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The noble Lord had dwelt much on the questions not being calculated to ascertain the ability of the person examined : but they were not framed with that view ; they were intended to ascertain doctrine , not talents . But what had been their
effect during the period they had been used ? The number of persons refused ordination after answering was one . The number of curates refused license after answering was also one . The number rejected for not answering at all was two , of whom the petitioner was one . Whereever there was any irregularity of
doctrine , these questions were calculated to detect it . They were disliked by the petitioner and others , who had raised a noise and clamour against them ; but they were approved by the great body of the clergy , because they were calculated to check fanaticism , from which the Church had now more to apprehend than from any other thing . He had now shewn
that the allegations of the petitionernamely , that he had set up a new standard of faith ; that he required subscription to that standard ; and that his standard superseded the old standard of the Church —were utterly void of truth . He would then leave it to their Lordships to determine in what way they ought to dispose of this petition .
Lord King said the Right Reverend Prelate must know , that when the Articles were proposed in a particular way , the clergymen had nothing else to do than to submit . The point at issue was whether the eighty-seven questions to be
to be depended upon . It is , that , whilst the clergy of Geneva sign a Calvinistic confession , they are themselves Socinian . In answer to this I would say" 1 . That the Church of Geneva , for nearly a century , since the year 1728 , have renounced the confession of Calvin .
" 2 . For nearly as long a time have they renounced the catechism , or any other test but the Scriptures . " 3 . By the reglement of May 3 , 1817 , they proscribed from their pulpits the mention of original sin , effectual grace or predestination .
" 4 . That there is no proof whatever that the Church of Geneva is Socinian . Its catechisin is Arian in doctrine , and this is the opinion of the Compagnie of Pasteurs , with the exception of very few of its members , who are orthodox . I conclude , therefore , that the members of the Church of Geneva , if they are not as orthodox as the Bishop of Peterborough , are not hypocrites . IC A Friend to Truth and Charity . "
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answered in the way which the Right Reverend Prelate appeared to desire composed a new standard or not . All agreed that the Right Reverend Prelate had a right of examination ; but the point
at issue was , whether his eighty-seven questions arose naturally out of the course of examination on the Thirty-nine Articles , or were leading questions , which as being to be answered only in one way , constituted a new code of Church doctrine .
The Archbishop of Canterbury accounted for his delay in not answering earlier the letter of the petitioner , which propounded certain questions to him as to whether the Bishop was justified in the conduct which he had pursued . The Right Reverend Prelate referred the petitioner to the 48 th canon of the Church .
Lord Calthorpe spoke in favour of receiving the petition . The Right Reverend Archbishop could not have done otherwise than refer to the 48 th canon ; nor did he blame him for so doing . But it appeared to him that the conduct of
the Right Reverend Prelate ( the Bishop of Peterborough of whom he wished to speak with all personal respect , not only on account of his character , which did not require any eulogium from him , but on account of his zeal for the interests of
the Church , ) if it should be followed up by other Right Reverend Prelates , would be fatal to the inviolable standard of faith which was contained in the Articles of the Church . The Liturgy , which was founded on these Articles , had endured for nearly three centuries ; nor could any form of worship more pure or more free from objection be devised * It had been
interpreted liberally and largely , ( not too liberally or largely in his opinion , ) and he would say that its security consisted in such a latitude of interpretation being allowed . He would repeat that , if the conduct of the Right Reverend Prelate was followed by the other bishops , it might be fatal to the interests of the Church . At a time when the
Establishment required the most strenuous efforts of its friends to support it , and when it was notorious that a considerable portion of its members , from the want of funds , could not be educated as the Right Reverend Prelate might desire , he ( Lord Calthorpe ) could not conceive any thing more injurious than to agitate such a
question as the present , or to adopt a principle which would warrant the exercise of any species of persecution . He regretted that the discussion had been rendered necessary , but hoped that the Right Reverend Prelate would exercise his authority , so as to conciliate his clergy , and thus secure to the Churcn
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i 36 Intelligence . —Parliamentary . Peterborough Questions .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1821, page 436, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2502/page/56/
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