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Untitled Article
for "which the pretence of orthodoxy ¦ wr as a beggarly apology . In tis pour anabaptists , whose only merit is , not literature and superior devotion , for in them the very naonks excel us , but a love of liberty ; m us , what is the government of conscience , the consciences
toa of upright though poor men , struggling against hunger > nakedness , cold , contempt , atid penury , but a silly tyranny ! Can five pounds a year bribe these poor things into an acknowledgement of human authority o-ver
conscience , and tacit denial of the sufficiency and perfection of scripture f O poor hearts I As wise and competent as their JLoeds in JLonckm , they ought not to be Insulted with a scrap of scbo& ^ tkal divinity . Pray , good Sir , with what face can ffnch inconsistent men ask for the
repeal of the test act ? what do they mean to subvert prelates and civil magistrates , not out of love to mankind , but that they may have an opportunity © £ p ^ aymg Jupiter themselves ? Yes , yes ^ I have given their imposition a rigfet name , and instead of altering it ,
1 will think of something more harsh , smd more fully expressive , of the injustice and cruelty of all such demagogues , as publish their silly oracles m the name tt £ Aknighty God , and under pain of damnation , not merely to him that denies , but even to him that doubts the
truth © f what they please to whistle ! Are they Christians in town ? so are we in the country . Have they the scriptures ? so have we . Have they understandings and consciences ? so have we . Are they then to- add to the scrip tare--, and tell us- what we are to believe on every idle question which they please * to start I Pray God
forgive them , and enlighten their dark rmuds imo the dignity of man , the nature of civil government , the perfections € > f God , the sufficiency of scripture , the kingly office of J esus Christ , Jthe l > ond of union among Christians , and other subjects of the same kind , of which one would suppose they had never heard .
I perceive by the proceedings of the general assembly of 1788 , p . 4 , that we may expect some account of your denomination from yourself and Mr . Kingsford . it is questionable whether | -ever write the history of modern b . neiish baptists ; and if I do I shall not come at them the . se three or tour year * . M y notion of the dignity of history forbids me to publish any tiling lit tic and
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unimportant , and therefore T see very little to publish of the modern baptists in London . The glory , the love of li . berty universal , is departed from Israel , at least from that part of it , which presumes to strut forward , and give itself out for the cauic . The particulars are
intoxicated with a false system of dis - jointed metaphysics * which they call the gospel . The generals , if one may judge hy their books , which they publish as a body , are less tenacious of a system of faith , but equally jealous for an impracticable dhcip&c . What el& *
can he understood by Leicester case , where they tax some of their members with faction £ Qr by the case of Leak , where they busy themselves about suity , I suppose they mean courtship f What does Halifax mean by speaking of expenses necessary to maintain the cause of Christ ? Is there not reason to fear-that
Nottingham hath been too busy in excommunicating ? Is Burnley wise to lay out 300 / . when they can raise only 50 / . ? And what do they mean at Nottingham by , Z ^ eal in the cause of the L * ord J esus t Does the association take cognizance of property , deeds , titles , &c . ? And do the churehes pretend to give advice more
full to the purpose , titan sensible and respectable attorneys ? See Wadsworth . Does not the case at Longford imply the power of the association to judge and choose a pastor , for a people who pretend to independency ? And are you
aware , that your books are bought , bound up , preserved in libraries , and intended to- be used as arguments against you and . your successors , in proof of your exercising dominion , and in apology for the exercise of that dominion which the friends of an established
hierarchy intend to perpetuate ? See , say they , ** Flow futile all'the objections urged by these people against us are , when they are obliged to exercise the dominion to hold their
same up congre * gations . " «? Behold , " say they , " Their faith and discipline are weak and unproductive ; by their own confession neither their families nor their churches
are in a state of superior knowledge , or refined . morality . ' * Believe me » my friend , you are off the bottom of the old baptists , whose history is edifying , because it exhibits genuine freedom and sublime virtue The present plan of all parties in En * gland is obscured by priesthood , and the poison of that pervades every part of t ) ic body , and in proportion ae any bodf
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316 Oiiglnal Letter of the Rev * R . Robinson s *
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), June 2, 1808, page 316, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2393/page/24/
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