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Untitled Article
not to reflect . There are few things which , in strictness of expression , can be sty ltd our
properly . But , doubtless , it is neither necessary nor becoming to surrender our religious opinions and profession to the pleasure of others , or to commit our consciences to any keeping except our own . If a human being has any privileges and duties , this is amoms ; the
first . Recent events too have shewn that the times in uhich we live , are not such as may relieve us from any peculiar anxiety to know whether cur dissent be rational
or not- Even in this age and country , tolerant as they are , when contrasted with others , the Protestant principle is not universally understood , respected , valued and maintained .
The effect of a long course of case and prosperity , is to make nonconformists regardless of their principles . When our forefathers
suffered bonds and cruel mockings , and some of them the loss of life , for their nonconformity , their cases excited sympathy and roused attention , liverv man who was not
in communion with the state religion , found himself constrained to ask , " Why am I a dissenter ?" Toleration has removed our fears , but has multiplied our temptations . "When the sobriety and industry of some of our predecessors , had , under the blessing of heaven , produced wealth , new tastes and dosires were the consequence . There was now a less discriminating and cautious intercourse with the world . A resemblance to the
world was caught and even aimed at : and the result , in pretty many instances , was either dishonourable conformity , or a lan-
Untitled Article
guid , and therefore an almost equally dishonourable noncon . formity .
la times of comparative tolerance , it particularly becomes us to review the grounds of Protes . tant dissent . The armour which hung in the halls of our British ancestors was not permitted to
rust there * such negligence would have been fatal . In the season of peace , we must , by proper ex . ercises , train ourselves for the day when combat and defence will be
essential . Thus , the Lacedserno . mans , accustomed their children to the habit of using weapons , which they were afterwards to wield in actual conflict : and thus ,
to make an allusion , which may be considered as still better suited to the subject , the Jews were directed to educate their offspring , at every period and in all places , in the knowledge and worship of
the true God , as the surest preservativc against idolatry . As we are personally interested in examining and re-examining our principles , so we are concerned in the inquiry , under the character
of members of civil society . It is matter of notoriety that , besides being debarred from the Eng lish universities ^ dissenters cannot nil certain posts of honour , trust , power and profit , unless they have
performed an act , which to ever ) well-instructed and consistent nonconformist will appear in the same light with that of some apostate Christians , casting a few grains of incense on a heathen altar . Have we then an
equivalent for foregoing these advantages ? Are our principles worth tie sacrifice ? Are they more valua fc » c than compliance ? Whether the ) are 30 , depends upon the quaW
Untitled Article
39 S On Acquaintance with the Principles of Protestant Dissent .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1811, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2418/page/14/
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