On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
livefed an admirable discourse ' On the Principles of Nonconformity / from Acts , ch . xviii . ver . 14 , 15 . It was a sermon which , if published , would be extremely useful at the present day ; for it abounds in ' soft words and hard arguments * The preacher clearly
. si ! ccjgeileiLari _ . s ji ^^ have been much better if governors in general had imitated the conduct of Gallic , and , like him , felt their ineompetency to decide for others in matters of religion . Mr . Yates evinced the propriety of the non-interference of the magistrate in spiritual affairs , from
the consideration , 1 st , That religion and government aimed at different objects , and by different means : — 2 nd , That kings and rulers , from their education , prejudices , arid want of leisure , Sec ., were , of all others , least qualified to take the office of religious judges upon them . ^ 3 rd , The injurious effects of the interference of the civil
magistrate were further rendered apparent -Jby- a-referenee to the-eviis ne " cessarily entailed upon those who could not conscientiously bow down to the symbol of orthodoxy which he might set up . To the objection , that some doctrines might be of immoral tendency , and that , therefore , the good of society required that they should be put down , it was answered , —Wait till the evil arrives , and then punish .
The tendency can be certainly known only by the effect . When that happens , let : the rriagistrateapplytjae remedy . Then again , persecution , unless it proceed to extermination , is but adding fuel to fire . 4 th , and last , though not least , the spirit of the Christian religion , summed up in the declaration of , Jesus , ' My kingdom is not of this world , ' proves that God enfrMt ^^ riHe ^ au 8 ^ f ^ iyIne ~ IrufH
to thef advocacy and protection of the rulers of ' . tjbis world , whose weapons are not spirftua ] , but carnal . The introductory part of the service , and the reading of the Scriptures , were ta ( ken by the Rev . J 3 . Mardon , M . A ., and , the Rev . W . Stevens of Maidstone offered up the general prayer .
Untitled Article
The Report , which was read by the secretary , Mr . John Green , was rendered peculiarly interesting , as it contained a narrative of the rise of a new Unitarian congregation at Ramsgate . At two o ' clock one hundred and thirty-one individuals of both sexes sat ^ down-to-dinner ~ at-the-Court-halland after V e cloth had been
withdrawn the party was increased by thirty or forty more . The room , whien is a very large one , was well filled , and presented an extremely interest ing sight . It was an assembly of Christians met for mutual improvement , for the interchange of good wishes and fellow-feeling .
At our annual meetings in Kent and Sussex we have happily paid more regard to the liberty of the Gospel than to the tyrannizing dictates and unsocial spirit of worldly and aristocratic etiquette . Hence , in our assemblies for social enjoyment and edification are to be found the rich and the poor ; young ^ men and maidens , old men and children .
The pleasure of the day was greatly enhanced by the able manner in which the chairman , Mr . John Green , introduced the many appropriate sentiments which were brought forward . On this occasion it was , of course , impossible for the speakers to avoid adverting to the peculiar circumstances of the country , and the bright hope which the passing of the Reform Bill gives to every good cause , ' Religion without taxation' was looked to as one
of the anticipated blessings . That accomplished , it was maintained that the truth would have fair play , arid prevail . c A free press '—truly free by being relieved from taxation—was another of the goqtHhmg ^ s ^ gi ^ E ^ X iropeUfof . The bloody penal code of England—that disgrace of an
enlightened peopje ^ nwas also spoken of ; and those who wefe electors were exhorted , if they would remove from , themselves the stain of blood-guiltiness , to return no one to Parliament who would not engage to use his utmost efforts to remove this , national iniquity .
Untitled Article
UNITARIAN CHRONICLE . 135
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 1, 1832, page 133, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1817/page/5/
-