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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.
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purpose of building a lioti ^ e for the worship of ( jrod . Such , however , is the fact . The Remonstrant Coiigregaiion has been obliged since it was first formed into a worshipping society , to assemble on the Lord ' s Day in the
—loft ~ of ; a-gj ? ain ~ stoKe , ^ which-has-beenfitted up as a temporary meetinghouse . The members , feeling themselves sufficiently numerous and united to commence the building of a more permanent and commodious place of worship , sent forward a deputation , consisting of the Rev . Mr .
Osborne and . another gentleman , requesting Mr . Cromie to allow them to procure stone for the erectionbut to their no small surprise ^ arid to . his great disgrace—^ thejr rnet with an absolute refusal . 'The only reason assigned by Mr , Cromie was , that " he fcbuld not conscientiously allow stone to Arians . " He intimated that
as he had already made up his mirid dinW e ^ ui )^ further urging iheir request . With this reply the deputation of course were obliged to be satisfied . tlere , then , is a member of the Protestant Church , which professes to be founded bh the right of private judgment , refusing , not his support , for that was riot aslced—not his
cbuiitenarieeyfdr that was ndt expected ^—but simply a common andcustdmary accommodatipri topersbnsWhO sought that accommodation , merely that they might be enabled to assemble in a
decent ancl suitable buildiiig , to worshi p the God who is a spirit , and who must'be worsKipped in spirit and in truth—in the only mode of which their consciences approve . The stone ki the -quarry is of-nouse to Mr . Cromie ; . the removal of it does not
leav& him by one doit a . poorer man : pefrriiission to take ii ibf purposes connected with the improvement of the estate , or the convenience of the tenantry , * has hitherto been freely bestowed by Mr . Cromie , as we are sure it would l ? e by every oilier landlord in the island j but the creed of
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the present ap |> licajnt | does itoi square precisely with 3 \ ir « Crdniie ^ s ; aiid therefore he refuses . Here % am is a mernber of the Protestant Cnurch established by law , which deriyes so much of its support from tithes 9 the produce of -the—industr-y ^ -of—Roman—Catholics ^ Presbyterians , and Dissenters of varidus denominations : here is he
withholding not a pecuniary contribution , but an act of ordinary courtesy j which would have cost him nothing , when that act would have proved a convenience and accomrnodation to Christians of another eommnnion . Truly the members of the Church of
England will feel little obliged to Mr . Cromie for the plea of conscience , which ; he , lias , inthis ^ sjfcanc % , set , up . in his defence . If the conscience of a member of the Churcn of Eiigland will not allow him to permit a body of Dissenters to remove a few
valueless stones , in order tp build a meetirig = house 7 "f ^ fli ^ s ^ iSS ^ tersriiay begin ~ to ask themselves w ^ hether their conscience ( for they have con- " sciences too ) ought to allow them to contribute of their skill ,- capital , and industry , in the form of tithes , to the
support of the Church of England ; a church from which they are jSissenters only because they believe her doctrine , discipline anoV woi ^ hip , to be at variance with , the word of God . Now if the Presbyiierians of the North : werC ; td 7 ask : ' . ItKemselves ; tKis
o ; uestipn , and by mistake or otherwise happen to iinswer it in the negative , the results mjglit be particularly inconvenient to the Church of England , especially at the , present monient . The son of feleus inquires in the Iliad- ^ wither - the AtricUer alone are privileged to love their wives . Perhaps Dissenters p ighi , by such exfeimijpjei ? , Tbe prompted to
inquire whether Episcopalians alone are to be allowed to keep a conscience I And what is the reason assjgnect by this ^ conscientious igqxifiernqn fq % hi 3 denial of a petty civility to the
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viirfA'ki&it dHtto ^ i ^ tir , ! 2 § i
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 1, 1832, page 231, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1823/page/23/
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