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and whose minds were once bound down by the ' chains of itsf creeds , cannot even now remember the horrors of it ? galling yoke , without some tremours at the recollection of the pains we endured in our escape from this mental prison , and joy inexpressible , that a future generation may not be subject to the same tyranny . Tie slave , who has
escaped from Barbary , and enjoys the liberty of his native country , in recounting the miseries of his servitude feels in the midst of nis jqy a sensation of the past , but prizes still more the recovery of his freedom : so we are anxious for the recovery of truth to those who have lost it , and rejoice that we are brought to our Saviour , freed from the shackles with which we were entangled . But the Professor seems to be in a two-fold error on the consequences of the Lancastrian method ; for it is not necessary that the church should be overthrown , or if it is that the state shoojd be ruined . The church need not be ruined : for it may follow the improvements of the times , give a good translation of the Bible , and correct the
errors in its liturgy and articles- Thus , men the young Lancastrians arrive at the time of life , when they -can draw a comparison between the merits of the respective sects , and bring \ he tenets of each to the balance of the scriptures , if they find in the Established Church
the purest doctrines , they will , from their previous education , be the more inclined toenter its walls . But let us suppose the contrary , and that the church is tenacious of its present system , and will not listen to any amendment that in consequence the meetings are full , and the churches empty . We see no reason for alarm to the state . It exists now
wry much at its ease , as far as the safety or downfall of the church is concerned ; ajjd the annual secessions from the c « urc h , and the daily erections of new places of worship do not alter its stabijty The only change produced by " **« innovations is that people are now
T religious than they used to be : £ r attend more to serious subjects . *] ust be constantl y reminded these Wethcri , who talk of the downfall of u ^ > in consequence of changes in ^ church , that the Church of England v * Ot D 6 W v * at it was an hundred iZ i * % ' Not ' ndarly a quarter of the Eatl 6 n 6 f J 8 * um ^ cd kingdom be-° P t 6 n : and the population > that
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nominally supports it , is divided between two parties , the evangelical , and the anti-evaneelical , so that not one seventh of the population are to be reckoned among the supporters of any doctrines , to which a name can be
con-Dr . Marsh also must not expect rhat his outcry will produce any great effect . For supposing the cliurch to be in the danger he imagines , the number of claimants for the good things in it will be diminished . He has shewn in Jiis doctrine of chances , as it respects the copies of the gospels , that he understands well how to calculate the expectation of an adventurer ; and as the value of bishoprics , cathedral stalls , rectories , &c . has been very much increasing , and the number of the members of the Church of England very ranch decreasing , the expectation of every youog man going into the church rises proportionably . The labour of the clergy will be diminished , and for years to come the / may enj oy otium cum dignitate . The Protestants in Ireland do not seem .
to be so fearful of the downfall of the church , though in that country the number of its supporters is not one tenth of the population , which , avows a different faith . Meetings have continued to be holden in various counties and towns ^ notwithstanding the Proclamation . These are not attended as they u ed to be
solely by Catholics : the principal Protestant gentlemen and noblemen of each district countenance the meetings , and all seem sensible that if the rie , ht of petitioning is wounded through the side of the Catholics , a pernicious precedent may be set > which may hereafter be used against the subject in general . During
this time the government seems to be perfectly quiet . Its threats are not exercised : the magistrates do not interfere to disperse the meetings the persons delegated are not seized . This is a very extraordinary scene , and the consequences cannot but be beneficial to the country . It will examine fairly and candidly the pretenaious of the Catholics ,
and of all indeed , who d < ffer from the Established Church ; and surely it will sceni preposterous , that opinions , in which so small a part of the community unite , should be made a test , by which the majority is to be separated from the minority , and the latter are to be made the predominant party . The Irish do not appear to lay sufficient strength upon
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State of Public djfairs . 573
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1811, page 573, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2420/page/61/
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