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time , very few would Jiave received Jhiwu He w « nt , JUow / ever , . to London , a&d after undergoing great difficulties , was at length successful in establishing 9 . qpngr $ gation upon pure Unitarian ^ riaciptes , using the Liturgy with such Alterations as accommodated it to
Unitarian opinions . A few other clergymen bad the firmness to follow Mr . JLindsey ' s example , and after some time to quit the church . The principal of these were Dr . Jehb , Dr . Disney , and Mr . Gilbert Wakefield . But most of the clergy , who had joined
in the petition to Parliament , contented themselves with refusing lo accept any farther preferment , or to repeat their subscription to the articles , but did not perceive that consistency . required them to quit the church . Upon this conduct Mr . Lindsey
remarks , in justification of his leaving tfee church ; <* My great difficulty was the point of worship . In comparison with this , subscription to the articles , Jjowever momentous in itself , gave me hut little concern ; for , as the devotions of the church are framed in strict
agreerqent to the articles , and correspond with them more especially in rw&at relates to religious worship , I look upon conforming to the church , ms a constant virtual subscription to the articles . " This consideration
deserires especial weight with all those who conform to the churchy though they do , not believe the whole of her Common Prayer JBook and Articles ; for conforming to the church certainly implies a declaration , that all her liiucgy , creeds and articles are agreeable
to Scripture , and at is the duty of muterf tone , who does not believe this , fto quit the church . From the time of Mr . Landsey ' s quitting the church , the ftpen profession of belief in the simple iunnarujty of Christ , and the worship of stbe One Ood . the Father only ,
became . much more common , and by de-^ fees most of the congregations , which ^ Cfwitijuie Trinitarians , have joined the In dependents , and most of those who now go under the name of Presbyte--tifln'in this country , are Unitarians of
< M * eicJfias or other , that is either Arians , -or believer 8 in the simple humanity of Ghri * t . But the open declaration of Unitarian opinions was not the only jfood effect , which the petition of the UMactated clergy produced . During the debate upon that peti-
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tion , it had been said by tfco&e who opposed it , that , had the Dissenting ministers , who were then required & > subscribe thirty-four of the a ^ rtiiile * tff the church , and who derived no etno-Jumeats from the church , petitioned
to be relieved from their subscription , no reasonable objection could be made to granting their petition . Upon this bint , a motion to free the Dissenting ministers from subscription to the articles , and to substitute for it a
declaration of their belief in Scripture , was made by Sir George Saville , and seconded by Sir Henry -Houghton , and the bill passed the Commons by a viuit majority ; but in the House of PecrB , almost all the bishops voted against ft »
and it was rejected . It is remarkable , that the Methodists opposed this b | U , and actually petitioned Parliament , that subscription to the thirty-four articles might still be required of all Dissenting ministers . *
This effort was repeated in 1774 , and the bill again met the same fate , though the two greatest ornaments of the House of Lords , Lord Chathattn and JLord Mansfield , wore united in its favour . On this occasion Dr .
DiHwnmond , Archbishop of York , having in a very virulent speech , stigmatisefi the Dissenting ministers as men of close ambition ; Lord Chatham replied , " they are so , my Lords , and their ambition is to keep close to the colteg $ e of fishermen , not of cardinals , to the
ndoctrine of inspired apostles , not to the decrees of interested hu <\ aspiring bishops . They contend for a spiritual creed , and scriptural worship T&e church has a Calvinistic cree 4 , a Popish liturgy , and an Armiuian clergy . The Reformation has laid the
Scriptures open to all ; let not the bishops shut them again . It is said , that religious sects have done great mischief when they were not kept under restraint , but history affords no proof that sects have ever been inischievecig , except they were oppressed and persecuted by the ruling church . ' *
In the year 1778 , rnot * t of the persecuting laws against the Catfeieitos were repealed , and their toleration vvas rendered legal . Till this period , ail Cittholicptiestsand bchootauaete * s&ad been liable to perpetual iniprtsaanrtfvt , and the third celebration of ukamh&d been punishable with dearth . Tbeae odious laws were now focwerar rowefy - < j , ¦
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JtrAqf S&ioty oftke £ te # enteps fivm tie Revolution . 457
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VOL , XII . * 3 N
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Aug. 2, 1817, page 457, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2467/page/9/
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