On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
• ^ ^] e Lord the head the Paper he held in his hand—" t < Here Mr . Kennedy was interrupted by the Noble Lord himself , saying he could not permit Mr . Kennedy to proceed ; and ^ is interruption appeared to arise from an terta j ned idea that some censure was intended against his Lordship , for the part his
Lordship had taken in this prosecution ;—but sucb an idea , if entertained , was immediately removed by an immediate appeal from Mr . Kennedy to the Earl of llomney , whether in any one instance during the he had been known to his Lord uuwh ui iu
« , onW vpars - maoy years iie u < tu uccu jb > cm » jl ^ - ship , he had ever given any ground for a suspicion , that he was capable of any disrespect to his Lordship ; that what he meant to observe was—that from the name of the Noble Lord at tbe head of the , summons he
held in bis hand , it was impossibleto ascribe any bat the best motives that actuated his Lordship in this prosecution . —Here Lord Roainey observed , that Mr . Kennedy ' s remarks had taken a , different turn to what he expected , and he had no objection to his proceeding j but that he thought it necessary here to state , that as complainant and informer he took the whole matter upon
himself , and added he had learned with surprise and ast 6 nishment that Mr . Kennedy and Mr . Wood , two clergymen of the church of England , should countenance by their presence tbe illegal proceedings at Barham Court . To this , Mr . Kennedy begged leave to impress upon the minds of his Lordship and the bench , that for the
reasons assigned in the letter read by the chairman , he was equally unconscious with Mr . Noel , that the assembly at Barham court was illegal— and referred to what had been the practice at the school , during the life of Lord Barbam . i
' Here it was observed from the bench , that by Mr . Kennedy ' reference to the practice of the school , Mr . Kennedy was injuring the cause he meant to serveand Lord Roraney remarked , that the waster of the school was not content with
reading to his scholars a chapter in the New Testament , but that he actually preached . , " Mr . Kennedy was about to proceed * & Ms observations , when Mr . Brooke , a "magistrate , whose name is affixed to the "ummons , objected to his being heard any tjnther upon the subject .
th k tl " re 9 uired tne determination of oe bench , Mr . Kennedy was requested by l » e chairm an to withdraw , and being ¦ oon recalled was informed that the bench jcquiesced in his proceeding , as it was not " mtcQtioa to justify any breach of the » but namely W fepeak in mitigation of ^ penalty incurred . Hftl ^ nedy now observed he had « » ore to 8 ay jn addition to what Mr-1 * ad addressed to the bench—that he
Untitled Article
could assert from Mr . Noel ' s authority , and from the conversations with him , that no one could more venerate our laws , or was more desirous to pay all due respect to magistrates ; that his error had been unintentional and arose from misconception , and respecting his public sentiments he need not intrude more upon their time .
But as Mr . Noel was not present , beingf called to attend the death-bed of a beloved sister in a distant county , he requested the indulgence of the bench , t <* speak a few words upon his private character , to which , in his absence , he could speak more freely . He had known him from infancy to manhood , and hesitated not to say , that a
person of more solid practical Christianity , of more amiable manners , of more humane benevolence , of greater generosity of mind , or with a greater degree of the milk of human kindness , he had never known—and he was persuaded he might
affirm , he would not knowingly do ti *< r least injury to any human being , but would rejoice in any opportunity of doing good to all , and more especially in that good that ended not with the present life : in a word , he was the gentleman and th £ Christian .
" With such dispositions , such views , and such intentions , the degree of criminality attached to an error in his judgment ; and the degree of punishment it merited , might cheerfully be submitted to the jud g * ment and decision of the bench . " Mr . Kennedy now begged a . further indulgence for a few moments , to make an observation he considered as due to
himself . y He must confess that when the Summons was delivered to him by a clerk to Messrs . Burr and Hoar , he read the name * of the selected witnesses with some degree pf surprise , as being classed with his servant boy , to give evidence against Mr . Noel .
" Here Mr . Kennedy was interrupte d by Earl llomney , who remarked that Mr Kennedy was the first person he had evej ? heard object against a servant and his superior being required to give evidence to a fact in a court of law ; where , to prove the fact , a nobleman and his groom
might be equally necessary , and he did not suppose Mr . Kennedy or Mr . Wood would appear as voluntary witnesses . 44 Mr . Kennedy observed , that where a peer of the realm and his groom were equally necessary to prove a fact , certainly no objection could reasonably be made . ; but where more than an hundred other
persons were equally competent to prove tbe fact , it had been thought singular by m ^ ny that out of five selected witnesses ^—MJ-. Kennedy , Mr . Noel ' s parish priest , Mi . Wood , hiscurate , Mr . Nettlefold , his parip fe olerk , and John King , bis servant
Untitled Article
Intelligent- —Curious and Important Recent Religious Prosecution . 56 \
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1816, page 561, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2456/page/61/
-