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© £ Dissenters , bad then exiat £ d-in thje # © - sition in whfch they npw stand * iheymw t have been escejtfed on , t&e sarnie fprioctple as the Quakers w ^ re . JJe should , perhaps , be asked \ yh , y they were < np ] b so excepted , and he would . proceed briefly to state . ^ he reason . They had not , at the time of passing the Marriage , Act , a legal existence . The . profession of their tenets
was then in . the highest degree . illegal . Rightly or wrapgto , M > was , pot & > r him there to discuss , they were at that itijpe in a state of proscription . They weipe specially excluded from the benefit of the Toleration Act . Nine years afterwards even this was not thought sufficient , and it was considered wise and expedient to accumulate penalties upon their heads .
Thus , then , they remained up to the time of the passing of the Marriage Act , and it surely was not extraordinary that they had not the benefit of the exception , when they were marked out by law as objects of punishment . But mark the progress of the history ! In the 19 th of the late King , the laws against them had been softened to a certain extent , and ,
in 1813 , they were entirely exempted from the penalties to which they had before been subjected- They ought now , therefore , to have the benefit of exemptipn from the Marriage Act . It was a necessary consequence of the principle then adopted . It never could be right % o have been acted on then , if it was not equally right , wise , and expedient to dp
the same as to the parties then before the House . $ u $ something had been said as to the opinions of these persons , and it had been suggested out of doors , and glanced at there , that they raised scruples and objections which were not entitled to aoy weight . It was astced then , apd had been aflked before ., who a . nd what % } x&y wei ^ e ? They weje persons
who believed iin and tfeceiyqd the Qasne Scriptures , th , e same word pf Qod ; aa their Lordships , w ) io uped apd drew fiheir rujes of faith from the flame 6 QU * ce ; ^ ut ffcey did not cfme tp itjie sftwe couclusjoins that . tfaeir . JLpr ^ aJjjiipg ftr , rjved at . T ^ ey dici x * s > % , \ t was said , mm i * 4 > jeqt to ( foe cgremopy of baptism ,, to the najne of tbe Father , ; tjie Son , ap ^ the Holy
Ghoet , using iji t ^ at iHesipeot wprds whi ^ h ijhey found ifit ^ JNewT ^ taw ^^ . # »* they did object whm tb ® y fQ \» i > d ae m the Marriage Ceremony , fch $$ e mvtifi connected w * tfr anot ^ r , wUkh wap ; flf 4 hg vory esaeope of Ube p « in (» jn 4 iff *^ ence ; tihey did object to Abe tyfmaing lu Oie n » me of , God ^ be Fatito , o ^ thjB Son ^ and God tii& Hp | y Gbi >» t . WJbfiit wjitt * them waa notriflwg o ^ jeotiow , ( but
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one which goes to the very essence of their faith . They say this is the most direct admission of what they disbelieve , the Divinity of Jesus -Christ . Their Lp ^ iships were mot the * e discussing the propriety of their reasonings or conclusions . The only question was , were such opinions held conscientiously and in sincerity . He believed they were , < apd if that were so , how could . it be treated as a trifle that they objected to words
on which the whole question , and one of so much importance , turned ? It had been said , that they were not called upon to repeat th ^ se words , ; but then they were present when they were prououueed , and were supposed to assent to them ; and they could not protest against them , without being guilty of an infraction of the law . This solemn mockery , this unhallowed equivocation , as the Right Reverend Prelate called it ^ ought to be got rid of , for the sake both of the Dissenters and
of the Church . But then came the question , \ vl what way could this hest be done ? More than one BUI- had already been brought in aud thrown out , not so much on objection to principle as to details , thoughevery attempt had been made to meet and obviate such objections . A new Bill was brought up , and that again opposed ; not , indeed , avowedly on the
principle so much as on details ; though the Noble and learned Lord had contrived so to mix up principle and details ,, that it was hardly possible to know whether his opposition was directed to the © , ne or the other . Now he ( the Lord C ^ aneqllor ) did press upon the House to deqidfi til ^ e prmoiple by going into a Committee-. he contended that the Bill was
founded upon % \ ie ( principle of a law «© w in existence ^ t-rhe meant the Marriage tot * Swce the year lftl ; 3 , when , by Act of Parliament , these Dtfssentqrs became , a tolfffatQd bpdy , a , nd were exempted fjpoin the pepaiyttes towjh ) oh , hy law , tbey had be-Iwre been li ^ We , th ^ yimight fee conpidered as forming a new class ip the country . He wm of opinion that their Lordftjiips wque ( bound tp fpllpw up the principle of that Act , iWibich they mkht now do in a
wry necessary and wwpoptant point , py going into a , Coromittee on the Bill then under tMir consideration . Although he htd jEiajd i bat it was not ni » ini ^ enit »« n to go ifijto the details of < ihe BUI , he treated tfee House w ^ uld aAl ow ^ im to my a few urpuds uppn aome , pf the xnafteip wMcH might now be considered , as tliey pad , w ifaat ; , bee © usad as matters ( pf ar ^ me ^ t . pti ithep ^ uoipk'Qf the measure * Theeuhjecte to which he . wiahed tp &Umfc related to ( the publication < xfba » n « , ( ipd ^ bu entry
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622 Jsrtel&geM *> < --Unitirian Marmge BUI
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1827, page 622, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1799/page/70/
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