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judge to be the dictates of reason and the discoveries of revelation . And may they ever retain this honourable distinction , this-inquisitive and - independent spirit . But " if it be with surprise that 1 find the obsolete claims of
ecclesiastical authority advocated in a publication like you / s , it is with equal grief that 1 read in the next sentence , " Provision is
even made ( which is -surely incompatible with the respect due to a Christian teacher ) for
prefering complaints against him / ' Is it possible , sir , that your in * telli <* encer could , as he has said .
have the Constitution in his hands , and misinterpret it so wilfully and palpably ? Or are we a set of fools and madmen who pull down with one hand what we build up with the other ? " 'These com . plaints , " says he , " are to be made in writing , and signed by at least three persons ; they are then to be laid before the committee of management 9 who are
to present them to the whole society , &c . " Coald he mean purposely to omit the words c ' who shall take it into mature consideration , and if the complaint be persisted in" ? If any doubt could exist , for what intent the committee are to take these
complaintsinto consideration , a solution might be found in Sect . 6 , ot Art . II . where it is directed that similar complaints concerning the conduct of any member , are to be exhibited to the committee that
they may employ every proper nwans to remove the cause of offence ; and it is not till their endeavours prove ineffectual that the case is to be brought before the society ftt l i > 'ge . By this
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Mr . Eddozces , on the Unitarian Society , Philadelphia . 645
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distorted representation , what was honestly intended , and would effectually operate as a shield and defence to the pastor ' s character , against the shafts . of calumny , or the petulance of ignorance anrf self-coneeit , is made to appear as an invitation to their attacks
Undoubtedly , any such provision would have been tmnecessary , if ( he supposed sanctity and immaculacy of the clerical character were sufficient to awe the tongue
of slander into silence , and to keep impertinence at a distance . But experience proves the contrary ; and it has been found that for want of a precaution of this nature the comfort and
usefulness of many a pious and worthy minister have been destroyed . On the other hand , as to err is human ^ his own conduct may not have been free from blame ; but no such tiling seems to have
entered into the imagination of 3 our intelligencer . The respect due to a Christian teacher , is to cover , like charity , a multitude of sins ; and , in contradiction to every constitutional precedent in this country , we are expected to admit the maxim that certain offi
cial functions carry with them an exemption from the possibility of doins : wrong . After cursorily and partially mentioning the proceedings that are to take place previous ro a final decision upon any complaint against the pastor , your
intelligencer peremptorily avers , that cc this is overdoing democracy itself . " Democracy , sir , on your sic | o ( he Atlami <; » may possibly mean nwb-government i and in this sense it is probably intended to be applied to the proceedings of a society professedly Christian .
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vol . nu , 4 h
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1808, page 645, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2399/page/9/
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