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
also above the ; wflueBce ? of misre presentation ami undeserved reproach . But , thirdly > , another cause , like the last truly honourable to them , and calculated to raise their reputation with intelligent and enlightened thinkers which h&S contributed to procure
the Dissenters the character of sourness and repulsive austerity , is , that the spirit of Nonconformity is an inquiring and improving -spirit ; apt , therefore , to point out absurdity and error in existing institutions , opinions , and practices , without much regard to
the offence 4 hus necessarily given to those who are attached to them by . interest or prejudice . Having been compelled by a regard to conscience and the most sacred obligations of duty , to act on one ^ most important subject in opposition to the generality of those arouad us , we are naturally
on other subjects also less under the restraint of custom and prescription . Having been induced to rely on our own decision and judgment , in that which has the highest claims on us , we are willing also to employ our reason in other matters of material interest
to us . Having once thrown off the yoke of authority , we ean no longer patiently bend our necks to it ; but feel ourselves free . to examine , and disposed to improve in every subject that presents itself to our notice * Hence we are less tolerant than others
of the absurdities which time has sanctioned . We are less disposed to endure evils because they have been long endured , and possess more of the reforming spirit than can be pleasing to those whose habits , and perhaps their gains , are connected with present systems . We are Nonconformists
m religion to all human impositions > and we are ready to refuse conformity wherever we see what we think to he wrong . We hai * e dared far ourselves to restore our holy faith to what we take to be its primitive simplicity ; and wherever else what is corrupt may be purified , and what is defective im *»
proved , we are disposed to be active with no very courtly spirit . Should we wooder , then , that by many we are beaded and disliked , aud that the taste for improvement , which they cannot D uaderstand * should he atferU uted , by thoae who care not for it , or who wauld , be losers by it , to » * ° w r , dissatisfied temper , and to jea *
Untitled Article
lousy of the enjoyments of others ? Whilst the charges against us originate in such , causes as these , however we may regret the hostility of well-meaning but weak-minded persons , we es * n but determine , that as long * as there are abuses to attack and errors to
expose , we will persevere m our course , and give the enemies of human improvement ever fresh occasions ftwr venting their spleen against the " Old Crab-stack of Nonconformity /' We have thus far been speaking of circumstances permanently connected
with our principles ; circumstances in which we feel pride and satisfaction * and without which our distinguishing character would be lost ; which * misunderstood and perverted by party violence , viewed through the distorting medium of prejudice , or with the timid glance of servility , may contribute to
procure us the reputation of a morose and petulant spirit , opposed to inno-p cent freedom and cheerfulness ; but which , nevertheless , have in reality no such tendency , but are highly favour- * able to the true and rational enjoyment of life , as they arm us against the seductive vanities of the world , and
cherish intelligence , firmness and w > tive , energetic benevolence . Bift it is probable that we have in a Iterjr considerable degree derived our reputation for sourness from our ancestors , the venerable fathers of Nonconfor- *
mity , from whom , on account of our altered manners , we are sometimes accused among our own friends of having degenerated . I have already inquired whether there be any thing in the genuine principles of Nonconformity which could occasion this harsh- *
ness , and one or two observations on the case of the early Nonconformists will bow bring me to the conclusion of my subject v and , in the first place , their austere demeanour was by no means peculiar to them , but was that of all seriously religious men in
their times ,, and shews not the effect of their peculiar principles , but the religious spirit of their agey at least in Protestant countries . 2 edly- This spirit had its origin , not in the subjects of their difference with the Established
Church , but in the religious doctrines then u&ivereaHjr received ; and where * ever these tloetrines have been warmly entertained and much dwelt upon , the scune effects have been produced , aa
Untitled Article
The N < mconformuc « No , XXH . * 663
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1821, page 663, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2506/page/31/
-