to kneel at " the altar , " and repeat certain parts of the marriage service deemed by them to be idolatrous , have exposed your petitioners to great and serious pain and inconvenience . That the marriages of members of their body have been , in consequence , sometimes

    refused—sometimes delayed—sometimes broken off , when partly celebrated , and , on one occasion , adjourned till a future day . That the members of their body have , in some instances , been kept in the Church several hours waiting the completion of the marriage ; that in others they have been threatened to be expelled therefrom by civil force , or be handed over to the terrors of the eccle-

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1827, page 464, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1797/page/72/