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continued clerk , " were annually printed , yet he challenged any one to shew that they were not words of mere form . On this consideration he had been appointed to the office , and if fidelity had hitherto been regarded as the tenure by which the situation was to be held ; aud if the adoption of a different principle were now contemplated , then , Mr . Porter contended ,
the Synod were bound , as men of honour and fairness , to give him timely warning of the intended innovation . Even tho . se who had brought forward the motion , had not the candour or manliness to apprize him of the meditated attack ; aud he called on persons present to say whether the Synod had uot been secretly searched for support—but he had
solicited no man ' s vote ; he relied on the honour of the Synod of Ulster . Should he be removed from the office , the loss would fall on him and his family ; but the disgrace would remain with the body . He had done nothing of which he should be ashamed ; his religious opinions were as well known to his brethren the day they appointed him to office , as they were
at the present moment . He had practised no deception , he had betrayed , no trust , nor would he bend his body to one unmanly stoop , nor his spirit to one unworthy concession . Should the Synod ' s confidence be now withdrawn from him , he should ever regret the privation ; for their confidence was a possession which
he prized most highly ; but he had no retractation to make ; no time-serving apology to offer . For eleven years he had officiated as their clerk ; with what ability , it was not for him to determine ; but he would say , that with greater fidelity those duties never had been , and never would be "dischared .
Mr . Brown , of Aghadowey , urged , that Mr . Porter ' s feelings were warm , that he had made an incorrect report of the proceedings of the Synod , that he had a body of men of certain known religious principles always about him reporting the proceedings . He should , therefore , be removed from the clerkship .
Mr . Elder , Sou ., said , that he had voted for Mr . Porter to be appointed clerk ; but he did not then know he was an Arian . From the time he saw the minutes of the Education Commission he had changed his opinion . He said he could not look on an Arian as a brother ; because the Arian denied that the Lord
Jesus was God over all . Mr . Elder then quoted a long list of texts of Scripture in support of his opinions ; aud went on to lament the present state of the Synod ; imploring it to consider in what light it must be looked on by government . They
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were , he observed , abody of non-subscribers ; and whilst subscription had waned , A nanism had been gaining ground . Dr . Bruce had said it was gaining ground in the Synod : Mr . Porter had avowed the same ; and , therefore , he ( Mr . E . ) must join in voting him out of the clerkship .
He had been forty seven years a member ; he might never again be heard in the assembly ; and he would , therefore , now raise up his warning voice , and implore them to purge Arianlsm out of the Synod ; for as the cause of Arianism increased , the cause of the Lord Jesus declined . He lamented to hear two
members of that body declare themselves Arians ; and deplored the state of their congregations . If the Synod allowed them longer to remain in it , they would infect the whole body ; and they could never expect to enjoy the glorious blessings of eternal joy through the Everlasting Head of their Church . For , should they remain as they were , how dreadful must be theiv
situation , at the great day of judgment , before the throne of the Most High , and in the congregation of saints and angels ! Mr . R . Dill would have supported a motion to separate the Arians from them , as a body , but would not sanction a measure which weut to punish their clerk , on account of the peculiar features presented by that body . He would vote for the amendment .
Mr . Morell supported the amendment on the same grounds . Mr . Magill would hereafter move for the expulsion of the two avowed Arians ; meanwhile the Synod must choose a clerk . Mr . Blrckley ( of Monaghan ) had
intended to give a silent vote ; but he felt compelled publicly to state that he most sincerely wished for the expulsion of Arians from the body ; yet , he could not bring himself to vote against Mr . Porter being continued clerk , because he had given his evidence conscientiously on his oath . He wished Ariauism driven from
the Synod , for it had withered up the best interests of the Christian Church . Mr . Carlisle ( of Dublin ) expressed his firm belief in the Trinitarian doctrines ; condemned the causes which were the foundation for Mr . Porter ' s giving his evidence ; opposed
subscription as having never purified any church ; would have every man tried by the Bible alone ; expressed his belief that Arianism was on the decline ; inquired what opinion the world would form of the Synod if it dismissed Mr . Porter from being clerk , and yet kept him a member of it » body ; spoke of the injury which would be done to Mr . Porter in his congregation by this measure ; and felt
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706 Intelligence .- * - St / md of Ulster .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1827, page 706, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1800/page/74/
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