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Untitled Article
siderable number of serious Cfiristians , who , though not of the Dissenters , were yet of opinion thatHhe New Testament furnished no plea for forcing conscience , and that however desirable to prevent the increase of the various , sects , there is no Christian mode of attempting this but by argument and persuasion .
There was scarcely a man in the country who sympathised with the unsuccessful author of the Bill ; and there were instances of dignitaries of the church publicly applauding the exertions of the Dissenters and the decision of
the upper House of Parliament * . Lord Sidmouth ' s Bill was the result of various motions and speeches . ( See M . Repos . vol . iv p . 312 . ) He obtained returns of the places of worship which
had been registered , and of the preachers who had qualified , amongst the Dissenters , from the year 1760 to the latter end of the year 1808 : whjat he would do
with these materials , could not be precisely ascertained beforehand ; candid Dissenters gave him credit for meaning well ; but there were not a few who suspected from bis character as a statesman and from hinfs in his several speeches ,
* We extract the following paragraph from the Account of the Installation of his JRoyal Highness the Duke of Gloucester , as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge , in a provincial paper : —
" Dr . Ramsden , Deputy Regius Profeessor of Divinity , confirmed the Doctor * of pivinity in an elegant Latin Oration , in which he alluded to the late
© ill of Viscount Sidmouth , ctrid protested against an imjudidaas interference imth the Dissenters , on whose general talents ana" integrity the JPr . bestowed } gr eat praise . " Bury and Norwich Chronicle , Wednesday , July xo .
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that he meditated at the least no extension of religious liberty . Jje spoke of the growth of the Dissenu ers in the tone of complaint and apprehension ; and his known ami pledged hostility to the rea . sonable claims of the Catholics of Ireland augured ill with regard to his views towards Dissidents nearer home . f
-f We copy the following paragraphs from the Edinburgh Review , published before the appearance of . Lord Sid . mouth ' s Bill , which , flowing from a pen , by no rneans favourable to " sectaries , " may be considered as a justification of the fears and exertions of the Dissenters .
" If a prudent man sees a child play . ing y vixh a porcelain cup of great value , he takes the vessel out of his hands , pats him on the head , tells him bis mamma will be sorry if it is broken and gently cheats him into the use of somt less precious substitute . Wrjj will Lord Sidmouth meddle with the Toleration
Act , when there are so many other subjects iri \ vhieh 4 iis abilities might be so eminently useful—when . enclosure bills ar , e drawn up with such scandalous negligence—turnpike roads so shamefully neglected- —and public conveyances
illegitimately loaded ' ' in the iace of day and in defiance of the wisest legislative provisions ! We confess our trepidationni seeing the Toleration Act in the hands q / Lord Sidmouth ; and should he very gkd if . it were fairly latk in the Statute B *» fc >
and the sedulity of this weU-meaimg nobleman , diverted into another channel "The alarm and suspicion o * the Dissenters upon thess measures IS WISE AND RATIONAL . They are right to consider the Toleration Act as their palladium ; and they xnay to certain that in this country there is alto
ways a strong party ready not only pievent the further extension of tolerant principles , but to abridge , if they dared , their present operation within the narrowest limits . Whoever makes this attempt , will be sure to mak e it under professions of the most ^ f ^ gardjor mildrtess and toleration , antiw the strongest declarations of respect for King William , the Revolution , a » d ^ principles which seated the House ox
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496 Re / lections on Lotvl Sidmouth ' s BUL it * - - '
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1811, page 496, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2419/page/48/
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