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plea of liberty : * of conscience ; a plea which , as applied , was a felo de se , and bad it then been acted upon , would inevitab l y have led to J ; he * overthrow of all true liberty . " But by what evidence is thi 3 established ? Would not
punishing men for their political offences , and requiring from \ them submission to government" fir all aff a irs of a civil nature , have answered every good purpose for which religious tests were
devised ? Whom could such tests exclude but the conscientious ? The hypocrite * the ambitious , the man from whom real ganger was to be apprehended , would comply with \ any
I -- » . 1 r ^ t - 1 •• * . ^ test . The only effect which such tests can have , is to drive honest men of the persecuted opinions into dislike of the government . We would -recommend to the notice of Dr . M'Orie , and of all
those who favour the persecuting laws against the Catholics ; the following admirable remark of Mrs . Hutchinson ' s in her memoirs of her husband , Colonel Hutchinsbn : " In zeal to reduce the land from their idolatrous
practices , some Puritans procured laws and invented oaths to suppress Popery , which they little thought , but we now sadly find , are the bitterest engines to batter down the pure worship and destroy the pure worshipers of God ; which I have often looked upon as an
evidence that God is not pleased with the conversions that are enforced by men's laws . We have spiritual weapons given us for spiritual combats , and those who go about to conquer subjects for Christ with swords of steel , shall find the base metal break
to shivers when , it is used , and hurtfullv fly in , their own faces . ?' By the violent conduct of some of the ministers , and' especially by a tu > - mult in Edinburgh , on Dec . 17 , 1596 , w hich , however , was very trifling , and
w « a suppressed without any * force , entirel y by the influence of some of theitoost moderate ministers , within an hour after its commencement , the court gained w wfeijW ^ ° ^ a ? k-* ng the mettd 9 > f , Ji ^ i # , and , by a CQinbiaa t ^ oia of v ^ vio-« toee , i ^ M ^) p qjf tofo&bs , and B » 3 WW" # A * ^ Wt ;> , -Paflament . ^\ M % m #%# > FaWiiig to all m ^ # mk fent ^ to affdrd any tjre ^ ^ W-rtata *^ , ^ Jftmes remaiued in Scotland , the scheme
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of introducing Episcopacy ; though nfever lost ? ^ i ght of , was eaUtitf ^ Jiy prosecute < k" When he had ascended the throne of England , he pirdcefeded with bolder and more tyrannical steps-. Atter exposing very-well .-the *;; sierviuty of the Scotch bishops , •> Dr . > 'M * Crie says , " Gandour demands the
acknowledgment that a Presbyterian church must also fall into state-subsenfieney in proportion to the power tvhich the crown obtains in the appointment of its ministers : although this patronage is necessarily limited by the want of preferments in such an establishment ,
and checked by the freedomr of ^ diseussion wMeh takes place &i : it ^ ifififerent assemblies /^ The evil , indeed , is in ^ herent in establishments , and would alone be a sufficient ground for dissent . In order to carry > on- his obnoxious measures , the King procured scfme of j
the ministers tobe condemned for having held a Geiieral Assembly at Aberdeen without . his pejrmission , though it was perfectly legaj For . tKem to do so , and they had only elected a moderator , and then adjourned . , Most of them , however , were ba ^ nisheidv and never suffered to return to Scotland .
With the Melvilles he proceeded in- a still more tyrannical manner . He invited them and some other ministers to England , and then prohibited them from returning to Scotland ; and ' compelled them to attend on the sermons
of some English bishops . , Melville wrote an epigram Qp , the royal altar . Being overheard reacting it ,, by a cqi ^ rt spy , he was called before the . Kjivy ( Jouncil of England , who-had certainly no right to try a native : of Scotland . Here he spoke with noble spirit * The
Archhbishop of Canterbury , B&rtcroft > insinuating that he \ vas guilty of treason ^ ^ My lord ?/ ' exef ^ ^ ljt e ^ ct Andrew JVfeftille i ^ - ' n £ nw ; a' ] t ^ tor . '; But , my lords , theiire Was ' 6 rie ll Rtehard Bancroft , let him be soughi for , who , during the life of tKe latev@ueen , Wi * ote a treatise agaihstMs ^ Majfesfy ' s title to the crown of England ^ - ^ He was j sent to Vh& ^ Tower , i aiid hid ( nfeptoewr ; wa ^ confined ^ to ^ the iJo wn of Ne ^
rcastleuponiTyne . ' »¦ At this time 1 , Is ^ -vMfencfe a ^ d bribery ^ the ^ ourt got the sanction o £ ^ i packed O 0 nemliA » s ^| iibly to ^ their measures . . * ' ! & wasi * Of 4 iied fey Law , Bishop of Orkney , with > a sermon from these Av 0 r&&ii J Wrtiig jfbpitfoe Pg&c * ° JerusalemJ v ? Nd « e we so loud wtihrar
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Review . —M ' Crie * $ Life of Mehilte . 175
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), March 2, 1820, page 175, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2486/page/47/
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